Between the illustrated atlas and the book of stories, playing Near and Far builds a potent and palpable sense of place. They travel into the wilderness, strike camp and take up quests. Heroes need to carefully balance their selection of equipment and provisions in town. It also improves the writing and mechanics of the previous game, creating something smart and fresh.

Near and Far throws exploration and adventure into the mix. Staying with the fantasy theme, Near and Far is a reworking of 2015's Above and Below, a surprising blend of resource management and storybook. That means you'll physically change your own copy as you play, until it becomes visually and mechanically unique to you and your group 2. It's got strategic combat, a choose-your-own-adventure style book to add narrative heft between adventures and, best of all, it's a legacy game. What’s made it so popular are several clever twists to the formula. Players cooperate to clear out treacherous tombs and risk-filled ruins. At its core, Gloomhaven is a classic dungeon exploration game. The massive box weighs over 8 kilos and promises untold hours of play. Let's start with Gloomhaven, 2017’s biggest hit. As long as you can find them in stock, of course. Take a look and take your pick - you can’t go wrong with any of these choices. Our list spans the range from light to heavy, competitive to cooperative, whimsical to serious. To help you keep track of this ever-growing snowball of awesome, we’ve selected some of the best and hottest new board games of 2017.

Best games of 2017 coming out