Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 30 through 21
We’re getting really close to the Top of the list. Only 30 more games to go in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition. And yes, there are a fair number of new or new to me games that make the Top 30. Is that recency bias, sure, there is some of that, they are exciting and new. But others I 100% expect to still be in my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2026 Edition when that comes out. So we’ll have to see which games have that staying power.
Catch Up on the Top 100 Games
100 through 91
90 through 81
80 through 71
70 through 61
60 through 51
50 through 41
40 through 31
Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition – 30 through 21
30. Space Base
Published By: Alderac Entertainment Group
Designer: John D. Clair
This is a game that I should have played a long time ago. But it is one that left my collection and then I played it on BGA. Once I played it on BGA, I knew that I needed it back in my collection. Much like other games like Valeria and Mochi Koro this one is about activating spots based off of dice rolls. And then building up those spots so that you can activate more things. Space Base just ramps up in a much better way than those and offers some interesting choices and an interesting moment of when you change from money to points.
29. Symbiose
Published By: Subverti
Designers: Jeremy Partinico and Christelle Partinico
Not Available Yet
Symbiose is one of the new games on the list, in fact, I’m not sure you can get it in the US yet. But this is one I’ll be getting for sure. It’s a simple game where you try and get a two tall by four wide grid full of cards. And those cards are going to score you points based off of the other cards in the grid. But there is a simple twist that makes this work. You score your grid with the central four cards. But the ones to the left and right score your opponents to the left and right. And that is enough to make this a very fun game.
28. XenoShyft: Onslaught
Published By: CMON Limited
Designers: Keren Philosophales and Michael Shinall
Out of Print
I love cooperative and deck building games. XenoShyft does both of those things really as well as you build up your deck to fight off monsters. On the deck building side I like how you always get money to add to your hand. That means that you are always able to buy something which is good and rewarding. The other part is I can just give you a card, you need more troops, I can give you one. It is now part of your deck, and it’s not to the discard, it is straight to your hand. A very tough and rewarding game.
27. One-Hit Heroes
Published By: Wiggles 3D
Designers: AC Atienza and Connor Reid
This one is a theme that I like a lot with super heroes, but it is doing something different. You are heroes who are glass cannons, kind of. By that I mean if you take a hit you are out, but the game gives you tons of ways to avoid them. So you need to manage your hand and what the enemy is doing. And each enemy is different and each hero is different, so there is a ton of replayability in the box. Plus you level up, so to speak, as you play and get to add in new cards to your deck.
26. Planet Unknown
Published By: Adam’s Apple Games, LLC
Designers: Ryan Lambert and Adam Rehberg
Planet Unknown is one of my favorite planet terraforming games. In this one I love how you are covering up the planet and activating locations to move up on tech, and other tracks. The tracks are such a fun part of the game. And as you play the game more you play not with the starting abilities but with special ones. They make you unique, and of course there is the lazy susan. Being able to spin that and then pick where you want to pick from is great. You can set yourself up well, or you can try and mess over your opponents plans or ideally both.
25. Paper Dungeons
Published By: MeepleBR
Designer: Leandro Pires
Out of Stock
I think that this is the highest roll and write game on the list and one of the most complex that I play. Paper Dungeons is a “Dungeon Scrawler”, as they call it, where you level up heroes and explore the dungeon fighting monsters. But there is more than that, you need to manage your heroes health, make adventuring gear and find treasure. Of course, if you make it to the boss monsters that is another way to get even more points, but hopefully not at the expense of too much health.
24. Kingdom Legacy: Feudal Kingdom
Published By: FryxGames
Designer: Jonathan Fryxelius
Buy Kingdom Legacy – note, there might be an additional tariff related shipping charge in the US.
I was not sure about Kingdom Legacy the first time I watched a video on it, but the more I watched the more I liked it. This is a legacy game of managing your deck of cards by destroying cards, leveling up cards, or even adding new cards. And as you go through, you need to decide which cards are best used for upgrading and points and when to use cards for resources to level up others. It’s a nice balance of multiuse cards, and a challenge to optimize your score.
23. Ready Set Bet
Published By: Alderac Entertainment Group
Designer: John D. Clair
I like betting and I like racing when it comes to games. Ready Set Bet somehow combines the two of them into real time fun and stand-up moments. Personally I like both parts of this game betting and being the person calling the race. As you call the race, it’s just to get into it and keep the race moving and watch everyone else stand-up. As a better it’s all about trying to make the right bets the fastest. If you wait too long the best spots are gone, and if you bet too quickly you’re more apt to make bad bets. It sounds chaotic, which it is, but it’s also so much fun.
22. Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
Published By: Stronghold Games
Designers: Sydney Engelstein, Jacob Fryxelius, and Nick Little
Buy Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
Another game about terraforming a planet, Ares Expedition is a big engine building game of, well, doing a better job terraforming Mars. In this game it’s all about the action selection and how that works. I pick an action, everyone gets to do it, but I get a bonus for it. It might be a bonus of drawing more cards or a discount on building something. But then again, if my opponent(s) pick the same action, we all only do that action, and the other possible actions are skipped. So it’s always trying to guess what your opponent(s) will do to optimize your actions.
21. Hanamikoji
Published By: EmperorS4
Designer: Kota Nakayama
Finally is one of my favorite two player games. Hanamikoji is a game of trying to win the favor of Geisha by giving them gifts. Each one wants a certain gift and there is a limited number of them. You want to win the favor of four or eleven points worth.
But the biggest draw of this two player game is the action system. You only have four actions and you do one per turn and only once per round. They are simple actions like discarding two cards that won’t be used facedown, or putting one facedown that you’ll score. The other two offer a bit more with the “I Split, You Choose” mechanism in play, and makes you think about what cards you show your opponent for that.
Join Next Week
Just as a reminder, I am streaming my Top 100 Games (of all time) 2025 Edition every Wednesday night at 9 PM Central Time. The next few videos have their links up, so you can click notify on them to know when I go live. Or you can subscribe to the channel and click notify to know whenever a new video comes out. Currently I am playing through Legendary Kingdoms on Monday and then my wife and I are playing Baldur’s Gate 3 on Fridays. So join us for those videos.
And thank you for checking out the video and articles. Let me know what your favorite game from this chunk of 10 is and which one you would love to get played.
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