Top table games

Antonie Robertson / The National

Antonie Robertson / The National

Game of Thrones

3-6 players

2-4 hours

Fashioned on the widely popular HBO show Game of Thrones, the board game pits players against each other as they play as one of the six houses vying for control of Westeros.

Mixing elements of dice rolling, negotiations, bidding and pure strategy, luck doesn’t play much part in this game as players need to carve out a gameplan very early on to succeed.

Players also have to dedicate resources to growing their armies, dedicate those armies to war, plan raids to gain an edge over their opponents.

However, that doesn’t mean all-out attack, as the game doesn’t explicitly encourage that, but what will inevitably happen is that alliances will be formed and, as in the show, some bloody showdowns will occur.

Forbidden Desert

2-5 players

45 minutes

In this cooperative game released in 2013, players are thrown in at the deep end when their “steampunk ship”, or airship, has crashed in an unforgiving desert and their task is to work together to collect the missing components of their ship before a growing storm consumes them.

As in any desert, water is a huge concern, and players are only given a limited amount of water with ways to replenish it. Run out and the game is over, let the storm grow out of hand before escaping and the game is over.

This game is hard and players must strategise together and ensure that each member of the team is doing what they can.

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Love Letter

2-4 players

20 minutes

In a blend of deception, cunning and pure luck, players fashion themselves as suitors aiming to woo a Princess or Prince by delivering love letters to them through confidants in the court.

The game, composed of 15 cards, is great to carry on the go, and is widely called a “standing in line” game.

However, the game becomes infinitely complex as players begin to deceive each other to get their words of love to their beloved and no one game is the same, as players begin to notice patterns in the game style of those suitors they are competing against.

* Naser Al Wasmi