Board Game Arena

Not every great game arrives with fanfare. Some just quietly pull up a chair at your table and proceed to ruin your evening in the best possible way.

Take Mark Steere's games, for example. He's built a whole collection of deceptively simple games, easy rules, ruthless decisions, and "just one quick round" almost never turns out to be quick.

Here are some of his games that you might want to check out: 420, Herd, Blast Radius or Diablo to only name a few.

Small games. Big ideas. And he's just one of the many designers hiding in plain sight on BGA.

Are there any hidden gems you would recommend?

I would very much to see "Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig".

Not exactly a hidden gem, being that it's a follow-up to a very well-known and popular game, "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", but I'm surprised we do not have it here yet.

FrankJones wrote: ↑04 September 2026, 01:01 I would very much to see "Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig".

Not exactly a hidden gem, being that it's a follow-up to a very well-known and popular game, "Castles of Mad King Ludwig", but I'm surprised we do not have it here yet.

A great suggestion, thank you so much! But less try and focus on less-known games that are available on BGA.

BalGAmor wrote: ↑03 September 2026, 16:14 Are there any hidden gems you would recommend?

I guess you are talking about "hidden gems" already on BGA? That should be clear to everyone; otherwise, this thread will end up competing with the official thread for new game suggestions : https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1040

I think it's the "pull up a chair at your table" part that may have created confusion on whether this is talking about games we've played in real life.

cigma wrote: ↑04 September 2026, 14:29

BalGAmor wrote: ↑03 September 2026, 16:14 Are there any hidden gems you would recommend?

I guess you are talking about "hidden gems" already on BGA? That should be clear to everyone; otherwise, this thread will end up competing with the official thread for new game suggestions : https://boardgamearena.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1040

Very much this.

I would say that almost every abstract game on here is a hidden gem, except for well known ones like chess, reversi, Connect X, and backgammon (which aren't hidden; not saying they are or aren't gems). My personal favorites are Donuts (f.k.a. Insert), Yinsh, and Onitama. One nice feature of Onitama is that it is chess-like, but does not have the issue that there are specific openings you can have memorized from decades of experience because the available moves don't just vary every game, but every turn!