Made by Canadians: Board Games that Your Family Will Love

Making board games used to only be done by big corporations, but due to a resurgence in popularity, more and more people are making board games, including a lot of Canadians. Let’s take a look at some of the top board games made by Canadians today that are available on bestbuy.ca.

Made in Canada Board Games: Junk Art

Ok, I’m pretty biased on this one because I designed it with my co-designer, Sen-Foong Lim (also Canadian). Junk Art is the ultimate stacking game for the whole family. In one way, you could think of it like Jenga in reverse. The game comes with 15 uniquely shaped pieces in 4 different colours and a playing card for each piece. With that system, the game comes with over a dozen different ways of how to play.

In each game you randomly choose 3 different game modes, which means your experience with the game will always be varied. In one game you might be working together to stack pieces onto one giant structure, trying not to be the one to make it collapse; while in others you could be making your own structure taller than anyone else’s. The game is published by Pretzel Games, which is a Canadian publisher, with art by Chris Quilliams (also Canadian)! 

Endeavor: Age of Sail   

Endeavor: Age of Sail is a reprint and an update to Endeavor, which was released in 2009. The Age of Sail version updates the rules and adds more oomph to an already popular game. In Endeavor: Age of Sail, players earn glory for their empires by sailing around the Mediterranean, establishing shipping routes and occupying cities the world over. They have to manage all sorts of other variables as well, including industry, culture, finance, and Influence.

This is a meaty game that has found a lot of fans among serious board gamers. On the popular site boardgamegeek.com, users have rated this Endeavor to be in the top 150 games of all time! While this game is designed by Carl de Visser and Jarratt Gray, from New Zealand, this second edition was published by Burnt Island Games, a Canadian publisher. The game also features art and graphic design by Josh Cappel, a prolific board game artist who is also Canadian.

Sagrada

Sagrada is designed by two Canadians—Daryl Andrews and Adrian Adamescu, and is also in the top 150 games of all time on boardgamegeek.com. In Sagrada, players are rolling dice and drafting them in order to place them in their own grid to create stained glass windows. Of course, there are restrictions and scoring motivations that twist your brain into trying to determine the ultimate move every turn, but that’s where the fun and charm comes from in this game.

This is an easy game to introduce people to who haven’t played too many games. Players get to work on their own stained glass window and don’t have to fear other players trying to attack or destroy their window. It’s a delight to play, and wonderful to look at. It’s also designed by two Canadians!

Legend of Korra: Pro-Bending Arena

Legend of Korra: Pro-Bending Arena is based on the hit Nickelodeon show of the same name and is designed by two Canadians: Sen-Foong Lim and Jessey Wright. This is a 2-player only game where you face off in Republic City’s favourite sport! The game is played with cards and tokens and is focused a lot on push and pull as you want to be the team that pushes the furthest, or knocks the competitors out of the ring entirely.

The sport is featured in the TV show, and the game does a great job emulating what we’ve seen of the sport in the show. It’s great to see games based on hit licenses like Avatar: Legend of Korra being made by Canadians. It’s almost like we Canadians can do anything!

Purrrlock Holmes: Furriarty’s Trail

If you’re looking for a super fun themed deduction game along the lines of Sleuth, then check out Purrrlock Holmes: Furriarty’s Trail. This game, designed by Canadian designer Stephen Sauer (who also created and runs the store Curiosa: Purveyors of Extraordinary Things in downtown Toronto) has players trying to deduce who the suspect is based on cards that each player can see—though you can’t see your own. It’s perfect for families as there’s some cooperation mixed in with the competitiveness, and it plays in less than 30 minutes.

These are just a few of the board games that have some element of the game being made by Canadians. It’s great to see Canadians grow in popularity in the board game world, as this hobby continues to grow and grow every year. Any of these board games made by Canadians would be a great addition to your gaming library.