Most board games borrow their worlds from fantasy novels or history books. Aridnyk goes somewhere far less travelled, building itself on the folklore of the Ukrainian Carpathians. It is the debut game from Lviv studio boardova, and an English-language edition is on its way to UK Games Expo 2026.
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Start organising for freeAridnyk takes its name from a figure in Hutsul legend, the forefather of the Carpathians and lord of the meadow spirits. The game grew out of a graphic novel of the same name, published by UA Comix and illustrated by Liudmyla Samus, with Volodymyr Kuznetsov as lead designer and writer. The art and story carry real weight here rather than feeling bolted on.
In play, you take the role of shepherds leading flocks into the mountains from spring through to autumn, hunting for the best pastures and meeting the ancient spirits of the high meadows along the way. Each turn you lay tiles to move your shepherds and the spirits across the slopes, picking up rewards as the mountain landscape takes shape. It is a tile-placement game for one to four players, ages 10 and up, and it ships with competitive, cooperative and solo modes, so it can flex to whatever your group fancies. The shepherd who ends with the largest flock takes the win.
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See how it worksThe game has already proved its pull at home. Aridnyk raised $130,000 on Kickstarter, around 1,300 per cent of its goal, with more than 1,500 orders from the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK, Japan and beyond. That response is what is bringing it to a wider, English-reading audience.
For UK gamers, that means a tile-layer with a genuinely distinctive look and a setting you will not have seen on a dozen other boxes. boardova will have Aridnyk at UK Games Expo, which runs 29 to 31 May at the Birmingham NEC. It is the kind of quietly different game worth seeking out on a busy show floor.
Sources: boardova | Chytomo | UK Games Expo
