The Ministry for the Future
This one starts out pretty intense, but it's worth pushing through for an honest and hopeful story of how things could go over the course of this century.
We Are Legion
Book 1 of the "Bobiverse" series by Dennis E. Taylor. These are science fiction at its best: fun and generally light-hearted, but paired with serious world-building and meaningful thought experiments about the future of humanity, identity and consciousness, climate change, and AI.
Wingspan
Wingspan is a beautifully illustrated bird-collecting game where the artwork on each card is stunning enough to make you actually appreciate the different species. As someone who's played it a few times, I love how it's strategic but not overwhelming, with gorgeous components like the birdhouse dice tower and pastel eggs that make the whole experience feel almost meditative.
Cascadia
Cascadia is an approachable tile-laying game about the Pacific Northwest where you create habitats and place wildlife tokens - simple enough to learn quickly but with enough strategic choices and scoring variations to keep it fresh each time you play.
