2025 has seen a real about-turn in the amount of time and headspace I have for gaming. It is much harder to allot time when you have a baby! Who knew hey? With that in mind, my top 3 games of the year are quicker to play and quicker to learn than my favourite games of any other year.
For my little 2 player game of the year then my pick has to be Dracula vs Van Helsing. This is a trick taking game with enough twists to feel like nothing I have ever played before. Although not a perfect game in terms of balance between the asymmetric characters, I have managed to win as both sides and have loved the puzzle each time. It’s a push and pull battle liner using trick taking as a basis but each card you don’t play out into your line you have to do its action. The higher the card, the better the action. To the point where discarding lower cards often hurts more than maybe just losing that area token would have done.
Things in Rings is my party game pick of the year. This is Venn diagrams and hidden information. Sounds like a work ice breaking event but it’s an absolute cracker! One player runs the game and places the item cards into the correct location and then players are trying to get rid of their cards by placing them correctly. If you get one wrong then you draw another card and end your turn.
One that I have struggled to get my husband to stop playing ever since it arrived is Moon Colony Bloodbath. This is a simultaneous play game (so it is fast) where you try to build up and engine only for the game to come and kick you in the face with an “accident” or “hunger” card. And you have to decide which part of your moon colony engine you will surrender. This is stupid fun and if you don’t take yourselves too seriously then I’d wager hard to find a more fun engine builder.
That’s my specifics, but I have assembled a merry band of zatu bloggers with their own ideas on what the best games they played in 2025 are. Remember these are new to us games not necessarily new releases although some of them definitely are brand spanking new ones!
Dan Street-Phillips
2025 has been a big game for gaming with visits to the UK Games Expo as well as Essen Speil (the biggest board game event in the world) and so I have played a lot! The game that has had the most plays this year is the newest from Jamey Stegmaier (of Scythe, Viticulture and Tapestry fame), Vantage. Designed over 8 years it is a huge open world adventure game which puts exploration at its heart over winning or losing. With over 1500 cards in the box, the replayability is huge. It quickly became my husband’s favourite game of the year and despite over a dozen plays we are discovering new things with every replay.
The next game I picked up at Essen and has hit the table so many times since. Emberheart, the new game from Mindclash games presents the world of dragon trainers in the gorgeous artwork of Andrew Bosley (Everdell). With a really interesting spin on worker placement, I am loving exploring it’s many strategies.
The final game is a cheat as it is from 1999 however it was whilst out in Germany this year I discovered it. Previously known as Battle line, Schotten Totten is a two player only game which sees you as fighting Scottish clans. It is a simple game of laying hands of three cards on opposite sides of a central line in order to win sacred stones. But there is so much game in here, with special tactic cards available to surprise your opponent. For such a small, inexpensive box there is so much to sink your teeth into.
Luke Pickles
2025 has been a year of “not many games played.” Life moves fast, and as it happened, I moved house around June. It meant a lot of games were squirrelled away in boxes. When I did get games played though, I had to make sure they were good ones.
My first pick of this year is the Mistborn Deckbuilding game. I love a good deck builder and, this year, I’ve gotten very into the works of Brandon Sanderson, so this was a match made in heaven. It’s a game where you use your cards to activate other cards, because the cards have two functions – either an action or as a metal used to trigger those actions. It’s full of characters and lore links to the books, and I had a great time playing it.
Second is The Anarchy, the sequel game to Hadrians Wall. Like the predecessor, it’s a massive flip and write game, where you’re trying your hardest to keep attacking forces from destroying your settlement. You can build your own walls up, in a clever 3D way, go up a whole bunch of tracks, and attack neutral castles each round. There is less interaction here than the trading in Hadrians Wall, but that’s fine! I don’t need to play with others, I think the game is pretty dang amazing solo. Especially with a built in campaign mode!
Finally, another sequel game, Tales of the Arthurian Knights. This game dives into the lore of King Arthur and his knights of the round table, having you undertake missions around the British isles, instead of the Middle East that the Tales of the Arabian Nights was based on. The game is much more streamlined than the predecessor, and you can have some hilarious stories from the back of it. For example we had a scenario that had a fellow knight towed naked by horse, whilst chased by bandits… in the middle of the Irish Sea. It’s a great image and I’m so glad I got to play the revised edition!
Neil Parker
For board games, I was able to play SETI in October on my board games retreat and it was a highlight of both the week and year. I do like the bigger, more involved games, especially strategy games with lots of options and asymmetrical play and SETI was a good experience and one that I look forward to repeating.
My next two choices are roleplaying games as I’d like to show a little love for these games, but also the sheer number of hours dedicated to these over the year and the fun we’ve had as a group.
First up is Wrath & Glory, set in the Warhammer 40K universe. I’ve been running a game where a team of agents, (think party of adventurers) find themselves working for the inquisition, with one of the team an inquisitorial acolyte and psyker, with a sister hospitaller, a cadian soldier and an aeldari corsair, looking into cases of heresy or simply stopping the ruinous powers or other factions in their schemes. The game is broad enough to allow for players to develop their career and carry out side quests without being too bound by the setting. The system is lightweight and focused on storytelling, lending itself well to a good spirit of co-production with players actively influencing session content.
Secondly, in Cyberpunk Red, I’ve been playing an executive in an edgerunner team, alongside a medic and two solos. In addition to all manner of capers, whether as a trauma team franchise, hired help or player team driven, we are building ourselves a base in the hotzone, in part because we are testing some homebrew base building rules. It’s a lot of fun and in Night City, it’s all about the style.
Pete Bartlam
I’m an Explorer at heart and a Cartographer by trade so I enjoy games where I’m making discoveries. My top 3 games in 2025 all reflect this: the strange steam punk mysteries of Expeditions, the peaceful travel through Eastern Japan in Tokaido and, my 2025 favourite, the icy plains combat of Star Wars: Battle of Hoth.
It’s no surprise that the first two are from Stonemaier. Their component quality, artwork and the solo automata are all outstanding. However it’s Days of Wonder who take my overall prize with their brilliant condensing of the epic Star Wars battle in the easy to play but subtle ruleset of Memoir ’44.
I love the Scythe world and Expeditions adds exploring the unknown. Given that you’re uncovering the aftereffects of the massive meteorite crash deep in Siberia it’s only fair that the terrain is different each time and only known when you discover it.
Far away in theme but not that distant geographically is Tokaido and its Zen-like journey up the East sea road of Japan from Kyoto to Edo. Travelling along a 3 stage journey taking in panoramas, hot springs and temples, buying souvenirs or meeting strangers before eating a hearty meal at the Inn. You can move as far as you want each turn. The last player goes first and can keep moving until they’re not last. Take your time and get more turns or race ahead to get a limited resource and block another traveller. Not quite so peaceful then!
Not peaceful at all but an all-out scrap is The Battle of Hoth! It is easy to understand and play but like chess it is not just about how the pieces move but how they combine to achieve victory. Lots of scenarios, two whole campaigns and an invitation to make your own to command your legions of snow-speeders, troopers, droids and At-Ats across the icy wastes of rocks, ridges and Seracs. Straightforward combat resolution leading to a quick outcome. At-At’s the way I like it!
David The Wellbeing Gamer
It’s been a real fun year of games in our home and the top 3 starts with Kavango. It’s actually Kavango and the Kavango lodges as I’ve been fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy of the expansion. We’ve really gotten stuck into the game this year and it has been providing a huge amount of joy and fun in our home, even if I have not been picking up too many wins. Kavango is a game focused on animal conservation within the African region. The lodges have added a level of puzzling work to be done on top of the game which sees the decisions taken in every turn have knock on effects throughout the game. It’s great fun.
Secondly, Zombicide 2nd Edition with the Fort Hendrix expansion set. I love this game. It is intense with a ridiculous amount of non stop action. Throw an expansion on top of that and it really feels like you are in a TV series. I found myself getting more attached to the cast of survivors and really wanting them to succeed and not get caught up in a Zombie Horde. Fort Hendrix sees Zombicide enter a military base with scripts to the play. With Zombicide, ordinarily you can see a route to take, the rules change in play with these campaigns and you really do not know what is coming which is quite stressful in that fun way. We got to mission 7 out of 10 in the Fort Hendrix campaign before getting overrun. I get the thrill of having another crack at it down the line.
And finally I’ve introduced my younglings to Marvel United, a wonderful cooperative game where players control the heroes against a villain controlled by the game. Players have to work together to prevent the villain achieving their master plan to pick up the win. It’s quite simple in rules which won’t appeal to all but it’s still very challenging to win and a game purposely picked up to play with my children and build in some teamwork and cooperation skills, as well as learning to win and lose and so far it has been very successful. As their understanding and reading develops and really looking forward to seeing them take charge of the game and come up with the strategies for victory. It has been great.
These are 3 brilliant games that have been featured so often in our home and will continue to be ever present on our table top for the foreseeable future.
Michael Collins
This year the TTRPG underworld witnessed something of the coup. And like all revolutions the whole thing turned on a dynamic of Hope and Fear. I am speaking here of Daggerheart and its remarkable success that could overturn the hegemony of D&D 5e. Published by the Darrington Press wing of Critical Role Daggerheart beats the slump of their previous ventures (Candela Obscura especially). This game snuck up on me impressed me instantly with its thoughtful and fun character creation system and clever game mechanics. It struck like a dagger… in my… uh… heart…. It works on the basis of Hope/Fear. It is graceful and exciting. Two d12s are rolled (one the hope-y one, the other the fear-y one) and the higher role taken. If you passed or failed with Hope or with Fear determines what the GM can activate do. Other TTRPGs can leave players can feeling persecuted by a DM unilaterally deciding the fate of everything. This makes the cooperate exercise in storytelling and participation often promised by TTRPGs (but seldom delivered) a reality.
Molly House explores decadent 18th century queer subcultures, avoiding constables while cruising Georgian London, having secret parties to earn Joy points for your community. Extraordinary historical research. Neat game system. Exquisite art. A landmark classic. Enough said.
Another top of my list for 2025 was the Blade Runner TTRPG by the inimitable Free League. In 2025 I managed to play through both of the official “Cases” published to date, “Electric Dreams” from the original core set and “Fiery Angels” and was deeply moved by the extraordinary storytelling (which adds to the feel of the original movies). Even for players whose circuits are not sparked by the idea of cyberpunk dystopias it is an excellent police procedural. I really felt pulled along by the plot as uncovering clues drove the case forward. The handouts are superbly and hauntingly done. It is a slick operation. As slick as a trenchcoat in them misty L.A. fog. This is a great, atmospheric experience that will stick in your memory and will not disappear “like tears… in rain”.
Ian Paczek
Scarface 1920 is a game with everything. Its theme oozes out like drops of blood from the trunk of a car. You play a mobster boss trying to secure their turf and improve the family business. It has worker placement, deckbuilding, tech trees, resource management, area control – everything! You’re fighting for a piece of the action in Chicago in the 20’s and you’re being pursued by Elliot Ness and his G-men. It has great minis, great art, high quality game board and lovely dual-layered player boards. It’s my top new game of 2025. Actually, the base game came out in 2023, but the new expansions were released this year. The base game plays four players, but the expansions allow for six in total.
Harmonies is a very tight game with a player board that you slowly fill with discs, some of which can pile up. You try to recreate patterns to score points. As always, with games like this, you are presented with an array of competing an mutually exclusive objectives. You can’t do everything, so you have to choose and then later, at your leisure, regret the choices you made. There is a market of five sets of three discs – a little reminiscent of Azul – and there is potential for hate-drafting here to deny others the discs they need to complete an animal card. It’s a lot of fun and not too long for a game with such a complex decision space.
Beyond the Horizon is kind of a sequel to Beyond the Sun. This time it’s a map of hex tiles that you explore and colonise. It has area control and tech trees and worker placement mechanisms. Players keep taking turns, checking at the end of each turn whether they can score a goal. Once a total of three goals have been scored, the game ends. Along the way, there is also competition for worker slots and technologies and map tiles. It’s really a lot of fun and my only complaint is the power tokens falling off the tops of the meeples.
