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Chocolate and hazelnut must surely be one of the world’s best pairings. Nutty, choccy deliciousness that can be spread on everything! On toast, melted over pancakes, hell, straight out of the jar with your finger…..this delectable sweet treat is hard to beat. Made by Ferrero in the 1960s, Nutella squished these two top tier ingredients together and became such a hit that no French child goes to school without a slick of the sweet stuff! They even use a similar combination to spoil the Ambassadors’ guests with Ferrero Rochet! But sadly not everybody can indulge.
So for those who can dig into this glorious-gobbleworthy goo and those who have to watch out for nefarious nuts, here are some game suggestions inspired by World Nutella Day which is celebrated on 5 February 2025!
FORAGE: A 9 CARD SOLITAIRE GAME
I love games that fit into my pocket, and Forage is a brilliant end to a fabulous little series of card patching, placement optimisation micro 18 card games. Following on from Orchard and Grove, this autumn inspired edition involves collecting berries, nuts, and mushrooms from the forest floor. Every time you patch over the same goodie, you get to record it on a sweet little custom dice. But watch out for mismatches that will entice mischievous little mice intent on blocking your foraging efforts! With enough cards to play two games back to back without shuffling, I’m nuts about this little solo game!
PATCHWORK VALENTINE
As well as being the month that goes nuts for Nutella, it’s also Valentine’s Day (and my husband’s birthday). So chocolate is never far from our thoughts! Patchwork Valentine is a reskin of Uwe’s polyomino powerhouse, but instead of quilts it’s chocolate boxes. Goodbye buttons and fat quarters and hello scrummy chocolates and a sweet cherub! The rules are the same – buy pieces to fill your board and balance their cost in time against the benefit of those gold foil wrapped chocolates. With turn order dependent on how much time you have spent, you might get two, three or even four chocolates before your opponent gets look in! A game that looks sweet but plays sassy, Patchwork Valentine is a perfect compliment to this special day.
AZUL MASTER CHOCOLATIER EDITION
No Ambassador here, but the Master Chocolatier edition is most definitely spoiling us! Again this is OG Azul with an appetizing re-skin where the gorgeously chonky pieces are now made to look like chocolates and other sweet treats. Gameplay remains mostly the same with drafting, placing, and then scoring in each of the rounds. And you still need to gather enough of each type of tile to make your rows look tempting. But within this scrummy selection box, there are now double sided factory tiles and some new flavours in the form of special powers! So what are you waiting for? Dig in as this game looks good enough to eat!
CHOCOLATE FACTORY
In pre-Nutella time (don’t dwell on this dark moment!), clever business folk saw the benefits of making money from delicious dark, milk and white chocolate treats. And in Chocolate Factory, you are playing chief chocolatiers! A euro game with a sweet centre, you have 6 days to make your mmmmmm money. Converting cacao to delicious chocolate and then refining them into boxes of different types is going to be the winning recipe. But you don’t have forever – the rolling(!) conveyor belt works like a timer, and you need the correct factory parts in order to get what’s on a given section of the belt. Your talented crew’s skills and experience in chocolate making and selling will help you gain crowd specific department store clients for majority bonuses at end game. You’ll go nuts for this strategy game.
WOODCRAFT
If you have a big appetite for gaming on this special day, Woodcraft could be one for you. Okay, so technically there’s no chocolate or hazelnuts in the game, but those chestnuts look sweet and can be key to your success! Just shy of a 4 weighting on Board Game Geek, and tracking at around 2 hours, you’ll have plenty of time and ways to hone your carpentry skills. Playing woodworking pros, you’ll be using dice to collect wood to turn into projects for your clients. With helpers, different varieties of wood, and tools, what you can make will develop over the course of a game. And those chestnuts? Well, spend them wisely and you’ll level up on all those things that you need to turn beech into boxes and bowls. And when you’re done, you can of course reward yourself with a big ol’ spoonful of glorious Nutella fore being so creative and clever!
We hope this has sated your appetite for some nutty, cocoa-cracking themed games! Enjoy every tasty turn on Nutella Day!
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