Tabletop Gaming #109 The Best Games of 2025!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas... and that can only mean one thing, as we bring you our games of the year to give you inspiration at this festive time. Whether you’re leaving it under the tree for that special Player Two or looking for something joyous to drop into the Secret Santa, we’ve got your back.

In some ways our job was made incredibly easy, as 2025 once again proved that board games remain one of the most joyful ways to bring people together. And this year’s releases pushed the boundaries in every direction – from design and theme to narrative depth and sheer creative ambition.

Check out the titles that captivated us the most: from strategic heavyweights giving us analysis paralysis ( must make an appointment and get that checked!) to the lively party games that filled our nights with laughter. Have a belting Christmas and we’ll see you again on Boxing Day. Happy gaming!

Issue #109 highlights include…

CHARLIE THEEL ON HOT STREAK: "Hot Streak is the type of soulful exuberance most party games desperately aspire towards and rarely accomplish."

CHAD WILKINSON ON THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FATE OF THE FELLOWSHIP: "We need to address the oliphaunt in the room: Sauron’s massive dice tower!"

CHRIS LOWRY ON MYTHIC BASTIONLAND: "Chris McDowall represents a sort of chimeric force within the world of roleplaying design; he takes decades-established concepts, then studiously ignores them in pursuit of narrative pre-eminence.