Ausreisser (Pierre Jacquot)

A personal favourite for many years, this is a simple card game of bicycle races. Each round is fairly quick to play, but the problem is stopping: it's just addictive: £8.00.

Ave Caesar (Wolfgang Riedesser)

The classic chariot-racing game – and another long-time personal favourite. It's a pretty simple game, but has great pieces and is huge fun: £21.00.

Fire & Axe (Phil and Steve Kendall)

Take your Viking crew exploring, trading and raiding around Europe. This is a big production version of the Ragnar Brothers' great Viking Fury. Lots of tactics and history: £35.00.

Ostia (Stefan Risthaus)

As traders in Ancient Rome, players have to balance selling goods and swapping them for prestige points. The first brings in cash to buy more goods, but it's the second that wins the game! A neat card game. Special offer: £12.00. (German edition with English rules.)

Tempus (Martin Wallace)

A terrific civilization development game from Martin Wallace. The rules are relatively simple, given the subtlety of the game. A challenging strategic contest: £30.00.