SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — I've been putting together gift guides for over a decade and one of the major trends of the past few years is the growing popularity of tabletop board games. So, this year the focus has shifted dramatically in the direction of new and indie board games. There are a couple of video games in the mix, but the general difficulty of tracking down a next-gen console has left me feeling a little jaded.

Don't forget to check out my other 2021 gift guides including Star Wars, Disney and Pixar, television and streaming, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Descriptions provided by the manufactures with the occasional edit for brevity and clarity.

• Arkham Horror: The Classic Game of Lovercraftian Adventure - The town of Arkham, Massachusetts is in a panic. Horrific and bizarre events have begun to occur with increasing frequency, and seem to point towards some disastrous cataclysmic event in the future. Only one small band of investigators can save Arkham from the Great Old Ones and utter destruction!
  
  
• Arkham Horror The Card Game - Something evil stirs in Arkham, and only you can stop it. Blurring the traditional lines between roleplaying and card game experiences, Arkham Horror: The Card Game is the Living Card Game of Lovecraftian mystery, monsters and madness!
  
  
• Mysterium - A horrible crime was committed on the grounds of Warwick Manor thirty years ago. Now the mansion is haunted by the ghost of the murdered servant and it’s up to a group of psychic investigators to get to the bottom of the mystery.
  
  
• There's Been a Murder - A Collaborative Card Game of Death and Deduction - There’s been a murder, and you and your friends must work together to solve it! In this fully cooperative social deduction game, players use their cards to determine who holds the Murderer card in their hand.
  

• Valor & Villainy: Minions of Mordak- Valor & Villainy: Minions of Mordak is a one vs many roleplaying boardgame for 2-6 players. One of you plays as the comically evil wizard, Mordak, and the rest form a band of Allies called the “Order Without Borders,” who must halt his path of destruction.
  
  
• Sorcerer City - Entire city blocks built by magical forces. Buildings rotating in crazy directions. Neighborhoods forming and reforming in the quest for prestige. Welcome to Sorcerer City! As a city-building wizard, you have two minutes to place your tiles and build a magical city to produce Magic, Money and Influence. But beware! Monsters are lurking in the city and may disrupt your plans.
  
  
• Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef - Players take on the role of a young hero competing to be named a Tidal Blade. By gathering the needed resources, signing up to compete in Challenges, and timing your arrival at different islands you can make the most of your Hero’s turns and rise in the ranks of the contestants.

• Bloodborne: The Board Game - In Bloodborne: The Board Game, players take on the role of Hunters in the city of Yharnam. Together, they must uncover what is happening in the city. They must defeat monsters and complete quests, making many meaningful decisions about their progress as they go. The game uses an innovative card-based combat system, with players able to customize their combat deck as the game progresses.
  
  
• God of War: The Card Game- The end of the world is nigh. But there are those that seek to alter the path of history and avoid this terrible Cataclysm. Trying out different combinations of heroes and quests will find the one that will avoid ragnar, or die trying.
  
  
• World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - a Pandemic System Board Game - Epic Heroes, Epic Struggles - Iconic World of Warcraft heroes unite to defeat the Lich King in a series of epic quests, drawing from the most popular World of Warcraft expansion story.
  
  
• Fallout: The Board Game - Based on the hit video game series by Bethesda Softworks, Fallout is an exciting adventure game in which one to four survivors will begin at the edge of an undiscovered landscape with one primary objective: to survive. Staying alive, however, is just the beginning.
  

• Kim-Joy's Magic Bakery - Your favorite British Baker, Kim-Joy, has moved to a magical forest and opened up a small bakery. Now she needs your help to keep customers happy. From sly foxes to needy cats, gossipy ducks to clumsy dinosaurs, you’re about to have your hands full keeping this bakery running smoothly.
  
  
• 7 Wonders: Architects - As one of the great ancient architects, your goal is to create a wonder to amazing that it, as well as you, will go down in history as a testament to human ingenuity and skill!

• Ticket to Ride First Journey Board Game - First Journey offers unique rules designed for a younger audience that retain the strategy, charm, and fun of the original Ticket to Ride. The whole family will enjoy claiming routes and completing Tickets!
  
  
• Pebble Rock Delivery Service - Pebble Rock Delivery Service is a lightweight pickup and delivery game for gamers and their families. Play as one of four sea captains as you race to deliver much-needed cargo to the remote islands of Pebble Rock.
  
  
• CATAN Junior Board Game - CATAN Junior takes place on a ring of tropical isles—including the mysterious Spooky Island, home of the Ghost Captain. Each island generates a specific resource: wood, goats, molasses, or cutlasses. You can also find gold.
  

• Spiritfarer- A cozy indie management sim about dying where players take the role of Stella, ferrymaster to the deceased, as she befriends and cares for spirits on their way to the afterlife. Spiritfarer is available now for the first time in physical editions worldwide for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The physical edition of Spiritfarer features a 96-page digital art book, six collectible postcards and sticker stamp sets highlighting exotic locations from the game and a digital download of the game’s soundtrack.
  
  
• Gang Beasts - Gang Beasts is a multiplayer party game set in the mean streets of Beef City with surly gelatinous characters, brutal slapstick fight sequences, and absurd hazardous environments. Players customize their character and fight local and online enemies in the melee game mode or fight with friends against the gangs of Beef City in gang game mode.
  
  
• Disco Elysium: The Final Cut -The definitive edition of the ground-breaking, multi award-winning open world role playing game with an insane amount of choice and consequence. You’re a detective with a unique skill system at your disposal and a whole city block to carve your path across. Interrogate unforgettable characters, crack murder cases, or take bribes.
  

• National Geographic's Brain Games the Game - Be the first player to successfully complete challenges in 4 categories - Logic, Vision, Language, Mind and Body - to win!
  
  
• Pitchstorm - A party game that puts you in the position of an unprepared writer pitching movies to the world’s worst executives. Each round, one player acts as the executive, while everyone else plays as a writer trying to pitch them the next Hollywood Blockbuster.
  
  
• Trial by Trolley- From Cyanide and Happiness, an adult party game of moral dilemmas and trolley murder! In Trial by Trolley, one player is on an out-of-control trolley speeding toward a fork in the tracks. Everyone else splits into two teams and must use their wits and their cards to convince the Trolley Driver to spare their lives!
  
  
• League of Legends - For the first time ever, the League’s champions come to life in a new “Champion Collection” of collector-grade figures by Spin Master. Realistic, premium details and accessories make these a must-have for every fan! Pictured: 4-Inch Figures, 5-Pack 4-Inch Figure Set, and 6-Inch Figures.