Chris, Jason, and Cameron are serious about finding unusual, forgotten, and under-appreciated board games and bringing them to you.
Welcome to the search.
The popularity of modern hobby board gaming is on the rise.
Over the last 15 years, board games have seen a surge in popularity like they’ve never seen before. Hundreds of new and exciting board games are released every year, and these newer “euro style games” are steadily making their way more into the public eye, providing people with different and (in our opinion) better alternatives to classic household board games like Monopoly, Life or Sorry. This explosion in popularity has been great for the board game hobby, and excellent titles are released almost daily. With this increase in board game titles, we have also seen an increase in board game media coverage with many different podcasts, YouTube shows, and other online reviewers highlighting the latest and greatest board games that they feel
deserve your attention. Catan, Dominion, Scythe, Terraforming Mars, Azul. These are all amazing games, and you will hear about them often when searching for good modern board games. However, we here at Hidden Gems have noticed an unfortunate trend when it comes to board games and their recent explosion in popularity. A lot of games are getting missed. With so many games being released each year, it’s almost inevitable that many games will just fall through the cracks.
Our goal at Hidden Gems is to highlight unusual, forgotten and under-appreciated board games that are not often talked about in modern board game circles and bring them to the forefront. We have found that many of these overlooked board games are great games, and we feel that they deserve play. Hidden Gems is about the search. We are mining the entirety of the hobby
board game catalogue, new and old, searching for overlooked and under-appreciated games that we think you and your friends and family will enjoy. We would love to have you come along with us on this journey and join us in our search for Hidden Gems.
Thank you for listening!
Chris Alley
For as long as I can remember, I have always loved games. It has always been my number one hobby, whether it be board games, video games or sports. When I was young, my main gaming focus was on video games…
Jason Yanchuleff
Software engineer and father of three, Jason enjoys digging into complex games and particularly the hunt for the most obscure games. When not gaming, you’ll also find him woodworking and exploring new bourbons with friends.
Cameron Lockey
While he is mostly here for the laughs, Cameron does truly enjoy gaming. He loves the themes and art in the games they discover and is all about the flavor text. Cameron’s other hobbies are woodworking, uilleann bagpipes, and home renovation.