I was being forced to choose between a quirky farmer and aspiring (but sketchy-looking) businessfolk to live in my village when the Cozy Stickerville board game clicked for me. "Ah," I thought. "So it's tabletop Stardew Valley." And if that doesn't sell you on the idea, lord knows what will.
I've seen fans of the best board games going nuts for this since the beginning of the year, and gosh, now I regret all the time I wasted not playing it. Cozy Stickerville isn't your classic head-to-head challenge; rather than scrambling over your foes to victory, it's a gentle team experience that's all about building up a settlement from scratch and watching it thrive. While you can't 'lose' in a traditional sense, the challenge comes from the decisions you've got to make and keeping all your villagers happy. Every choice has a consequence in this board game, be it the buildings you can construct (the two settlers I mentioned earlier provide different options based on whoever you choose, for example) or making sure you've stored enough food to get through winter.
