It's time for that annual tradition: a reflection upon the board games of 2025. This year involved a significant change in my play patterns since my eldest son went away to college. He is the one with whom I have played the most games by a long shot. I miss having him home, in part because he is such a good tablemate, always eager to join in a game.
Without further ado, here is the list of my top-played board games of 2025.
- Clank!: Catacombs (31)
- Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread (25)
- Heat: Pedal to the Metal (20)
- Planet Unknown (17)
- Race for the Galaxy (17)
- Clank! Legacy 2: Acquisitions Incorporated - Darkest Magic (13)
- The 7th Citadel (12)
Clank!: Catacombs is one of our favorite games. It's one of the few games that my wife will always join in. We got the new Underworld expansion for Christmas, and it's definitely worth it for fans like us. In fact, we've played seven times in since Christmas and enjoyed every one. Clank! Legacy 2 was something I picked up to play with my younger three boys on the nights that the eldest was out with his weekly TTRPG group. We enjoyed it, and we played it once post-campaign, but it has not proven to have staying power, even though there are still many unlockable elements we have not completed.
Arydia provided some of the most fun and memorable moments of any campaign board game I have played. Three of my sons joined me on that adventure, and we loved it. It's hard to tell too many stories without giving spoilers, but if you're on the fence, I suggest going for it. The two included adventures of 7th Citadel were enjoyable, although if you play it, don't forget to keep a good map. I know that there are expansions that extend the world, but I felt satisfied with completing just the base box.
Planet Unknown and Heat both accommodate six players, and so those are easy to get out when everyone wants to play. Both got to the table more often than Quacks, which also fills that niche.
I only included games with ten or more plays in my list, but other favorites also got to the table this year. I am surprised Ark Nova was only seven and Castles of Mad King Ludwig was only three; I would have guessed higher for both of them.
This was another year of declining plays. It coincides with playing larger games more often, but also of course with my son at college and the others involved in scouts, robotics, and other events.
2025 board games by the numbers:
- 55 different games played this year
- 293 logged plays this year
- 3779 logged plays in total
- 36 game h-index (+1 from last year)
- 19 player h-index (unchanged)
It was also a pretty good year for tabletop roleplaying games, at least by my modest standards. Although I was unsuccessful in my attempt to get a regular group together, I did run play seven games, and I was the gamemaster for each. These included three sessions of Torchbearer, two of Fate, and one each of Knave and Mythic Bastionland. Extracting this data from RPGGeek makes me realize that I need to be more consistent in whether I log plays as "RPG" or "RPG Item."
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