End of Year & Top 100 (2025)

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20 — Earthborne Rangers

New in 2025

I was really excited to finally get this one this year after missing out on the first run of it. And though campaigns can be difficult to fit into our gaming, we’ve enjoyed the more relaxed pace of this one since it’s not as linear a story as something like Arkham. And there’s quite a bit of overlap in the designs, given the teams behind them. But this one is a little more relaxed, overall, and the randomness is toned down. It’s a really fun world to wander around in, and the process of completing missions and upgrading your deck is really satisfying. I ran out of time to start a solo campaign, but I think it’ll be even better as a solo game, given the amount of reading. Multiplayer games are also just not as immersive as playing solo.

19 — Altered

2024 #8

The state of the game is a little unfortunate, with the support mostly ending, and moving the game to being crowd-funded only instead of retail. But it’s a really fun and different game; it just relies on the digital stuff and unique card gimmicks too much. My friend and I haven’t been playing enough to keep up with releases, but we’ll probably enjoy what’s out there, even if the game ends soon.

18 — Agricola

2022 #48
2023 #65
2024 #50

We played this multiple times this year, though all on BGA since my friend sold his copy so he had an excuse to get the special edition. That version is a strict no for me, though, given AR’s use of generative AI. I instead picked up the big box version, which is definitely not worth the $130 price tag, but I got it for $70. I look forward to exploring all the decks and variants, which get really wild.

17 — Frostgrave

2023 #18
2024 #11

It’s been a while since I last played, but I’ve been slowly getting things to bring this back out, but with a playmat and proper terrain next time. I’ve already been planning my warband (lots of dwarves). It’s a great, clean miniatures game with an official solo/co-op mode. And they’ve done a great job supporting it over the years with tons of extra modules and scenarios.

16 — Arkham Horror: The Card Game

2022 #86
2023 —
2024 #13

I had expected EBR to be higher than AH. But for now, this one still tops EBR, but not by much! I definitely enjoy the relaxed difficulty of EBR, but I really like the tension in AH. I also think there’s a bit more depth to the cards and player decks in AH compared to EBR? I suspect that these two games will circle each other in the future. They’re very similar in a lot of key ways, but very different in others.

15 — Legend of the Five Rings

2022 #23
2023 #4
2024 #4

This almost made it back to the table this year, but got nudged out for another game at the last minute. Still a great game, and I enjoy both the LCG and the CCG. I managed to find great deals on the last of the Twenty Festivals decks I didn’t have, so now I have the full set of TF starters. Still no sign of FFG bringing this back, unfortunately. RIP to a classic.

14 — The White Castle

2024 #9

This is a modern classic for me. Tons of crunch without the piles of rules or pounds of components taking up the whole table. It’s so small and compact without losing the depth. I don’t know that’d I’d always play with the expansion, but I certainly wouldn’t mind playing with it. It slows the game down a bit and loosens up the economy and action spaces. I might need to get an insert, at some point. It’s pretty tough getting it all back into the box.

13 — Obsession

2023 #8
2024 #12

What an incredibly unique game. But, despite the awful rulebook (which they’ve finally made the effort to replace), it’s a very smooth experience. Pick a building to run, spend your workers, and play some cards. Then collect a pile of stuff from it. It’s crazy how large your hand of cards gets by the end, and how rich you can be one minute and broke the next. And the building display gets so tense trying to save up for the right building to grab it before your opponent. Always a great experience.

12 — Magic: The Gathering

2022 #14
2023 #34
2024 #49

I haven’t been back into Arena, but the new Avatar set was enough to convince my friend to try it. I don’t know how much he’ll be willing to dive into the game, and I still have little interest in the mainline releases. But if there’s at least one good set a year, that’s enough for me. Maybe I’ll splurge and buy a box from a previous set. I only played online for a long time, so I don’t have any Kaldheim or Innistrad or Kamigawa, and those were all really fun sets.

11 — A Feast for Odin

2022 #10
2023 #15
2024 #17

This year, I got to play the expansion some, and it opens up what was already an overwhelming game! It definitely takes a couple plays to understand it all, and I was still getting the hang of the base game, too. Regardless, it makes a lot of improvements and makes the options feel endless. It’d be hard going back to the base game without feeling constricted. It’s the ultimate Rosenberg for me.

Top 100: 10–1
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