Place a tile, score points, achieve objectives: the basic gameplay of ‘Rebirth’ is quick to learn – but that’s when it gets challenging: using three types of tiles – power stations, farms and houses – we populate a map of either Ireland or Scotland. In doing so, we aim to develop castles and ports, build cathedrals, expand settlements and complete tasks. Each tile is worth points – sometimes more, sometimes less. Players who plan wisely and can link large areas together will quickly race ahead on the scoring track. But completing task cards can also lead to victory. The two rule pages also show how the feel of the game and the level of complexity of the core concept can be adjusted using just a few tweaks.

Three things you wear on your face: It’s obvious: a beard, glasses – and arrogance. Right? In ‘Dito!’, we try to guess what our fellow players are thinking. Matches are rewarded; extra points are awarded if exactly one other person has written down the same word. We enter the terms we’ve come up with into a nine-square grid and tick off the rows and columns. In each round, one of two categories on the task card is chosen – ranging from ‘Countries with good cuisine’ to ‘Things people would sell their souls for’. Although players compete against one another, the only way to win is to be able to engage effectively with the other players’ worlds of association.

Two decks of cards – two ways to play. Two decisions on every turn: the left or the right card? The front or the back? On each card, the children will find beautifully illustrated Mookies from one of five families. Will they choose the Plant Mookie, the Fossil Mookie or the Sun Mookie? The chosen card goes onto their own pile – with the chosen Mookie facing upwards. The game goes back and forth like this until one of the piles is empty. Whoever has collected the most creatures from a particular family receives that family’s trophy. But be careful – there are also spiders lurking in the display, which are played onto an opponent’s pile. Whoever ends up with the majority of these loses a trophy. A fast-paced and well-balanced competition, with just the right touch of tactics.