Welcome to our top 5 list of hot games for August 2021!

As usual, Board Game Bandit has compiled this list of the top 5 most popular and new games available for the month.

5. Dream Crush

If you are looking to relive your 1990s childhood favorites like “Dream Phone” and “Girl Talk” this popular party dating game is perfect! And back in stock for everyone who has been anxiously waiting for a copy.

Search your heart and pick your favorite Crush, then guess who your friends are crushing on in this totally timeless fantasy dating game! Discover sweet and strange secrets about potential Crushes while navigating funny relationship highlights that will leave your feelings spinning as you play. Only with correctly guessing who makes your friends hearts pitter patter will you live happily ever after with your own Dream Crush!

Dream Crush was inspired by the classic dating games of the past half-century, and features a gorgeous cast of Crushes.

The game is played over 5 rounds: with each role a Milestone Card gradually increasing impact revealed (example: “They ask you to be on their bar trivia team” or “You must co-sign a lease with one Crush”. Then, a Secret on each Crush is revealed, giving insight into their personalities and lifestyles.

Players secretly picks a Crush to embark on the Milestone with, marking it on their scorecard, while also forecasting who their friends will choose. When all players have recorded their responses, players take turns showing their choices, often participating in passionate table-talk to defend their decision.

Correct guesses count as points toward a total that determines the winner.

Buy Dream Crush online now!

4. Underwater Cities

This game makes our list this month because of the eagerly anticipated reprint. This one has been out of stock for a long time and Rio Grande has just completed another print run of this board game favourite.

Underwater Cities takes about 30-45 minutes to play per player, players signify the most powerful brains in the world, brains chosen because of the overpopulation of Earth to create the best and most livable underwater areas achievable.

The main focus of the game is card placement. Three colored cards are arranged along the main board into 3 x 5 slots. Players place cards into slots of the same color. Then players can take both actions and advantages: the action shown in the slot on the main board and the advantage of the card. Actions and advantages can let players take raw materials; to build and upgrade city domes, tunnels and production buildings such as farms, desalination devices and laboratories in their own underwater area; to move their marker on the initiative track (which is significant for player order in the next turn); to activate the player's "A-cards"; and to accumulate cards, both special ones and basic ones that permit better decision options in gameplay.

Nearly 220 cards are divided into 5 types according to the way and time of use. Underwater areas are planned to be double-sided, giving players many opportunities to achieve points and win.

Buy Underwater Cities online now!

3. Canvas

Why didn’t this game make our last blog - Best Artwork? What a miss! Canvas is a new release, this beautiful, lightweight family card game is for 1-5 players.

In Canvas, players are painters competing in an art competition. Players accumulate art cards, layering 3 together to generate their own unique Painting. Each card holds a piece of artwork and a set of icons for scoring. Icons can be revealed or hidden based on the way you choose to layer cards, creating an exciting puzzle. Paintings are scored based on a set of Scoring cards that change every game. The game ends when players have created and scored 3 paintings.

On a turn you can take an Art card or create a painting. Art cards are chosen from a row of cards laid in the center of play. Each card has a cost linked with their position. After choosing an Art card you pay its cost by putting an Inspiration token on each of the cards to its left. Tokens on the card you picked are used on future turns. The far-left card costs no Inspiration tokens.

If you have 3 or more Art cards you can chose to create a painting and score it.

When all players have made 3 paintings the game is over.

Buy Canvas online now!

2. ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo

Releasing later this year, ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo is a surprisingly lightweight cooperative game based on the Alien movies.

In ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo, players are Nostromo crew members Ripley, Lambert, Parker, Brett, or Dallas. During the game, they collect scrap, craft items, and fulfill objectives. The crew looses and gains morale as they encounter the Alien and other situations. If crew morale hits zero, players lose the game.

Each turn has 2 phases. In the Crew Action phase, players stalk through the Nostromo's halls, collecting scrap, crafting items, trading scrap and items with other players, and using items and their special abilities. If the Alien is within 3 spaces of the player holding the incinerator, the player can use it to send the Alien back to its nest.

In the Encounter phase, players draw and resolve an Encounter card.

Once the players fulfill their objectives, they confront one of five final missions, each with their own set of requirements. Players must achieve the final mission's requirements at once to win the game. Players may also bring in Science Officer Ash for a more challenging game. Ash travels throughout the ship, removing scrap and forcing the crew to lose morale.

Buy ALIEN: Fate of the Nostromo online now!

1. Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile has been one of Board Game Bandit's most popular preorders. With its release this month, its popularity is reaching a fever pitch! If you are a fan of heavy strategic and thematic games, check this political, fantasy new release out.

In Oath, 1-6 players steer the course of history in an ancient land. Players take the role of agents strengthening the old order or scheme to bring the kingdom to ruin. The consequences of one game will flow through those that follow, changing the resources and actions future players may have at their disposal and modifying the game's core victory condition.

If a player takes control by courting anarchy and distrust, future players will have to cope with a land overrun by thieves and petty warlords. In a later game, a warlord may try to find a dynasty, producing a line of rulers that might last generations or be crushed by the rise of a terrible, arcane cult.

In Oath, the game can be reset at any time and doesn't need the same group to play from one game to the next. A player can use the solo mode to play multiple and use the same game for a game with friends.

Buy Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile online now!