2025 was an incredible year for tabletop gaming, with designers pushing boundaries in creativity, storytelling, and mechanical depth. Yet, it was also a year of reprints, re-imaginings and perhaps a retraction in the crowdfunding market that might just be a hint that both publishers and consumers are taking a more conservative approach to their spending. Nonetheless, whether you love solo or cooperative experiences or crunchy, head-to-head conflict, our list highlights just a handful of the standout titles that captured our attention and delivered unforgettable gameplay moments.
Before I dive into this list, I want to say that this is by no means a top-ten list for 2025. There were a ton of games released in 2025, with many of those coming at Essen and not widely available yet. Ants, Covenant, Botswana and Orloj are just a few of those, but there are many games that we haven’t played enough to review and so they cannot feature here. Rather, this is a list of games that span a wide range of genres and weights, and which we had loads of fun when playing again and again across the year.
1: Nature
Essentially an update to Evolution: Climate, Nature is a highly modular ecosystem-building strategy game where players evolve species, adapt traits, and survive in a dynamic environment. With expansions like Jurassic, Flight and Natural Disasters already out (and Climate freshly off the crowdfunding train), Nature offers immense replayability and strategic depth in a rather beautiful package.
Read the full review here: Nature
2: Leviathan Wilds
Directly inspired by classic videogames Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, this cooperative boss-battler challenges players to climb massive leviathans and purify them. Each Ranger has unique abilities, and the game shines in both solo and team play for its tension and tactical choices. I’ve never before felt the “thrill” of climbing simulated in a game so directly, and whilst not perfect, Leviathan Wilds is beautiful, engaging and mechanically rewarding.
Read the full review here: Leviathan Wilds
3: Cyclades: Legendary Edition
A refined and reprinted modernisation of the classic Greek-area control game, Cyclades: Legendary Edition is bright, bold and surprisingly good value for money. Players bid for divine favor, build temples, and wage wars across the Aegean in a bid to be the first to complete three Metropolises. This updated edition adds streamlined mechanics and premium components for a more legendary (sigh) experience that is faster, smoother and more engaging than the original.
Read the full review: Cyclades: Legendary Edition
4: Middle Ages
Another pseudo-reprint, Middle Ages is a compact tile-laying game that draws from both Kingdomino and Majesty. Players construct medieval realms by placing incredible, interlocking building tiles and scoring adjacency bonuses. Middle Ages is perfect for families and casual gamers who enjoy a perfect blend of strategic planning and tactical pivots.
Read the full review: Middle Ages
5: Faraway
This small-box tableau builder punches well above its weight. By drafting a card into their hand each turn (and then playing one of the three they hold) players create a path of eight cards that represent their journey through a faraway land. Placing a higher card reaps treasures, whilst a low one will improve your turn order for picking the next card. This one is a bit of a brain burner at first, but the small box and simple gameplay make it ideal for travel and family holidays or game nights.
Read the full review: Faraway
6 The Hobbit: There and Back Again
Bearing in mind my intense dislike of roll-and-write games, it’s a surprise even to me that this game made our 2025 list. In Knizia’s newest classic, players draft dice and draw routes in their personal quest books, blending thematic storytelling with accessible mechanics for fans of Tolkien and family gamers alike.
Read the full review: There and Back Again
7: Earthborne Rangers
Set in a solarpunk future, this cooperative campaign game emphasizes environmental stewardship. Players explore, manage resources, and make narrative choices across a branching story that spans thirty in-game days and uses light deck-building to deliver a highly replayable experience.
Read the full review: Earthborne Rangers
8: Thousand Year Old Vampire
Thousand Year Old Vampie is a solo journaling RPG where the player chronicles centuries of vampiric existence. By writing diary entries, managing fading memories and exploring the nature of life and death, Thousand Year Old Vampire helps the player create deeply personal narratives whilst perhaps learning something about themselves. Not a game in the traditional sense, Thousand Year Old Vampire is an experience that any mature gamer could take something from.
Read the full review: Thousand Year Old Vampire
9: Defenders of the Wild
A cooperative card game about rewilding landscapes, fighting corruption and standing up to “the man,” Defenders of the Wild is a cute but outrageously challenging hand and action point management system that we adore. Players choose woodland factions and secretly play action cards to restore ecosystems, blending teamwork with strategic planning and using limited conversation to simulate the real-life chaos that comes with resistance.
Read the full review: Defenders of the Wild
10 Finspan
The follow up to both Wingspan and Wyrmspan, Finspan is an ocean-themed engine builder that, for me, entirely replaces its forebears. Players collect cards depicting aquatic species, hatch eggs, and manage a number of simple spatial mechanics for added strategic complexity. A refreshing twist on a beloved formula that removes all of the fiddle, but none of the fun.
Read the full review: Finspan
2025 really was a fantastic year in games, and with two reviews every week, whittling this list down to around 10 percent of the games we’ve reviewed was quite a challenge. As I said above, I don’t think these are the absolute best of the bunch, but every game here should appeal to a fairly broad audience. Games like Rebirth and Kinfire Council could easily have made this list (as could many more) but in the case of those two, a lack of availability means that there wouldn’t have been much point including them here.
What were your favourite games of 2025, and which games in this list do you think perhaps should be replaced so that your favourites make the cut?
