Understand that when I say that I dislike the game CV, I'm not entirely certain that I'm talking about the game. It may only be the premise. But that is enough. A tableau-builder, CV is about building out the life of a fictional person. In three stages, you'll purchase cards to add to your CV, following hidden goals and attempting to build, essentially, the best person. CV is quite like a sort of realistic Valeria,with Yahtzee-style rolling representing life's ups and downs. And though it's a wholly competent game, we found ourselves wishing it would just be over.

Journey into your emotions with Cerebria, the game that pits dark and bright emotions against each other as they fight for control over a single brain. Cerebria is an absolutely gorgeous game, with uniquely intriguing art, detailed miniatures, and a game board that -- well, borders on excessive. Playing Cerebria is not unlike playing its predecessor Anachrony -- and that is a double-edged sword in terms of playability. With a solo mode, competitive mode, and team-based mode for three competing teams, Cerebria can be a lot of fun in the right hands.

In Ravine, you will die and you will be resurrected. You will craft a spear and you will go mad with power. You will find a squirrel (good) and a moose (bad). Ravine is a cooperative crafting and strategy game in which you and your fellow survivors have crash landed in a mysterious and deadly location, and you must survive until help comes. Developed by the same company as Spaceteam, Ravine somehow evokes the feel of an old school adventure game, while also being random, arbitrary, and fun in all the ways that I usually hate.

Defeat enemies and protect the city in Hail Hydra -- but be aware that some of your heroes have been turned into Hydra agents. Hail Hydra is a social deduction game similar to Doppleganger, in which players are battling an unknown enemy, don't necessarily know who that enemy is, and must instead use their wits and their skills in order to limit their risk. Unlike Doppleganger, it's tilted more heavily towards the side of the double agents -- and is nigh impossible to beat for the side of "good."

Have you ever been trapped in a cycle of pharmaceuticals? Take medication for anxiety, and it causes depression. Take medication for depression, and it causes suicidal thoughts. Take some medication for your suicidal thoughts, and suddenly you're back at anxiety. Side Effects is a casual take that card game with a simple premise: try your best to solve all of your disorders at once, before anyone else does.

A game about building a coral reef is a whimsical repast that can almost make you forget that we're actively destroying our actual coral reefs. Reef is a beautiful, tactile abstract strategy game in which points are scored almost like in Bunny Kingdom -- exponentially and randomly. There's a learning curve in Reef that's almost incidental: once the game clicks for you, you'll see yourself suddenly intuiting the ways to best play the game.

The King has died -- and now has come the time to show the kingdom your power. In King's Guild, only one guild can preside over all the rest -- it's your job to make sure it's the right one. Each player is in control of a different guild, with the ability to gather resources, hire workers, build additions, and -- importantly -- complete quests. With very fast turns (players can do one thing each turn) and a rapidly changing environment, King's Guild is probably one of the best new games of its class.