‘Tis the season to be bombarded with pre-orders! 

If you’re like us and hate waiting for the next amazing game to become available, pre-ordering is for you, friend. 

What better way to ensure you’ll 100% receive your game on release day?! FOMO be gone. 

Now that we’ve established you’ll be going on a pre-order spree to quell the monotony of lockdown (here’s looking at you VIC friends), we’ve taken the liberty of compiling a list of the must-have games coming soon to our shelves!

1) Frosthaven

After a very successful Kickstarter campaign - we’re talking almost $13M pledged of a $500K goal here - you’ll definitely want to pre-order this one. 

The formidable sequel to the epic campaign game that spawned its own phenomenon (Gloomhaven), Frosthaven follows a similar narrative but offers much, much more than its predecessor. 

While employing the same fundamental objective and theme of expansion through combat, Frosthaven now allows players to explore outside of battle, including solving mysteries, living through seasonal events and even controlling exactly how their villages expand to offer new avenues for progression. 

With the ability to integrate with the Gloomhaven game board, both old and new Gloom-fanatics will be enticed by this mammoth adventure. 

2) Tainted Grail: the Fall of Avalon

Another wildly-successful Kickstarter, Tainted Grail is a cooperative campaign game based on the equally successful video game of the same name. 

Now, we know what you’re all thinking. Video game to board game can be hit-and-miss. 

Well, we’re here to tell you that this one is definitely a hit. 

With an opportunity for a solo mode, this 1-4player adventure experience uses all the strengths of deck-building, character development and a dice-less encounter system that moulds it into the perfect medieval puzzle. 

Players must navigate the deep storyline where at every turn, something conspires to end their journey within a world of Celtic mythology and Arthurian legend. 

With even the smallest of decisions key to gameplay advancement, Tainted Grail has ensured character development is as meaningful and deep as the world in which the game is contained. 

This also ensures no game is exactly alike, which makes it absolutely worth the price. 

The hype on this one is real, people. Get on it. 

3) Nemesis

We’re sure you’ve all heard the hype on this one, and rightly so.

This semi-cooperative game of sci-fi survival horror is sure to leave you wanting more, especially if you’ve been betrayed…

Navigating their way across a decimated spaceship filled with hostile organisms, players must complete a set of objectives and board an escape pod back to Earth in one piece.

But all is not as it seems.

Player objectives are both cooperative and individual in nature; so who do you follow? Who can you trust? You’ll never know, right until the very end.

A fantastic game that builds and settles climactic moments across play, Nemesis is an immersive experience that is both enjoyable and enjoyably frustrating at times. 

Absolutely one to include on your shelf.

4) Pandemic Legacy: Season 0

A game very current to our circumstances, however much-loved by many. 12 years of the Pandemic franchise and Z-Man Games has delivered us another excellent legacy game to round off the story at the very beginning.  

Just as its predecessors, Pandemic Legacy: Season 0 is a fully-cooperative experience steeped in Cold War history. 

Tasked with investigating and preventing the development of a deadly Soviet bio-weapon, players are members of the CIA and must undertake missions that allow them to travel the world and combat their enemies. 

It won’t be easy, as enemies become more and more cunning, but over the course of 12 months, each completed mission will bring players closer and closer to the truth. 

Don’t worry, you won’t need to have played Season One or Two in order to attack this Cold War thriller as it’s stand-alone, however it is a legacy game so bear in mind that each play brings new rules and conditions that can permanently affect future gameplay. 

Definitely a must-have for any avid Pandemic fan.

5) Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion

Possibly the most talked-about game due out this year and definitely one for the pre-order list - these won’t last long in store!

Designed as a casual introduction to the realm of Gloomhaven, this game is perfect both for die-hard fans (the new components can be used in the base game) and for those interested but not committed to the big box just yet. 

Set in the events before Gloomhaven, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion includes 25 new scenarios inviting heroes to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances across the city. 

Players will play directly on a scenario book featuring new artwork unique to each scenario and the rules have been simplified and illustrated with a five-step tutorial to ease new players into the experience.

If you’ve been eyeing off the game, but one of your hang-ups is that you’ve got no one keen to play along, this is the game for you. 

Its pedigree speaks for itself. 

6) Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps!

Armed with great componentry and artwork, Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps! is a cooperative survival game and one not to miss out on!

Players assume aliases of specialist marines who work together to find other survivors and answers as to how their base has been destroyed and by who - or what. 

But what lurks in the shadows? 

Players are equipped with serious firepower; needed to fight off relentless foreign ambushes and get out of there alive. 

Able to play up to six different missions all with different objectives and outcomes, Aliens also caters to the campaign-masters out there, with four of the missions able to be played in this mode. 

An exhilarating and at times, heart-stopping game, it’s one to definitely add to the collection. 

Aaaaand that’s our list - get on them while they’re hot people!

Don’t be that guy that sits there refreshing the page until the game goes live, only to realise it’s already sold out when you try to “add to cart”. 

Just, don’t. 

Check out our other awesome pre-orders here!