Top 10 New To Me Board Games of 2025

10. Schadenfreude

One of the few games that I didn’t play first or only play on Board Game Arena (BGA). Schadenfreude is a trick taking game but one with some weird rules. You want to be second in the game. If you win the trick you aren’t getting the points. Instead whomever comes in second gets the trick and scores their card and any that don’t follow suit. Some cards are going to give you positive points and some are going to be worth negative points.

But what I really love beyond that with the game is that as you get points you are trying to get as close to 40 total points as you can. This is something that might take a few hands. But the game is over in the hand where someone goes over forty points. If you go over forty points, you lose the game, you can’t win anymore, instead it’s the person who is the closest without going over who is the winner of the game. It’s a neat little twist on trick taking.

9. Pirates of Maracaibo

The biggest of the board games on the list just in terms of what is going on, Pirates of Maracaibo is the first of three games that I just always have a game of going on BGA. That’s because I constantly play it with one other person and it’s just always going. I love it when I come across someone who wants to keep playing a game so I can really learn it.

Pirates of Maracaibo is all about being a pirate, getting treasure, hiring crew, upgrading your ship, and exploring lands. There is a lot going, but almost all of it is pretty simple to learn and play. There are a few things that I want to get better at with the game, and that one person, I still haven’t beaten them. But I have gotten close so I think I will one day. But the game, when you know it, is thinky but fast to play and I really enjoy the theme and different strategies in the game.

8. Space Base

I owned Space Base and then I sold Space Base, why because I wasn’t playing it. I like to try a game before I sell them, but I just wasn’t playing it. And I had played games like Machi Koro and Valeria and those were fine. Then I played it on BGA and now I love it. I love it so much that I got it back into my collection and I have played it already.

The game is roll dice, activate spots, get income, buy cards and upgrade those spots. But I really like how as you play, you improve what you do on your opponents turn. When you upgrade a spot, the old cards flip vertically and now they activate a different ability on your opponents turn. And it is a race to see who can get points the fastest.

There are some trickier cards to teach in the game. But I think you can teach them as they come up. And once you know the handful of basic cards, the game is easy to play. And I like it a bunch more than Machi Koro which is fun, but feels slightly limited. This one feels like it was created with more purpose.

7. Symbiose

The second of three games that I have a standing game on BGA. Symbiose reminds me of games like Silver or games that I grew up playing with a deck of cards. In those you start with face down cards and you want to get rid of them and get rid of points. In this case, you start with face down cards and you want to build out an optimized scoring set-up.

I love how scoring works in this game. It’s a two by four grid, so two high and four wide. And the middle four cards, the middle two in each row, they are the ones that score for you. So the scoring on the bottom half of the card is what matters. And they score your whole grid. But to the left and right, those score your opponents to your left and right. So you need to decide when you flip those cards over and swap them. It’s simple but such a fun game.

6. The Guild of Merchant Explorers

I thought at one point that The Guild of Merchant Explorers could end up as #1 on this list. It is the game that I have played the most thus far this year. And that is because I love it on BGA. I often set-up a number of two player games because they go really fast and you don’t feel like you lose anything. Plus I play with a group of two others where we just have a standing game. So when one game ends a new one begins.

Watch me play it below and see if it’s for you. But I love how simple it is once you know how the game works. I think it’s even a very simple teach.

5. Kingdom Legacy: Feudal Kingdom

You saw me play through this on Malts and Meeples. And you can catch-up on that and watch it down below. This is a solo legacy game where you want to build out the best kingdom possible. You flip out cards and then you spend those cards to upgrade other cards. It’s all about managing your deck and setting it up so that you gain stronger actions. Of course there is a lot that you want to manage and you decide what scoring and what paths you go down in the game. I already bought another copy to play it again.

4. The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game

Do you love Lord of the Rings, this game is steeped in theme. Do you love trick-taking? Well this one is cooperative and pretty different in how it plays. Because you play through The Fellowship of the Ring with different characters depending on where you are in the book. And each character is going to want to win tricks in a different way, maybe a certain number of tricks, maybe a certain suit. So it is very tricky and changing and works really well. I want to dive into this more with a group of people.

The one thing I will say is that I think that The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game is not an introduction to trick taking. It is a very good game, but because there isn’t communication you need to have some idea of how trick taking works. It is too easy, otherwise to just repeat the same chapter over and over again. Because like a game like Euchre, you want to tell your teammate, in this case everyone that you have or don’t have.

3. Zenith

Zenith is a great two player game where you are battling for favor on planets. But there is more going on with it than just that. I really like how you battle for one of three different planet victory conditions. You can gain favor three times from one planet, once from four different planets, or five total favor tokens. But you do that by card play to gain favor, going up a technology track, and then spending cards to manage other things like gaining more income or more cards on your side of the board.

I really feel like every time that I play Zenith the game is different. And that is what I love about it so much. I don’t feel like I found a strategy that is going to work every time. I sometimes go for all favor from a single planet by playing cards. Or I might try and get a lot of technology/research done and manipulate the board that way. But the game is really good at making you adapt as you go and it is tense as you battle for favor with your opponent.

2. Clank! Catacombs

The last two are kind of “cheats” so to speak. Clank! Catacombs is just a new version of Clank a game that I already know I love. This push your luck deck building game is really now just modular. The game does change in a few other ways but it is mainly that it now adds in a modular board. And I like that element that the game is going to be different each time you play it. In base Clank you might find your optimized path and strategy. Here the game is going to be different each time. And you decide how it is going to be different based off of how you explore it.

1. Marvel Dice Throne: X-Men

It’s almost unfair to have this on the list. I know that I love Marvel. And I know that I love dice Throne. So of course I love the combination. But it’s still new to me this year and I still really enjoy it. Plus I get to play as Gambit which is always a win for me. I won’t spend much more time on it than that because you know what Dice Throne, battle Yahtzee with special powers and cards. But yes, the new X-Men stuff is good. And I’m excited for even more of it to be coming in.

The Whole List

Thoughts on the Board Games Outside of the Top 10

I like most of the board games that I’ve played new this year. I think that beyond maybe the bottom 11 of them I want to play most of them again. Karvi is an interesting one and it’s on that edge. I played it once and I need to play it more. But I’m not 100% sure that I understood everything and I messed up my first play. There is an interesting track where you go around and take your actions. But you can go as far forward as you want. I didn’t understand where the starting point . So I’m not sure if it is a game that I’ll love or not.

But just outside the Top 10 I want to highlight a few board games. I just wrote my review for Scratch & Catch, which is #17 and I think the game is a really fun filler game. I like the different strategies and plans that players can have in the game. Also Knister and #13 is such a simple roll and write game, but while it is very lucky, as a lot of roll and write games are, I think it’s a very good one to play.

And one final one because I’m not sure where it will and is Apiary. Right now it is sitting very much in the middle at #36. But I think it could rise. I also think it could drop. I just don’t know because I need to play it in person. And when I play it in person that means that I need to learn the rules better so I can teach it. And it feels like a game where nothing is too complex but there is a lot going on. So that is a bit intimidating for the teach.

Final Thoughts

My goal at the start of the year was to learn 50 new board games. I’m well past that at this point. And I plan now to shoot for 100 new board games. If I keep up a pace of 1 per week I won’t quite make it there. But already this week I learned three new board games, all of them on the list. So it isn’t like I’m running behind on that and running behind on learning new board games.

That is a new game that you really have loved this year? It doesn’t have to be from 2025, it just needs to be a new game for you. Let me know that down in the comment section below.

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Top 10 Anticipated Games In 2025

10. Adventures in Neverland

This is another story game, but Adventures in Neverland sounds interesting to me. The downside is that it has 110 ratings and it’s low. But that’s just as likely because it exceedingly late. So another one where it’s crowdfunding and we’ll see if it comes out this year or if it comes out at all. But this theme feels like it should be more approachable than say something like a lot of other games on this list. But I’m putting this one at #10 because it has that extremely long delay and if/when it does come out, will it be available outside of those who backed it?

9. Vantage

This is one that I’m really glad that I stumbled across. Vantage is a game about exploring a planet in an open world setting but in first person perspective. I want to know how that goes because it sounds like it could be really cool. And it is Stonemaier games, so maybe I had heard of it before and forgot it, but the idea is just a fascinating one.

The element that keeps it lower on my list is that it is a Stonemaier game. I like some of the stuff from that company, but they often are so focused on being smooth and ideal mechanically that they lose some soul. If Vantage can keep that soul and sense of wonder which exploring a planet should have, then I’m in.

8. Valheim: The Board Game

Valheim is another one that I see from time to time pop up on crowdfunding or late pledging. I think I even get notifications for it still. But I like the sound of this game. It is a cooperative survival game where you need to work together. Is that highly unique, it certainly isn’t. But is it a fun idea for a game, it is one that I like. It is also a mission based game versus a campaign based game. I hope that it’ll work well that way and feels thematic in nature. You are able to make a campaign, but it’s not the main mode. So possibly a good chance to play some thematic and leveling one offs.

7. The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game

This one I already have pre-ordered, but it wasn’t a crowdfunding game, so it can make the list. This is a cooperative trick-taking game. I like trick-taking games a lot. And to find a theme that I love, that is even better. While I like The Crew, this theme is more interesting. And, The Dice Tower streamed a play of the game for their Winter Spectacular. So if you want to see how the game plays, there is video out there. I also appreciate that the game is narrative in that the characters and goals for each section fit where you are in the book. I expect two more to come out in this series.

6. Deathtouched

I’m not 100% sure if this is called Deathtouched or USS Freedom. And yes, they are extremely different names. But this is a sandbox space game where you explore new worlds, meet aliens, and generally do what I love for a massive game. You play a three year quest over a series of games and the campaign is replayable which is always good. I like that I see more of these big epic campaign games coming out that are set in space. I like fantasy, but I also love my sci-fi and space stories. And space is an amazing spot for those sandbox style games.

Note, this is another one of those crowdfunding games that got hurt by 2020 and delays and troubles around then. So I hope it is going to come out because I want to play it. How I might get it, I don’t know though.

5. Railroad Tiles

I like Railroad Ink a lot, in particular Railroad Ink Challenge. So when Horrible Guild announced that they were doing a tile game, I was certainly interested. However, this one I didn’t back on crowdfunding. I want to play the game still, though. Because I think a game like Railroad Ink is great and also ripe for a tile version of it. It makes sense because that is about what you are doing in the game. Draw, draft, or buy a tile, however it works, I think it sounds like a lot of fun. And I enjoy route building as well, so give me more of that.

4. Emberleaf

From the designer and company that brought you City of Kings, Isle of Cats and more we have Emberleaf. This is one that I might end up late pledging if I can. I almost backed it when it was on crowdfunding. But the game is interesting because of this idea of card dancing. This idea is about how you play out cards onto a flow of cards and as you trigger cards and they move, how they interact with other cards. The system looks fun, and the artwork and theme are great too for what should be a pretty mechanically interesting game.

3. Malhya: Lands of Legends

This is one that was on crowdfunding this past year. I suspect it might not even come out in 2025, but it’s one that I’m most certainly interested in as it’s the style of game I like. The tagline even is something I like, choose your own path and explore the lands of Malhya, that sounds great. So this is going to be a big campaign and adventure game. The world looks good from the artwork and I’m very curious to know what the story is going to be.

2. Odalin: Dungeons of Doom

Yet another fantasy dungeon crawl game. Do I need more of them? The answer is no. But I want more of them and it is the type of game that I like a lot. Odalin is one that I almost backed on crowdfunding. And I think I may look into late pledging it. The game play looked interesting, and of course it is a theme and type of setting that I like. It is also a desert fantasy setting which is different than your normal wooded European feeling fantasy setting. So that is sounding fun to me as well.

1. Diablo: The Board Game

I expect this is not going to come out in 2025. I am not sure it is even one that has hit crowdfunding yet. And I believe it is supposed to go to crowdfunding. But for me, this a a game where I want it because of the theme. I am not that hard core into Diablo, I played the 3rd one some and I need to play it more. I also need to play the 4th.

But I like the theme and setting for the game. And it’s cooperative and narrative driven with either campaign or missions. So it is something that I like. And I hope that it gives you that loot grabbing feel and then leveling up and fighting hordes of monsters.

2025 Outlook

I see a lot of really good looking games coming. And the great thing is that games will be announced to throughout the year. There is always a flurry of announcements two months or so before Gen Con and then the same for Essen. So if you like other types of games, more euro focused or something like that, there is going to be a lot for you as well.

And I know that I pick a lot of big games. I love my epic campaign and story driven experiences. But even I don’t have room for a ton of them. So I also like to find small games. And while there aren’t that many on the list, I know I buy a number every year to add to my collection. So I know, even if they aren’t the most anticipated, that there are going to be a lot of great small games too.

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