Another 4 years has come around and we get ready as a world to celebrate the coming together of all nations under an Olympic Games event. The Winter Olympics 2026 is now upon us and we as a Zatu blogging team thought we would take the opportunity to share some of our Winter themed games. Just as the Olympians prepare to compete furiously for GOLD, we will be doing the same over the tabletop on these brilliant games. Take a look at the teams favourite featured games.
Whale Riders the card game - By Dan Philips
In 2021 Reiner Knizia’s Whale Rider hit the tabletop scene and seemed to do pretty well but along side it, a little overshadowed was a small card game in the same universe. The game puts you into a fantastical world where you work with the ice whales to deliver goods before the great frost hits. Its wonderful illustrations of characters in thick, wool lined warm coats whilst riding whales in the icy waters certainly sells the winter vibes of this game. The card game version is a very simplified mechanism that asks each player, on their turn, to play a card. The cards represent different types of goods that all need different amounts to fulfil consignments.
Once that amount has been achieved collaboratively, those who have played those cards bank them for scoring and all other cards in play are discarded. This continues until the deck runs out. The higher value the cards the more will be needed to play so pushing your luck may pay off in points but you could lose a lot of cards if someone else beats you with a lower point good. There are also cards that cause a frost which will destroy certain goods. It is a super quick, fun game of pushing luck and slowing other players down. It didn’t get a lot of love when it came out but it stays in my collection and makes it to the table On a regular occasion!
Nunatak: Temple Of Ice - by Sean Franks
If you want a game with an Ice theme then look no further than this, it already gives it away just from the title!
The game is based around the players getting involved in constructing the frozen temple, each turn you choose a card and place one of your blocks on a matching symbol, once a square of blocks is finished a new tile comes out which lets you start building the next level on top. Starting on a 5x5 grid, each level gets smaller until the last block of ice is placed and the final temple piece tops the structure.
The game has a good 3D presence with chunky ice cubes building up the pyramid, and the tiles all come with punched out holes to hold everything securely as it's built so no wobbly accidents near the end-game. As well as the table presence you also have some nice choices in gameplay, each round pick one of four cards available to dictate which tile type you can place your block on, either positioning to gain majorities in locations which can give you higher points, or trying to strategically block off your opponent’s scoring opportunities.
But then you need to consider each card type also provides different end game scoring conditions. Artisan cards have different tools and give set collection points, similar to 7 wonders science cards, Architects score higher based on the amount of rows you finished off, Builders score highest points for whoever has the majority, and so on. There are also Blessing cards available if you choose an Elder card, they have effects that could range from giving you higher scoring points for some categories or for placing your blocks in certain positions.
There’s some other things to consider like dual option cards and other end game points scoring, but for now just appreciate the temple in all its icy glory!
The Battle of Hoth - Pete Bartlam
When considering what worlds evoke visions of winter then for Star Wars fans of a certain age there is only one answer – Hoth! The ice planet in the second Star Wars film The Empire Strikes back (2 nd on the screens but 5 th in the series – please don’t write in! ��) where the Rebel Alliance’s Echo base was discovered and subsequently attacked by the Galactic Empire’s Blizzard Force of specialist At-At walkers and snowtroopers.
The rebels fight back valiantly with their Snow-Speeders and artillery but are ultimately forced to retreat off the planet and evacuate before the base is crushed.
Well, that was the outcome in the film but you can now replay the iconic battles yourself: as Darth Vader or General Veers can you crush the rebels before they escape or as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia repel the dark forces thanks to Days of Wonder’s Star Wars: Battle of Hoth. Building on the easy to grasp and quick to play Command and Colors system used in Memoir ’44 we are given a blank white world to place terrain tiles of ridges, trenches and icy Seracs to skim our Snow Speeders over or plod the dreaded At-Ats forward. The 74 miniatures
are all accurate sculpts of the units we’ve seen on screen and are scaled to suit the game as representative tokens.
Orders are given via command cards which enrich the thematic flavour whilst also preventing an omniscient level of control. There are a lot of scenarios to play through either separately or as part of two different campaigns.
My one quibble is with the flat cardboard scenery having to remember which sticks up to block LOS and which are holes to block movement so I made some 3D versions and increased the winter feel.
Frosthaven - Pete Bartlam
Winter is coming!
Winter is coming, the ominous warning that opened Game of Thrones, well in Frosthaven Winter is already here! Shiny as an ice crystal, hard as a glacial nunatak, Isaac Chidres’ mammoth masterpiece moves us North from the comparative pleasantness of Gloomhaven to the chill white wasteland of the outpost Frosthaven.
This is a big, big game in every sense. When I heard it was 40 pounds I thought that was the price (I wish!) but that was the weight of the box!! To own Frosthaven needs commitment to a significant investment not only financially but also in your game playing time over the ensuing months.
You lead your team of weary mercenaries picked from 17 different playable classes through 138 different scenarios confronting any, or many, of the 64 various enemy types in search of gold and glory. The tone is set by Scenario 0: Howling in the Snow where you are set upon by a pack of dire wolves in the barely passable mountains before you even get to the northern outpost itself.
Presuming you make it, not guaranteed, you spend seasons alternating between missions and building up the battered town buildings. This latter being much more than was available in Gloomhaven and the home board evolves by adding stickers as buildings increase and/or new lands are opened up.
The innovative card based gameplay combines your character’s abilities and a random drawn Attack deck which can be manipulated to get results. Your cards are gradually whittled down until they and your character are “exhausted” making very tight games.
Frosthaven has everything. The two spiral-bound scenario books hold over 350 pages of detailed RPG level script backed by 2500 cards and 18 sculpted miniatures to give more flavour than a gourmet meal. But it might need de-frosting!
Hey, That’s My Fish - David Ireland
At first glance, Hey, That's My Fish! looks like a lighthearted children’s game. It features adorable penguin minis racing across a hex-grid of ice to snatch up as many fish as possible. Don't let the cute aesthetic fool you; beneath the surface lies a cutthroat, deeply strategic experience that will have you second-guessing every move.
The brilliance of the game is in its movement mechanic. On your turn, you move a penguin in a straight line as far as you want. When the penguin lands on its destination, you pick up the tile you started from and add it to your score. This creates a shrinking board where every move literally removes a piece of the frozen landscape. As the ice disappears, gaps form, and what started as an open field quickly turns into a series of isolated islands and dead ends.
The strategy isn't just about grabbing tiles with three fish; it’s about "blocking" and "benching." You are constantly looking for ways to cut off your opponents' paths, eventually trapping their penguins on tiny islands where they can no longer move. There is a real head scratcher in deciding whether to go for a high-value tile now or move defensively to secure an entire section of the board for yourself later. You can never be sure if you made the correct call as every move directly impacts the game.
With a setup time of just a few minutes, creating a unique game landscape each game and only taking around 15 minutes to play, it is a wonderful game for filling in or when you are short on time. It’s rare to find a game that a six-year-old can play competitively against an adult, yet both walk away feeling challenged. Hey, That's My Fish! is a modern classic—a fast, fun, and fiercely competitive game that belongs in every collection.
Alpenglow - by Ian Paczek
In Alpenglow you are managing a ski resort, constructing chairlifts to access the mountain, upgrading your resort to gain special powers, building out the village to attract more skiers, and playing cards to create groomed pistes. You run a shuttle bus service to transport skiers from the village to the mountain, but there have to be chairlifts and runs to get them up and down.
You have two seasons to develop the very best resort and since you have five buses, that works out as ten turns. This means you don’t have long to develop your engine and complete your goals.
At the beginning of each season, you set up your bus route in the village by placing your five bus tokens on orthogonally connected buildings in the village. On your turn you take one of your buses and use it to transport skiers from the building to your resort. Next, you play a run card to add run tokens to the mountain followed by the action on the card. You can then build a chairlift or upgrade an existing one or you can build a building in the village, or a hut on the mountain, or an upgrade to your resort. Finally, you have to decide whether your ski area is ready for skiers. If you decide to open up, then you move skiers from your resort to the mountain, collect income, and pay the operations fees. During the game, delivering skiers can gain you victory points, but most victory points are scored at end game for goals achieved and the extent of your ski area including buildings, huts, and chairlifts.
This is such a fun game with a strong snowy winter theme that is complemented by the artwork. The style is very much retro vintage, like apres ski advertising posters from the ‘50s. My favourite thing about the game is the quick start sheet and accompanying how to play video.
Dead of Winter - Chris Ridley
Dead of Winter drops you into a snow-choked colony hanging on by a thread. You and the other players lead bands of survivors through a brutal winter where the cold is just as deadly as the zombie hordes outside.
At the start of each game, a shared objective is chosen, determining game length and win conditions, and each player is given a hidden agenda - a secret objective they must complete to secure victory. Some hidden agendas involve players hoarding supplies or recruiting the biggest group of survivors, while others may be traitors hellbent on the colony’s demise.
Each round brings a new crisis that reflects the harsh setting: desperate outsiders demanding food, generators failing as temperatures drop, or supplies running dangerously low. Players secretly contribute cards to overcome the crisis. Success keeps the colony stable, while failure means starvation and loss of morale, risking putting the colony on the brink of unrest. Watching who helps, who "can't," and who disappears to loot the gas station instead gives you clues about their true motives.
At the end of each round, players can vote to exile someone from the colony. Being cast out changes that player's motives, often turning them into an active threat on the fringes of the frozen town.
One of the best features is the Crossroads deck. Each turn, a new card is drawn with a trigger condition - a named character, a certain location, or a specific action. If the trigger is met, the active player is thrown into a well-written scenario that requires you to trust your instincts and do what you think is best for survival. These moments add narrative weight, making every turn feel like part of a larger story about survival in the snow.
Dead of Winter is perfect for a winter-themed game night if your group enjoys tense, semi-cooperative play with atmosphere and tough moral choices. The cold and starvation feel as threatening as the zombies outside.
Evolution Climate - Chris Ridley
In Evolution Climate, you build animals with the sole purpose of surviving. But every round, the climate shifts and other players evolve in ways that may threaten your species. You're constantly adapting, pivoting, and making tough calls just to keep your species alive… even if it’s at the expense of others.
Each player starts with a single species. One moment, there's plenty of vegetation at the watering hole as you thrive in the tropical climates. But before you know it, the climate shifts and you enter an ice age, where food becomes scarce, and animals become desperate. Your peaceful herbivores might starve. Or they might adapt and become opportunist predators. Each round brings new dangers and new opportunities, as the climate changes will affect your species' population and chance of survival.
The real pressure comes from watching what other players are building. Someone may be creating efficient hunters, while another player has a herd that thrives in the cold. You're forced to constantly adapt - not just to the climate, but to what everyone else is doing. Evolution Climate rewards the player who adapts the fastest. You need to recognise when it's time to evolve into carnivores and exploit vulnerable herbivores, or when to strengthen your defensive strategy with traits like burrowing and defensive herding. The climate changes. Other players evolve. If you don't move with them, you'll go extinct.
Evolution Climate is a beautiful game, with gorgeous watercolour artwork and easy-to-teach rules. There’s a real satisfaction in creating your own creatures and watching them evolve to survive new challenges. If you love animals, strategy games, or the idea of building your own ecosystem under pressure, this one's worth checking out.
Final Thoughts
We hope you have enjoyed our Winter Themed feature with plenty of games set in the treacherous cold conditions. Hopefully we’ve given you plenty of ideas of different games to have a go at, there’s lots of brilliant games to choose from.
We’re excited for the Olympic games to come, bring back the gold Team GB!
