Scythe
2-5 players, 30-45 minutes per player
Strategy, Engine-building, Area Control, Balance (x5)
[Ever try to rebuild a community on a small, war-torn continent? You're going to need mechs. Because you need workers to join you, and you need to keep them safe. You need to acquire resources (by land or by trade), rebuild your buildings, venture out into the dangerous territory, enlist help from your neighbors... and keep your people happy. Your goal is simple - achieve your goals and become the wealthiest faction around.
The game looks like a war-game, but as mentioned before, it's more about the risk of invasion than having to focus on combat. The real challenge is balancing a long list of objectives and a long list of choices that you make each turn. Can you get your ducks in a row such that you're efficiently expanding your lands, growing your supplies, optimizing your workers and pleasing your people? All while under real danger with rapidly expanding neighbors?
The game looks daunting, there's a lot to learn, and your strategy will vary and change. But each individual turn is actually pretty simple. You have just one of four choices: move units, produce resources, trade for resources (or love), or beef up your military prowess. If you're doing well, you'll be able to take a second action as well, and it's simple. Upgrades make your turns more efficient. Buildings help you in various ways. Enlisting help from neighbors gives you advantages when they accomplish things. And deploying mechs... that's just fun!
It's in-depth, and as such, it's somewhat long. I've played with 5 players a few times, and 2 players once. It's quite reasonable with 2, and if you slowly build up to 5 with players that learn the game, it moves much more quickly with more players. (You have just enough time between turns to pick your next action, so you really don't feel the down-time.)
I don't recommend it to everyone. You have to want to learn a more complex system, and then you can appreciate the variety of strategies and differences in each turn, the surprisingly good balance of the game, and of course, high quality board, artwork and pieces. (While the Kickstarter edition has amazing resource components and metal coins, most of the goodness is baked into the regular version, including 20 miniature mechs and 5 miniature player pieces.)