Top 15 Board Games of 2025

What makes a favourite sport? Is it the way in which it persistently entertains or surprises you? Challenges or delights you? Welcomes and invitations you? Is it discovered within the pleasure you are feeling to point out it to others? The starvation you possess to return to it as soon as extra? The have to climb increased and discover deeper? The recollections you smile again on and the individuals you share them with?

No doubt, it’s all of these items. A sport is simply pretty much as good because the expertise it hosts and the feelings it generates for these on the desk. Yet, it’s the gamers who trend a lot of that consequence. The excellent sport for me would possibly simply be the worst alternative for you. Despite our variations, we discover ourselves right here… Me sharing my strongest suggestions, and also you hoping to search out not less than a spark of alternative and/or vindication. What might be extra human than the need to search out and share frequent joys?

Board video games had been alive and effectively in 2025, regardless of the yr’s finest efforts to torch them. Thank goodness they survived. In some methods, you possibly can even say that board video games are thriving. Particularly if you happen to’re a fan of 2-player video games, social gathering video games, or trick takers. It was an excellent yr for these genres (as you’ll quickly see).

It’s price noting that I’ve deliberately excluded Bitewing Games publications from my Top 15. As a daytime dentist and a nighttime cardboard vigilante, any design that we select to champion will clearly be one which I like a lot that I personally see to its fruition. Rather than bump one other sport out of the Top 15 highlight, I’ll merely share afterwords what I like about every 2025 Bitewing launch. I’ll additionally grant some particular awards to different video games and expansions together with my favourite new-to-me sport launched earlier than 2025, finest sport I didn’t love, worst sport I adored, and extra!

Let’s have fun 2025 gaming, lets?

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15. Torchlit

For my tastes, Allplay had maybe their finest yr ever in 2025 when it comes to hit releases. It’s not stunning for one or two of their releases to finish up on my better of the yr record, particularly after they launch practically 20 video games in a yr. Yet it’s unprecedented for them to have … effectively, you’ll see. On high of that, their first sport to make my record is a trick taker! I’ve been fairly ambivalent about most trick takers lately — the flood of them is beginning to put on on me. But that doesn’t imply that one (or a number of) can’t sneak their method onto my record after they actually hit the spot. 

Torchlit marries an fascinating theme with a shocking presentation (from the legendary Harry Conway) to nice impact. Here gamers are delving right into a dungeon to battle monsters and declare loot. At the beginning of every hand, you’ll place your guess on how deep into the dungeon you’ll journey. Every time you win the trick or play a price that matches the trick-winning card, you’ll get to advance to the subsequent room. The loser of the trick (the bottom worth performed) will get to determine which performed playing cards get added to dungeon to develop into factors. So you’re aiming to land in your chosen room and in a room with essentially the most monsters. But you’d favor to be there alone, in any other case you could have the break up the factors with all different occupants! 

That could sound like far an excessive amount of for a trick taking sport to work, however some good design choices below the hood offer you extra flexibility than you’d count on. In our final play, I used to be capable of execute an exciting comeback and land on the jack-pot dungeon all on my own. 

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14. Tic Tac Trek

Tic Tac Trek is a type of sneaky-good video games which may be too sneaky for some. This charming little tin field is jam full of wooden tiles and campfires. Two gamers take turns drawing a sq. tile from the bag and putting it on their aspect (X or O) adjoining to an identical coloured tile. Whenever you place three of your image in a row, you’ll crown the final tile with one in every of your campfires. But that is the place issues get very intelligent — you don’t rating factors for the campfire itself, you rating factors for the empty areas surrounding your campfire. Sometimes it’s higher to cowl up your rival’s factors (particularly if they’ve a number of campfires clustered collectively) than attempt to construct out one other row of your tiles. Although it’s simple sufficient to play with my 6-year-old, I’ve loved some surprisingly cutthroat competitions with adults as effectively. 

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13. Animal Rescue Team / The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship

Now earlier than I hear any complaints, I simply need to say that if Matt Leacock can preserve utilizing the core Pandemic system for a number of designs, then I needs to be allowed to make use of the identical slot for 2 video games. Fair is truthful!

One of the extra playful productions I’ve encountered this yr comes from Shut Up & Sit Down’s debut title: Animal Rescue Team. In this sport, you and your mates are driving autos round, loading them with animals and gear, and delivering animals to shelters. Just like actual life, every automobile has completely different strengths and weaknesses… Some are higher at velocity whereas others can match extra stuff and even hitch a trailer behind. Random animal emergencies pop up across the board, and also you’ll should handle your time and assets correctly to maintain issues from spiraling uncontrolled. If the proximity of issues and the roll of the cube don’t go your method, issues can rapidly develop into tough. Thanks to the automobile logistics and animal challenges, this one appears like a pleasant spin on the Pandemic formulation (which occurs to be from the identical designer, Matt Leacock).

While Animal Rescue Team is the extra zippy and informal cooperative expertise, Fate of the Fellowship is extra of a “meat’s back on the menu” type of Pandemic sport. While many board video games have come from the Lord of the Rings IP in current a long time, Fate of the Fellowship would possibly simply be essentially the most thematic but. Here you are feeling the daunting quest of carrying the One Ring to Mount Doom whereas preventing again the forces of evil. The primary Pandemic system proves to be an amazing match, and people in search of one thing extra complicated (with extra occasions and talents and selection) will discover it right here. It’s an occasion sport that begs to be explored time and again.

As an added word, I don’t need to diminish both title right here by having mixed them into one spot. Both are nice experiences that I might fortunately revisit once more. One does not change the opposite (until you could have very restricted time and area for cooperative video games at your desk or in your shelf). I extremely suggest you search out the prospect to attempt each and luxuriate in what makes them distinctive.

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12. Feya’s Swamp

I used to be fortunate sufficient to choose up a duplicate of Feya’s Swamp at Essen… from a random stranger who was strolling round with it… days after it offered out on the writer’s sales space. I didn’t even ask him for it, he merely supplied. Sometimes fortune simply lands in your lap. Thank you form stranger.

Feya’s Swamp is an financial swamp improvement sport that allows you to boat round, throw events, and trigger a little bit of mischief alongside the way in which. My favourite side of the sport is how the islands develop outward over time by gamers including their tiles to them. This modifications the water routes which might be accessible to everybody’s boats and permits gamers to create bottlenecks, port monopolies, and all types of shenanigans. Meanwhile, you’ll be dashing for the very best employee placement spots and leaping on the juiciest monetary alternatives as you improve your actions. The participant pushed financial system jogs my memory of Brass in some methods, and I think about that an excellent factor.

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11. Piñatas

As talked about above, trick takers have strong-armed their method onto my record this yr. Coincidentally, this one can be from Allplay. Piñatas just isn’t essentially the most flashy or progressive card sport on this style. But it has confirmed to be one in every of my favourite aggressive trick takers for having a single good twist. You’re out of the spherical if you win three methods, and also you instantly rating factors primarily based on what number of methods different gamers have gained. Crucially, the final participant within the spherical successfully busts for ready too lengthy to exit and thus finally ends up with the worst rating outcomes. If you’ve ever been at a piñata social gathering, then it’s possible you’ll know what it feels prefer to be the final particular person in line to take a swing after that factor is already busted open and all of the sweet has spilled out.

Piñatas is splendidly punchy whereas staying squeaky clear in its execution. It’s not even all that new. This sport is principally an ideal meld of Reiner Knizia’s wackier Voodoo Prince and tighter Marshmallow Test — two video games that had been already extraordinarily related. So hate this choose if you want, nevertheless it’s technically a distinct sport. Plus it options illustrated piñatas that get overwhelmed to a pulp throughout the rising card values.

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10. Alibis

Alibis shares so much in frequent with Codenames — phrases are displayed throughout the desk and gamers give you clues to hyperlink them after which guess one another’s phrases. The key distinction right here is that Alibis is a cooperative sport (as an alternative of team-based) and everyone seems to be doing the whole lot concurrently. Each participant will get dealt two phrases and should give you a clue to hyperlink them. Then everyone sees all of the clues and should determine one another participant’s pair of phrases. There’s nearly no downtime or boring turns right here since you’re at all times doing the whole lot. If that sounds enjoyable to you, you then’re virtually assured to get pleasure from Alibis. It’s a crowdpleaser.

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9. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Trick-Taking Game

Beside boasting the longest board sport title of all time, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring — Trick-Taking Game presents a mighty high-quality spin on the cooperative trick taking formulation established by The Crew. The main variations are the thematic chapters and the uneven characters, together with some novel new concepts sprinkled throughout the marketing campaign.  While I nonetheless think about The Crew (particularly Mission Deep Sea) to be the goat on this style for its stronger approachability and countless selection, we’ve had a blast enjoying by The Fellowship of the Ring.

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8. Zenith

It’s time to blitz by just a few extra killer 2-player video games, beginning with Zenith! I’ve been recognized to champion an amazing tug-of-war sport, and Zenith is the subsequent worthy addition to this esteemed line of legends. In Zenith, you’ll make the most of a hand of multi-use playing cards (drawn from an enormous central deck) to tug planet tokens in your path, advance up the tech monitor, and tussle for a bigger hand benefit. Similar to Splendor, the playing cards you add to your tableau will grant you reductions on future playing cards. You’ll be juggling just a few completely different assets together with credit and zen when you attempt to maintain your rival again lengthy sufficient to cross the end line first. If you don’t thoughts an enormous number of card icons (and their accompanying participant aids which might be full of explanations), or not less than have the endurance to get the grasp of the cardboard language by the primary half-hour, then you’re in a for a cosmic deal with right here.

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7. Tag Team

This 2-player auto-battler is much extra fascinating than it has any proper to be. In Tag Team, every participant assembles a duo of characters from all kinds of choices and collects their related playing cards. Then all you do is introduce one further card to your programmed sequence every spherical after which watch it go time and again till one character is knocked out and the opposing workforce wins. There aren’t many choices to be made right here, however they’re pivotal selections. By choosing the place in your sequence to insert every new card, you’ll intention to synergize your powers and neutralize your opponent’s playing cards. But they’re trying the very same factor, that means it’s an expertise of thoughts video games the place you will need to predict the place your opponent will attempt to sync or desync their particular playing cards together with your particular playing cards within the cyclical duel to the loss of life.

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6. Toy Battle

Toy Battle is surprisingly easy but deliciously intelligent. Where Tag Team and Zenith require the best sort of particular person to get pleasure from their expertise, Toy Battle is easy to interrupt out and play with anybody. Just play a tile or draw two tiles. Draw two tiles, then play a tile. Play play draw draw play draw draw. Back and forth, backwards and forwards, badabing badaboom, right into a gradual crescendo with a swift victory. 

Every alternative on this quick-playing sport is much extra impactful than the playful presentation lets on. Your tiles characteristic numerous toys with robust skills, and also you by no means appear to have the proper tile on the proper time. You can cowl opponent tiles with your personal tiles if they’re stronger, and far of the sport is about holding the line of defense whereas advancing your offensive entrance. If your line of troops is minimize off out of your HQ, then your capability to broaden shrinks tremendously. This is all paired superbly with two methods to win — capturing the enemy HQ or surrounding stars to assert sufficient first. The cherry on high right here is that the sport comes with a whopping 8 maps. EIGHT. Madness.

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5. Merchants of Andromeda

Merchants of Andromeda has confirmed to be much more polarizing than I anticipated. It’s practically as guidelines heavy as Feya’s Swamp, but infinitely extra foolish and chaotic. I suppose if you happen to hand any individual a mango popsicle and don’t warn them it’s spicy, they may be upset after they take a chunk.

This one doesn’t even attempt to cover its wacky taste. One take a look at the busy boards and aggressive paintings should clue you in to its brazen nature. Merchants is successfully 5 distinct mini video games crammed right into a single expertise and strapped along with a dutch public sale. What’s a dutch public sale, you ask? It’s a bid clock that winds down till the primary participant leaps on the alternative to assert the prize on the present bid worth. This is facilitated by a free app the place gamers begin with their finger on a smartphone and the primary to drag away wins the public sale. It’s all about patiently pacing your spending and exactly bidding earlier than any individual else takes the prize. Patience is a tough factor to come back by when everyone needs to play these mini video games (particularly at 5-players). Timing is the whole lot right here — each in profitable the auctions and in competing throughout the boards earlier than their subsequent scoring occasion triggers.

While some people have lambasted Andromeda for having an excessive amount of happening throughout the gameplay and presentation, this one has been successful with my gaming teams to the purpose that they’ve requested to play it once more on a number of events. It’s a adore it or hate it type of sport, I suppose.

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4. French Toast

I don’t wanna brag, I don’t wanna boast, I like French Toast. 

This is one other choose that can get me thrown in board video games jail. French Toast technically launched in 2021… however this was possible a 700-ish copy print run for a 500 backer marketing campaign from a really small writer. Barely a blip within the board sport business that was forgotten as rapidly because it got here. In actuality, the sport hasn’t been correctly (broadly) launched till just a few weeks in the past at PAX Unplugged. So is it previous busted or new hotness? YOU DECIDE. I’ve obtained larger issues to fret about… like what on earth is the key noun I’m purported to guess on this sport?

French Toast has a little bit of a 20 questions vibe — one particular person attracts a secret noun card and everybody else tries to infer what it’s through rapid-fire interrogation. But as an alternative of asking sure or no questions, you’re skipping straight to the final half the place you guess precisely what the noun is. All the Toastmaster can do is reply … “French Toast” … OR they’ll repeat the phrase you guessed! They’ll latch onto whichever one is nearer to the precise noun and proceed to echo that phrase till any individual guesses a fair nearer one. Sometimes the group can pigeon gap themselves within the mistaken path, however thankfully the Toastmaster offers them a clue firstly of each spherical (which hopefully will get the group again on monitor). 

The fantastic thing about French Toast is that it’s easy sufficient to play with anybody, from a bunch of avid gamers to a household gathering with children, and it’s full of electrical guesses and attractive go agains. What an amazing social gathering sport.

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3. Magical Athlete

Magical Athlete is a celebration sport in disguise, particularly as a result of it really works effectively at 4-6 gamers. Heck, you’ll be able to actually have a riotous time at 3 gamers if everyone performs two characters every. This racing sport turns lemons to lemonade with a taboo mechanism that each one hobbyists detest — roll to maneuver. It ought to NOT be enjoyable to race round a easy monitor by taking turns rolling a six-sided die. This is the type of stuff that makes the final inhabitants assume that board video games are for youngsters solely. But Magical Athlete is constructed completely different.

Layered on high of this easy premise is a cornucopia of hilariously damaged powers. A banana that journeys different racers as they go by. An enormous child that hogs the area all to itself (and makes my 4-year-old yell “Big Babyyyy” in her deepest masculine voice). A suckerfish that attaches itself to the closest racer. A lovable loser who features some extent each time they begin their flip in final place. A tall bloke aptly named Legs who can simply transfer 5 as an alternative of rolling their die… each single flip. 

This is the type of sport that everybody needs they’d owned rising up (as an alternative of Chutes & Ladders or Sorry). It’s the type of sport that makes you are feeling like a child once more. It’s the type of sport that may convey grown ups, grandmas, and youngsters across the desk for a riotous event. It’s enjoyable boiled all the way down to its purest type.

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2. Regicide Legacy

I wasn’t positive the creators at Badgers from Mars might pull off the feat of creating a full-blown legacy sport. Especially since their solely different title was a small card sport that merely makes use of a regular deck of playing cards. That’s an enormous leap when it comes to undertaking scope. But to say that Regicide Legacy has been a pleasing shock could be the understatement of the yr.

For those that haven’t performed customary Regicide, that is one in every of my all-time favourite cooperative video games. You can play it with a regular deck of playing cards if you wish to attempt it. Players are going up towards jacks, then queens, then kings on this restricted communication boss battler. If I play a ten, then I deal 10 harm to the present boss. If the go well with performed is a spade, then I defend all gamers towards the boss (successfully lowering the boss’s assault by 10). If the go well with performed is a membership, then my assault worth is doubled. Hearts and diamonds grant you the flexibility to replenish your draw pile and fingers. These skills are enjoyable to juggle, however then there are different intelligent wrinkles like bosses being proof against their very own go well with, bosses getting added to your deck as you defeat them, gamers being able to play units of playing cards collectively to mix powers, and extra. It’s an excellent system and the very best inventive use of enjoying playing cards I’ve ever seen. My solely grievance could be that there isn’t something new to see after you’ve overwhelmed the sport at numerous participant counts. Enter Regicide Legacy…

Regicide Legacy takes what was already a difficult system and cranks up the madness to eleven. You’ll encounter new bosses, make the most of new powers, completely alter playing cards, and extra. You’re not allowed to progress to the subsequent degree till you beat the present one, however the sport has an amazing system that permits you to rent more and more stronger mercenaries that can assist you overcome the impediment. It’ll take loads of performs to get by your entire marketing campaign, particularly at increased participant counts the place gamers have smaller hand limits (or in different phrases, much less well being). But we’ve had blast battling by this one at 2-players, and I hear it even works nice solo.

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1. Hot Streak

Before Hot Streak got here alongside, it appeared like we had seen the whole lot that racing/betting video games needed to provide. We have the timeless Winner’s Circle with its secret betting (the easiest way to play) and intelligent idea of rolling a cube and deciding which horse to assign it to. There’s the traditional Camel Up with its layers of betting intermingled with the opposite motion choices of rolling cube and affecting areas. And there’s the brand new hotness of Ready Set Bet with its tense real-time guess claiming. But whereas these video games are all about manipulating the percentages, hatching schemes, and pivoting techniques in the course of the race, Hot Streak is a spectator sport initially. 

Hot Streak understands greater than any sport that the fun of betting is all concerning the emotional funding of the bettors. That’s why no choices are made in the course of the precise races — gamers can focus all their power on cursing or cheering their mascots. That’s why the mascots themselves are a few of the most delightfully garish figures you’ll encounter in board video games, every with their very own title and character and historical past. That’s why the race deck is full of comical disasters and surprising comebacks. That’s why your remaining winnings are much less about crowning a victor and extra about setting the course in your life’s story as a degenerate gambler. Everything right here is lovingly crafted all within the title of placing on a present and providing you with a gaming expertise to recollect.

Many of my favourite gaming recollections of the yr had been born from my performs of Hot Streak. Everything from the manufacturing to the expertise is a house run. That’s why it’s simple to crown this one as my sport of the yr.

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Celebrating Bitewing Games’ 2025 Releases:

Best Cold Pitch — Iliad

Of all of the designs I’ve ever been chilly pitched, Iliad stays the very best. Unlike our different publications that had been tasks I sought out or that started off as promising pitches and ultimately developed into worthy candidates, Iliad landed like a strike of lightning — vibrant, daring, and excellent. I solely needed to learn the foundations to see that this one was particular…

• The 2-dimensional tug of battle throughout rows and columns of juicy rewards and threatening disasters.
• The contrasting combination of a decent hand dimension with versatile tile skills.
• The competing victory situations of unique colour assortment versus level supremacy.

Add within the epic greek mythology paintings from Harry Conway, and all of it combines into what appears like one other stone-cold traditional from Reiner Knizia.

Best Grower — Ichor

As a hobbyist, I’ve not often been all that drawn to pure summary video games. Between the unforgiving excellent data and the traditionally muted presentation, it’s exhausting for me to get enthusiastic about shifting round pawns or tokens in a battle of wits. So after I first encountered Ichor, I discovered the premise to be neat, however I wasn’t anticipating to fall in love with it. Yet as I started to play, and I stored encountering endlessly new challenges and alternatives from the uneven character skills, I noticed that this was rapidly changing into one in every of my all-time favourite 2-player video games. There’s a lot to dig into right here between a bigger map, further characters, and an optionally available gate module. And it’s all supported by a satisfying core of whisking your figures round like rooks as they depart behind a path of tokens in a race to place out all of your tokens first. No surprise Reiner has been tinkering with this design for many years till he lastly perfected it in Ichor.

Proudest Production — SILOS

As a board sport writer, generally you rent a proficient artist for a undertaking and hope that they’ll clearly see the tip product which you could solely considerably make out in your thoughts’s eye. It’s a blurry silhouette which you could barely understand by a thick fog, and also you’re relying closely on the artist to chop by that fog. Other occasions, inspiration strikes and you’ll clearly see all of it — the items, the playing cards, the desk presence, the wow issue. SILOS was the latter for me… I knew it could have chunky figures displaying a human on one aspect and a disguised alien on the opposite. I knew they’d be sporting dapper hats as they kidnapped people and cows beneath a roaming UFO. I understood that the sport wanted designated discard areas to assist gamers depend the playing cards and dig into the thrilling chances. The imaginative and prescient was ripe for the taking.

Of course, the artwork workforce for SILOS (Kwanchai and Brigette) nonetheless managed to exceed expectations. And Reiner managed to do much more than I hoped with the gameplay selection. I’ve liked this wacky space majority sport ever since I first performed it as Municipium, and I’m extraordinarily pleased with what our workforce was capable of evolve it into.

Favorite Gaming Experience — EGO

I like to explain EGO as an epic push-your-luck public sale journey. It delivers the whole lot I need in an enormous field board sport. Gorgeous paintings and wonderful tactility throughout the parts. A wild rumpus ripe with memorable interactions and dramatic surprises. Rich alternatives for cautious methods and intelligent techniques. A gradual tempo of motion and choices with out the bags of fiddly repairs or extreme downtime. Unique flavors and mechanisms that aren’t discovered wherever else. An unlimited wealth of selection and depth that rewards repeat performs. And a streamlined system that lets the desk get to enjoying rapidly. Simply put, EGO is one in every of my favourite video games of all time.

Best Crowd-Pleaser — ORBIT

ORBIT went by a serious improvement overhaul between the preliminary pitch and the finalized model. The fascinating core premise of racing to and browsing on numerous shifting targets was at all times there. But we thought-about all types of wacky paths to take it down. All the credit score goes to Reiner, particularly for his relentless deal with maintaining the sport fast-paced and streamlined. Thanks to his easy system of play a card and do the whole lot on it in any order, ORBIT has confirmed to be one in every of our most approachable and common large field video games. I additionally love how Vincent Dutrait introduced this space-race to life with vivid planets and trendy ships. There are loads of methods to play ORBIT because of the numerous modules, however my private favourite is the 4-player partnership mode with the devious nebula tokens and ridiculous hyper accelerator engine included.

Favorite Domino Game — Gazebo

Gazebo manages to seize the vibe of dominos higher than another domino sport I’ve performed. It’s all about being mild in your ft —  benefiting from the alternatives in your hand and on the board. Do you begin a brand new nook, develop an previous one, block an opponent from a profitable alternative, concoct a hostile takeover, pounce on a juicy bonus? It’s a beautiful tactical time with a beautiful presentation from Alisha Giroux. I get pleasure from bouncing round between the 4 completely different maps — they every present a definite taste of Gazebo that retains me endlessly hungry for extra.

Most Clever Game — Gingham

This yr we printed our twentieth title, which is totally bonkers to me. We’ve all encountered the idea of a 5-year plan and a 10-year plan. Where do you think about your self in X variety of years?… That type of factor. Well I can guarantee you that my 5-year plan on the finish of 2020 most actually didn’t envision me being a full-time board sport writer with 20 titles below my belt. I used to be recent out of dental college, for heaven’s sake!

Anyway, out of the 20 titles that we’ve now printed, I imagine that Gingham is essentially the most intelligent of the bunch. The design is born from a dichotomy between flip order benefit and strategic alternative. That dichotomy is represented by a sq. grid proven throughout a gingham blanket. Players are positioning their queen in a row after which deploying an ant to that row between their queen and the central sew. The row that offers you the very best flip order benefit offers you the worst strategic alternatives, and vice versa. The goal is to construct networks of your ants that join matching sweets. The problem is that gamers are sometimes racing for a similar sweets and preventing over the identical areas. So Gingham is all about studying the board state and discovering essentially the most profitable alternatives when you jockey for flip order. It is extremely rewarding of good play.

Favorite Travel Game — Bombastic

Bombastic has develop into my new favourite journey sport by a protracted shot. How so?

• It performs in 5 minutes.
• It’s lifeless easy to show anybody.
• I can actually play it on the seashore or on an airplane tray desk.
• I’ve by no means had a nasty play of this. Either it ends hilariously rapidly when any individual unintentionally explodes or it evolves right into a tense battle the place you begin to second-guess your reminiscence. 
• It’s delightfully moreish. The completely different playing cards and the order they arrive out proceed to ship surprising moments. It’s the type of sport that begs to be performed time and again.

Amid the handfuls of mechanisms, a whole lot of performs, 1000’s of releases, and thousands and thousands of guidelines, it may be far too simple for us hobbyists to show our noses up at dumb, foolish video games. Especially video games which might be constructed on easy commonplace ideas like tic tac toe. But Bombastic is a type of useful reminders that video games needs to be initially about play. And I like that it lets me play with anybody, wherever.

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Best New-To-Me Game Released Before 2025

Winner: Leviathan Wilds — I’ve mentioned it earlier than, and I’ll say it once more: Leviathan Wilds is among the finest large field cooperative video games I’ve ever performed. It avoids the frequent pitfall of being an overcomplicated fiddly mess and as an alternative gives its replayability by fascinating character combos and quite a few boss challenges. The idea of scaling a gargantuan beast whereas it tries to squash you is refreshingly distinctive and expertly executed for a board sport. This would simply haven been in my Top 5 of 2024 if I had performed it that yr. Bravo, Moon Crab Games.

Honorable Mentions

• Mexica
• Magic Maze
• Wheedle
• Linko
• River of Gold

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Best Reskin/Reprint

Old traditional sport introduced again to life (generally with a brand new visible fashion)

Winners: High Society and Calimala — Allplay’s new model of High Society is absolute dynamite — it takes a masterpiece and provides three spicy new playing cards from Knizia, all in a shocking manufacturing. Calimala, newly illustrated by Ian O’Toole, proved to be one of many favourite video games of my gaming group because of its stunning parts and distinct space majority competitors.

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Comeback Award

Haven’t performed in years… even higher than I keep in mind it.

Winner: YINSH — Shoot, I haven’t performed YINSH in roughly 8 years. But I obtained the prospect to attempt it once more (this time on Board Game Arena) and was struck by how strong this summary technique sport is. You’re shifting your rings round, flipping tokens as you go over them, and attempting to line up 5 of your tokens in a row. Despite culling a whole lot of video games from my assortment, I used to be clever sufficient to maintain this one round. I’m lengthy overdue to mud this one off and dig into it extra!

Honorable Mentions:

• The Castles of Burgundy
• Iwari

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Fall From Grace Award

Once revered, now rejected

Winner: Skyrise — I’ve had actually nice performs of Skyrise. But this yr I’ve additionally had some very painful performs of it. This one advantages vastly from a bunch that shoots from the hip and doesn’t suppose too exhausting about bidding. If you’re enjoying with people who’re liable to evaluation paralysis and overthinking each single bid, you’re in for an agonizing sport. Not solely do gamers have to think about what to bid, however in addition they have to judge the place to bid… each single time the public sale will get round to them. My final play was so gradual that I used to be comfortable to purge this one from my assortment and by no means see it once more (until with the best group).

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Best Game I Didn’t Love

Winner: The Hobbit: There and Back Again — It’s apparent that this scenario-based roll & write sport was made with love, each by the designer (Dr. Knizia) and the writer (Office Dog). The situations are impressed by their supply materials and creatively various, and the manufacturing is among the finest I’ve seen for a roll & write. I can perceive why this has been such a scorching title in 2025. All that mentioned, I used to be bored to tears by this sport. Slowly extending my routes to all of the landmarks, gathering just a few punchboard tokens right here and there, and racing to assert a pair 3-point bonuses first was as thrilling as watching paint dry. Each state of affairs felt like homework, and the prospect of enjoying all of the situations stuffed me with reluctance and dread. So relatively than put myself by such distress, I rapidly removed the sport.

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Worst Game I Adored

Winner: Slambo! — I get a kick out of Allplay’s tiny field line. For $9 a pop and some quick minutes of your life, you’ll be able to discover all types of gaming experiences. There are loads of fascinating design ideas on the market that maybe don’t maintain as much as shut scrutiny or the next worth level. But the neat factor about this tiny field line is that it permits the writer to place out extra experimental merchandise and aggressively search out fascinating bite-sized video games. Slambo is a straightforward little card sport the place two gamers take turns manipulating the overall with plus and minus playing cards till one participant is “forced out of the ring” by pushing the overall under zero or above ten. I wouldn’t name myself a Slambo professional, nevertheless it appears like a one-trick pony with one optimum technique (do away with your largest playing cards first whereas attempting to maintain a wholesome stability of optimistic and unfavorable playing cards). I suppose you possibly can card depend as effectively if you wish to get actual critical. But even so, I didn’t dislike my performs of it. My six-year-old loves it as effectively. So whereas it’s not one which I’ll suggest to the world, I’ll preserve it round and dabble in some sumo card play every so often.

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Best Kids Game

Winner: Magical Athlete – Because after all it’s.

Honorable Mentions:

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Biggest Bummer of 2025

Winner: Tariffs. I suppose this won’t be so dangerous if you happen to lengthy for the great previous days of mass poverty below a corrupt monarchy.

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Best Video Game of 2025

Winner: Donkey Kong Bananza — As a lot as I like Mario and Zelda, it warms my coronary heart to see Nintendo make investments a lot cash, ardour, and creativity into one in every of their b-side characters like Donkey Kong. I grew up enjoying and loving the massive collectathons — Super Mario 64, Banjo Kazoo, Spyro, Donkey Kong 64, and Super Mario Sunshine. These are a few of the most memorable gaming experiences from my childhood, so for Nintendo to throw their finest builders and funds at a model new Donkey Kong collectathon is a dream come true. These individuals have perfected the 3D platformer, and it was a blast to see them discover that with destructible environments and a lovable hulk-smashing protagonist. If this sport doesn’t put a smile in your face, then you must in all probability test for a pulse.

Honorable Mentions:

• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• Kirby Air Riders
• Mario Kart World
• Hades 2 (Probably… after I get round to it)

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Best Film of 2025

Winner: The Ballad of Wallis Island — While Hollywood continues to churn out more and more putrid sludge, there are nonetheless some nice movies being made by passionate artists and competent groups (if you happen to look exhausting sufficient). The Ballad of Wallis Island is one such movie I can heartily suggest. A unusual superfan wins the lottery and pays his favourite musicians to get again collectively for a efficiency on a distant island. That sounds prefer it might be the premise of a horror movie, nevertheless it’s really a heartwarming comedy/drama that hits the spot in all the best methods.

Honorable Mentions:

• Kpop Demon Hunters
• Frankenstein
• F1 The Movie

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Launching on Kickstarter Soon

One of our greatest releases of 2026 is launching on Kickstarter quickly! We’ve crafted the last word gold rush sport that includes competing mine corporations, artful inventory manipulation, rip-roaring shared incentives, doubtful diggings, trepidatious cave-ins, well timed canoes, California frontiers, devious bandits, and extra! Don’t miss out — follow the Kickstarter here.

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Article written by Nick Murray. Outside of practising dentistry part-time, Nick has devoted his remaining work-time to collaborating with the world’s finest designers, illustrators, and creators in producing stylish board video games that chunk, together with the critically acclaimed titles Trailblazers by Ryan Courtney and Zoo Vadis by Reiner Knizia. He hopes you’ll be part of Bitewing Games of their quest to create and share stylish board video games with a chunk.

Disclaimer: When Bitewing Games finds a designer or artist or writer that we like, we generally attempt to collaborate with these creators on our personal publishing tasks. We work with these people as a result of we like their work, and it’s pure and predictable that we are going to proceed to reward and luxuriate in their work. Any opinions shared are topic to biases together with enterprise relationships, private acquaintances, gaming preferences, and extra. That mentioned, our intent is to assist develop the interest, share our gaming experiences, and discover people with related tastes. Please take any and all of our opinions with a hearty grain of salt as you partake on this tabletop interest feast.