Sky Team, Nucleum lead most-wished for games in August | BGG Stats

Hachette’s co-op aeroplane landing board game Sky Team soared to the top of the most-wished-for game rankings on BoardGameGeek in August, pipping Simone Luciani and Dávid Turczi’s heavy euro Nucleum to the number one spot.

Sky Team has benefitted from a slew of influencer and social media interest since its arrival at Gen Con early last month – it’s certainly been all over BoardGameWire’s Twitter feed – and has picked up praise for its fast-paced action, quick playtime and novel theme.

Nucleum, and alternative-reality industrial revolution simulator, comes in at the heavier end of the board game weight scale, and has drawn favourable comparisons with Brass and fellow Luciani design Barrage. It was added to 1,755 wishlists on BGG in August according to data collated by user Igor Larchenko, just short of Sky Team’s 1,915. Both games are currently rated at an impressive 8.4 on BoardGameGeek.

Other heavily wishlisted games on BGG last month included new Vital Lacerda offering Inventions: Evolution of Ideas, which raised almost $800,000 on Kickstarter in July, and standalone Dune: Imperium spinoff Dune: Imperium – Uprising.

The most new owners ranking on BGG is usually dominated by newly-released games, but in August you had to stretch down to sixth place to find a game released in 2023 – and even that was a luxury reprint in The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition.

Perennial new owners stalwart Azul clawed its way to the top spot with 2,980 new owners registering the game on BGG, with Wingspan in second place with 2,079. 7 Wonders Duel, Cascadia and the veteran Catan rounded out the top five places, while Disney’s Lorcana trading card game – which anecdotally seems to have drawn a massive fanbase in casual gamers – only added 1,251 new owners on BGG.

New Owners Top 10, August 2023

1) Azul (2017) +2980
2) Wingspan (2019) +2079
3) 7 Wonders Duel (2015) +1683
4) Cascadia (2021) +1567
5) Catan (1995) +1424
6) The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition (2023) +1417
7) Ark Nova (2021) +1330
8) Codenames (2015) +1264
9) Flamecraft (2022) +1254
10) Disney Lorcana (2023) +1251

Wishlist Additions, August 2023

1) Sky Team (2023) +1915
2) Nucleum (2023) +1755
3) Inventions: Evolution of Ideas (2024) +1631
4) Dune: Imperium – Uprising (2023) +1530
5) Forest Shuffle (2023) +1040
6) Forbidden Jungle (2023) +1019
7) Andromeda’s Edge (2024) +911
8) Freelancers: A Crossroads Game (2023) +794
9) Galactic Cruise (2024) +783
10) Shadows of Brimstone: Lost Tombs of Khamuntet (2024) +761