Top 10 New-to-me of 2025

My friend suggested I rank the games new to me in 2025 and post them, so here they are! I was hoping there’d be enough to do a top 10 of 2025 releases, but there weren’t quite enough (I think I played 8 or so from 2025, and I didn’t enjoy Arydia very much, so would have felt weird putting a 6/10 on a top 10 list). But a few games from this year made it into my top 10.

Honorable Mention — Hubworld: Aidalon

Hubworld is an up-coming take on Netrunner—a head-to-head game with some deduction and bluffing mixed with resource management and card play. Technically, we’ve only been playing the demo decks; the game isn’t out yet, and it’s actually slated for 2027.

However, it would have made it into my top 10, but decided to not include it in the list since it’s not out, and I’ve not played a finished copy. Still, the demo deck is so good, I could play it several more times before I feel like I need to change anything.

10. The Vale of Eternity

We’ve played this some on BGA as well as in-person. It’s a very streamlined drafting, card-comboing game. The Artifacts expansion adds just enough new things to improve the experience without bogging things down. Lots of tough decisions, mixed with a bit of engine building, and it plays quickly. On top of that, it’s got fun art. Maybe not much theme, but that’s okay.

9. Brass: Lancashire

We’ve played Birmingham a handful of times, so it was finally time to try the original (well, the new version of it). I know a lot of people seem to prefer Birmingham, I actually really like both about the same, despite their differences. The core system is just fun, but I like what they do differently. There’s more to build in Birmingham, but the docks were interesting in Lancashire.

Luckily, everyone in the group enjoys both, so I haven’t had to worry about which one I’d pick.

8. Speakeasy

I was kind of surprised how far this made it in my rankings for the year, but I really enjoyed the card-play, comboing, and the process of making, delivering, and selling alcohol. There’s quite a lot of things you can do in the game, and you can easily get distracted. Loved that you can buy barrels from the boats or raid them and take their stuff, hopefully making off with a pile of cash in the process.

It’s still a tough one to play, with important pieces of your combos being all over the board; it’s tough seeing everything. But the one play has stuck with me, and I look forward to the next play.

7. Valheim: The Board Game

It looked pretty fun during the campaign, but it seemed to have some rough edges. And while the rules do have some clarity issues, the game has been a lot of fun. I’ve fought most of the bosses so far, with only Moder left. And I’ve enjoyed playing it as one-off scenarios instead of a campaign (I really didn’t need to take on another campaign right now!), but I look forward to seeing what the campaign is like when I get to it.

Sure, there’s tons of dice rolling, and the events can be a bit random, but it all fits the style of Valheim, and I love the events. I’m hoping they’ll make more in the future and we randomize which events are in the game, so it’s always fresh.

6. The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth

I really enjoyed 7 Wonders Duel, especially with the expansions, but the changes for this one really brought the game up for me. Obviously, the theme played a role too, but I’ve enjoyed having more victory conditions and no victory points. The looser economy is fine, too, but I also like the tightness of 7WD. But I also think the public landmarks are more interesting (and feel more powerful) than the wonders. This has completely replaced 7WD for me.

5. Sweet Lands

I’m still hoping to get one more solo game in before I do my top 100 rankings, but so far, I’ve really enjoyed this one, and it has stuck with me quite a bit. It’s constantly been one I want to play more of, and it’s only held back by the sheer size of the game and the length. It’s a bit of a commitment to get out, even solo.

But I love the amount of different strategies to pursue, and all the different ways to get things done. Lots of tough decisions, a tight economy, and a lot of game to explore; there’s a lot here that works for me. And a fun theme with great art on top of all that.

4. Distilled

We played this in person and on BGA, and it was a big hit with the group. It’s got many of my favorite things: a tight economy, a touch of engine-building, goals to shoot for, and even a little comboing (though in a different way than in something like Speakeasy).

The theme isn’t exactly a highlight for me, but it’s something different, and the game does a pretty good job of working the theme in. We’ve worried a bit about replayability, but so far, it’s been great every time.

3. Earthborne Rangers

I still haven’t gotten started on a solo campaign yet, but I want to at least start before doing my top 100. Still, just playing multiplayer, it’s been a lot of fun. I love how different our decks feel, and how much exploring there is in the game.

The story was a little slow to start, but I think part of that was to give players a few sessions to get the hang of the system. But I look forward to getting in more plays. I really suspect it’ll shine for me best at solo. There’s quite a lot of reading, which just works better reading to yourself than out loud to a group.

2. The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth

This was the first new game after making my top 100 last year, and I instantly knew it’d have made it into there somewhere. I actually kept going back and forth on the game when I was considering getting it; I’ve not had the best track record with app-driven games. There’s some I enjoy, but they’ve all rarely hit the table because I don’t feel like using the app. But I think this one, at least for me, has enough game at the table with the deck and various cards in your tableau, that the app hasn’t felt too intrusive.

It’s still tough sometimes getting a campaign game to the table often enough to finish, but I did finish my first campaign. The one started with my brother has stalled, so we’ll have to figure out if we want to finish or just start fresh some other time.

1. The One Ring RPG Second Edition

Yet more Lord of the Rings! It’s been slow getting through my first few sessions of this one since I’m learning the game and the solo version at the same time. And as I’ve mentioned a few times now, campaigns are tough to fit into the schedule regularly, especially with so many games competing for attention.

But having played enough to get a better feel for the broader system and how things come together, it’s been more fun with each session. I appreciate that there’s a bit of crunch in combat, but not too much, and the other systems are thematic and fulfilling without being equally as crunchy (but thankfully not overly simplified). I think they really got the right balance of mechanisms and immersion.

I’m probably one session left before finishing my first (short) adventure, which probably could have been done in one or two sessions if they had been longer. Though, I like being able to freely play short sessions if I want; it makes it a lot easier to get to the table.

I’m definitely going to get some of the other books. I’m especially curious about the Moria book, which adds a lot of new rules for dungeon crawling, now that I’ve gotten more of a handle on the main system.