The Board Game Family -

5 Hot Games I’m looking forward to at SaltCon Spring 2026

SaltCon Spring 2026 is only a couple of weeks away and the excitement is building.

I’ve attended our local board game convention near Salt Lake City, Utah for 15 years and have loved seeing it grow every year. More than 2,500 people are anticipated to attend again this year to enjoy 4 days of gaming fun.

One of the aspects I look forward to each year is trying out some of the Hot Games.

These are recent board game releases that so many people are interested in playing that the organizers set up dedicated tables just for these games. Rather than only having a copy or two in the Game Library for people to check out. These games are always set up and volunteers are in place to teach the games over and over. That way a ton more people get a chance to try them out.

From the 8 Hot Games this year, the 5 I’m most looking forward to playing are:

February 25, 2026 Trent 0 Comments SaltCon

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Party Games

Skull – Is it a fun game or colorful drink coasters?

Forget the regular preamble to a board game review. We’ll cut right to the chase – Skull is an absolutely hit with everyone we’ve introduced the game to.

It’s a short game packed with strategizing, guessing, second guessing, and bluffing. Yes, bluffing.

While players don’t actually lie during the game, the way they choose their disks and state how many disks they think they can safely flip, they can definitely influence other players into thinking one way or another.

To do well, you’ll need to anticipate what your opponents will do and try to call their bluff at the right times while also making careful choices yourself.

And that’s exactly why we keep playing Skull over and over again.

October 17, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, bluffing

Family Games Game Reviews Party Games

25 Words or Less party game review

“I can name that tune in 5 notes.”
“You go ahead and name that tune!”

That’s exactly what I thought when reading the rules to 25 Words or Less, a new game from The Op Games.

Since most of our readers won’t be familiar with the 1970’s TV game show, Name That Tune, I’ll briefly explain. Essentially contestants would battle for how quickly they could name a song. They bid lower and lower until one contestant stopped and forced the other to name the song in that many notes.

In a similar vein, in 25 Words or Less teams compete to see which team can guess the 5 answers on a card in as few word clues as possible.

But efficiency of word clues isn’t the only challenge – because the sand timer is also ticking away.

If you’re up for a fun team word challenge, keep on reading.

August 11, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 10-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, 7-player, 8-player, 9-player, party, The Op Games, word

Card Games Family Games Game Reviews

Scream! card game review

If a tree falls in the woods, does it make a sound?

How about, If a camper screams in the woods because they spot strange creatures throughout their campsite, will they be heard?

Well, you better hope you can clear your campsite of those creatures before the end of the game. Because the player with the safest campsite will be declared the winner in this new game from Bezier Games called Scream!

A couple of years ago, Bezier Games published a card game called Scram! The setting in that game is players returning to their campsite after a hike to find their campsite ransacked by woodland critters. They need to clear their campsite of those pesky critters.

Well, now its night time and these campsites are teaming with a beings that are a lot worse than pesky mice and squirrels. In Scream! players are dealing with werewolves, zombies, aliens, and more.

And perhaps even worse, they’ll have to deal with other players potentially bluffing!

July 13, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 2 players, 3-players, 4 players, 5 players, Bezier Games, bluffing, card game, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Party Games

Top Tier party game review

It’s always been popular to rank things.

By human nature, we feel compelled to place all sorts of things in order of preference.

And with the meteoric rise of our online world, ranking things have reached all time highs.

So why not make a new party along those same lines?

Top Tier, recently published by Indie Boards & Cards, is exactly that.

It’s a light party game where players take turns ranking contenders based on a crazy category and the rest of the players try to guess the rankings.

June 21, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 10-player, 4-player, 5-player, 6-player, 7-player, 8-player, 9-player, Indie Boards and Cards, party

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

Finspan board game review

In 2019, Wingspan took the world by storm.

Rookie game designer, Elizabeth Hargrave, hit a home run on her debut board game with a Kennerspiel des Jahres win. Board game lovers and bird lovers alike all flocked to it. It’s a card-driven, engine-building board game featuring 180 unique birds. Since its initial publication, Stonemaier Games has sold over 2 million copies of Wingspan!

Inspired by that success, Stonemaier Games published Wyrmspan in 2024. It’s a dragon-themed board game with similarities to Wingspan but with plenty of unique elements and an added level of complexity.

Which leads us to the release earlier this year of Finspan.

With 125 unique fish cards, Finspan has players diving into the oceans for aquatic life. They’ll grow their collection of fish, discover fresh eggs, hatch them into young, and nurture them into schools to gain the most points.

So the big question is, “Is Finspan just a quick spinoff without substance, or is it a good game of its own accord?”

June 3, 2025November 15, 2025 Davin Perkins 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, 5-player, card, luck, solo, Stonemaier Games, strategy, theme

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews

The Search for Planet X deduction game review

I love logic puzzles.

In fact, a number of years ago, I bought a stack of back issues of Penny Dell Logic Puzzles so I could rattle through logic puzzles during flights on business trips.

As such, I also love good deduction board games.

I enjoy thinking through various logic conditions to figure out the solution in a deduction game before the other players. And modern deduction board games have come a long way from classic Clue.

So when I heard about The Search for Planet X, by Renegade Game Studios, it caught my attention.

I got a copy of the game at SaltCon Spring 2024, and was immediately hooked from my very first play. Since then, I’ve played it with family and friends – many of who have bought a copy of their own. Yep, it’s a good one.

May 20, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, deduction, logic, puzzle, Renegade Game Studios, solo, space, strategy

Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews

Twice As Clever dice game review

Five years ago we reviewed a fun dice game that has stayed a family favorite game ever since. The game is That’s Pretty Clever by Schmidt Spiele and Stronghold Games.

We rattled through the score pads so quickly that we laminated the last of them so we can use dry erase markers to track our games. And we still pull it out regularly to play around dinner time for some light family fun.

Since the original was published in 2018, Schmidt Spiele has published 3 more iterations of this dice game: Twice As Clever, Clever Cubed, Clever 4-Ever.

Today we’re reviewing the second in the set, Twice As Clever.

We’ll answer what’s added, what’s different, and if it’s just as fun.

May 2, 2025 Trent 0 Comments 2-player, 3-player, 4-player, dice, luck, solo, Stronghold Games

Board Games Family Games Game Reviews Party Games

Do You Even Know Me? party game review

Who hasn’t played a “get-to-know-you” game before?

They’re all over the place.

Whenever you find a newly formed group of people, you’ll find a “get to know each other” activity. We encounter them at school, at work, and at family reunions. Many such activities are merely spoken and don’t include any typical game-type components. There are also a slew of published party games that seek to achieve similar results.

So why are we reviewing Do You Even Know Me? – a similar game that’s new on the scene?

Because we appreciate the work of the person who created it!

(And we enjoy the game.)