The description promises “unbridled psychological horror” and that seems to hint at one of the Planet of the Apes board game’s strangest quirks. You each play a different part of Colonel George Taylor’s brain. The QM takes the first card from the "question side" end of the box and shows the Picture or reads the THEME to both teams. At this point MUTE or CHANGE CHANNEL cards can be played. He asks the first (ORANGE) question to the playing team. If they answer correctly they immediately move their playing piece to the next ORANGE space on the board.

Once a player has moved onto the Winning Zone, he must correctly answer either any two consecutive questions or a GREEN question to WIN. For Example: If a player enters the Winning Zone after answering a PURPLE question he needs to answer the remaining BLUE and GREEN questions correctly to WIN - OR if he enters the Winning Zone after answering a BLUE question he ONLY has to answer the remaining GREEN question correctly to WIN.

ANSWERING INCORRECTLY

Disney villains are among some of film and TV's most iconic, and you can celebrate them with their very own aptly-titled board game, Villainous. Board games have been a staple of family fun for decades with the likes of Monopoly to Candyland bringing young families together to create memories they will never forget for as long as many of us can remember. Of course, this bares the question, what happens when the family gets a little older? Surely they won't want to play Candyland forever, and that is where the best board games based on movies come in. Mixing some of the best and most remarkable stories on the silver screen and adapting them to board games seems like an ingenious idea, but it is one that has only truly started to spark a revolution in the games industry over the last few years. You play competing mafia families vying for control of New York City through violence and strategic plays. All the criminal trappings are there: booze, bosses, tribute, property takeovers, drive-by shootings and a whole lot of blood.

Browncoats gather! Although the cult western-themed sci-fi TV show and its film follow-up Serenity might be long over, this board game adaptation captures much of the spirit of the original series. Mechanically, you manage your jobs, and upgrade your ship - while dealing with whatever else the cosmos throws at you. The LOGO Board Game– the granddaddy of the lot: one of the UK’s favourite board games, about the familiar things all around us!

Blockbuster

Change the Channel card - allows a team to take another card if they don't like the topic of the first card they draw. For board games 2022 was pretty close to pre-pandemic levels, from the number of new releases to conventions to sheer quality of offerings. There are always more good new games each year than I can play, assuming I even have access to them in the first place. This is the best of what I was able to try. There were other games I liked that just didn’t make the cut here, and there are games I know about but haven’t actually played, so I can’t include them. I don’t log my plays (some players do), so I don’t know exactly how many new games I played, but it’s well north of 50, and I would say I played 20 or more that were good enough to recommend. Here’s my top 10 for the year.

Big Trouble in Little China: The Board Game: John Carpenter's film of sorcery and martial arts is recreated in tabletop form. So the game’s not reached the top of our priority list this year. As we said, never say ‘never’– because if we can make it work, we will! Alien vs Predator: The Hunt Begins: Engage in a battle between two ferocious outerworld tribes in this miniatures board game. While the Alien vs Predator franchise might leave a lot to be desired, the premise translates surprisingly well to tabletop gaming. Namely, AVP: Hunt Begins, which plays out just like a tabletop war game. It also has many, many miniatures.

Unmatched

Surprisingly often, this involves sending one dude down into the sea armed with a hammer and/or baseball bat. Now if you answer your question wrong the Question Master will then go ahead and ask the other members of their team, if they get it right they get a bonus move to the next space on the board that matches the question colour. If they get it wrong that round has ended. We had really great fun playing The Best of TV & Movies game. Although we did not get every question right we had a good try. Even my five year old got some of the questions right and she had a little celebration every time she did. I would say this is one of the best games I have played in a while as we all watch some tv and movies and all the family can play. The QM now asks the next question on the card to the playing team and play continues (question, move, question, move) as above until all the questions on the card have been asked. This ends the turn and the teams swap roles for the next card. WINNING ZONE

In this game, you control one of six factions angling for Spice - literally the most precious resource in the cosmos. Split into two acts, the first part sees you beating up thugs and getting those levels in, while the second part follows the descent into Lo Pan’s lair. The bonus cards are Mute Button, Change The Channel and Fast Forward. The Mute Button card stops a player in the other team answering any questions during a turn. Normally this will be played on someone who knows a lot about the topic on the card. Paranoia and unspeakable madness are inevitable in the board game adaptation of John Carpenter’s The Thing - where you get to kill your friends on the icy fields of Antarctica.

We’re asked this fairly frequently on social media, and the answer is: ‘sorry, not at the moment – but never say never!’