And here it is again.
That time of the year when the lists start coming out and games are ranked using different methods and ideologies.
Here at Always Play Blue HQ, it’s an ever changing list based on what we’ve enjoyed getting to the table most over the last twelve months. This means that old favourites may have fallen away and old classics may have returned.
Let’s get started by taking a look at five games that entered our collection late in the year, but could easily show up on next years list.
COVENANT
My most anticipated game of those released at Essen 2025, I was immediatly drawn in by Worker Placement, Dwarves, the artwork, and Devir.
We’ve only managed a couple of plays so far (2-player and 4-player) and I’m already interested in the puzzle of maximising a limited amount of turns with bonus actions.
MEN NEFER
Yes, it takes a long time to set up and comes with a million wooden pieces per player, but once you get going, it’s a wonderful game of combos and action planning.
The choice of three different action types each round is so thinky, forcing you to not only consider what you want to do, but the most efficent order to do it all in.
TAG TEAM
I’d heard good things about TAG TEAM, and our first few plays have not disappointed.
Players selects two fighters, each with different strengths and weaknesses, and fight each other with decks that are expanded upon after each round. But the cards remain in order, so you need to look for that opening in your opponents defense and take them down first.
TAKE TIME
This quickly became one of my favourite co-op games of 2025. We’ve already introduced it to others via repeated plays of Chapter 1, but I’m holding off my full review until we’ve dived deeper into the remaining chapters.
Zero communication card placement, with each level of the game throwing up more intricate clock faces to tackle. It sounds simple and looks gorgeous, but trust me; this has bags of challenge.
TRICKY LANDING
A surprise hit during a visit to our friends, this clever twist on Trick Taking has impressed me enough that I want to teach it to everyone I games with going forward. And I mean everyone.
It’s basic Trick Taking, but you have to throw your cards onto the table instead of placing them. It sounds silly, but there is a little more to the rules than that. It also brings the laughs.
Will the above games make it onto next years list? Only time will tell. I will say that only a single game from last years Honourable Mentions has landed in this years list.
So, without further ado, let’s dive into this years Top 50 games.
50 – YAHTZEE
Yes, it’s dated. Yes, it’s simple. But this classic dice chucker has been played a lot this year, and my son is absolutely loving it.
Roll five dice and then score based on sets of numbers. It’s over 50 years old, but its simplicity helps it go anywhere with us.
49 – MARVEL CHAMPIONS
I started to get back into playing this solo during 2025. After a rusty restart with the rules, I’ve begun enjoying the process of working through my heroes, especially as I finally got onto trying the X-Men at last.
I’m hoping that next year I can start playing through the campaigns, something I’ve not attempted so far.
48 – CAMPY CREATURES
This card game is so much fun. Players choose a monster card from their hand, reveal it at the same time as everyone else, and then carry our a draft of points cards based on monster strength order.
That alone sounds boring, but then you add in the little twists that all the characters come with, things that mess with everyone else in clever ways, and it pays to keep an eye on which monsters your opponents have already used so as to minimise getting really screwed over.
47 – SPICY
The only game on this list that we don’t own, but it’s one I enjoy every time we visit family.
It’s a bluffing game that sees you try to shed your hand of cards without being proved a liar. The beauty of calling people out on their face down cards is that you can only call on suit or number, so sometimes those pesky liars still get away with it.
46 – NOCTILUCA
A game that doesn’t get a lot of coverage, this is something from Shem Philips that looks and plays like nothing out of Garphill Games.
Draft dice around a board in straight lines, claiming all of a single number. Then use the colours of the dice you grabbed to fullfil orders via little jars. It looks a lot simpler than it is.
45 – UNEARTH
A bit of a hidden gem, this dice rolling set collection game is ROLL FOR IT plus plus.
Players roll dice and assign them to a Ruins card, trying to have the highest single dice result when the totel of all dice on the card breaks a certain number. Add in Delver cards to break some rules, and a gem selection puzzle to mitigate bad rolls and offer other routes to scoring, and it’s an all round great package.
44 – SPOTS
Probably my second favourite push-your-luck game. The artwork on the cards is adorable, the mix of powers to choose from is always interesting and keeps things fresh, and it’s super tense when someone decides to just go for it instead of playing it safe.
Cover the dice slots on your dog and then decide to flip them over. First to six flip dogs is the winner. But luck has a way of getting involved and it’s anyone’s game.
43 – UNCONSCIOUS MIND
Of all the games on this list, nothing makes my brain work harder than UNCONSCIOUS MIND.
Players place ideas (workers) on a board to strengthen their player board, and gather the games resources. These are then used to treat patients via their dreams.
Layered over the crunchy gameplay and mechanics is a level of art and production that puts most other games to shame. It’s a great game served up as a work of art.
42 – DICE KINGDOMS OF VALERIA
We’ve played less of the Valeria games this past year, but this one hit the table often and remains one of my favourite entries in the Roll ‘n’ Write genre.
It plays a little like VALERIA CARD KINGDOMS, with your rolled number dice giving you small actions based on the numbers you have marked on the top of your sheet. This crosses off citizens from the four different factions. The remaining coloured dice are then associated with the other possible actions for the active player.
41 – LOST RUINS OF ARNAK
Has remained a loved game of ours since we first played it upon release, and now, after each expansion is released, it gets better and better.
It mashes my two favourite genres together as you send out workers across the island to make discoveries, fight off guardians, and research as much as you can. The asymetric player abilities expansion, Expedition Leaders, is a must have.
40 – RAIDERS OF THE NORTH SEA
A Top 50 mainstay, this game is not only my favourite entry to the North Sea Trilogy, but my second favourite Garphill Games game.
It’s worker placement with a clever twist. Place a meeple on the board, take a meeple off from another spot. Two actions per turn as you build up you crew and go pillaging. I love the ramp up as you grow stronger and delve further north.
39 – ORCHARD
One of the smallest and simplist games I own. It’s a go to for quick solo play when I don’t have time to set bigger games up, or if I’m away somewhere and have little room to play on.
Play through nine cards and try to overlap them in the most efficient ways so as to grow the most fruit and score the most points. Yes, it can all depend on card draw, but this is one of those games that’s more about being a relaxing activity than a brain busting puzzle.
38 – SURVIVE: ESCAPE FROM ATLANTIS
One of my favourite ‘evil’ games, this classic has stood the test of time with it’s punchy and diabolical gameplay. Try to get as many of your survivors off the island before it goes under. You’ll do this by commandeering boats and making your way to the four corners of the board.
But there is skullduggery to be had as you get to control boats with majority, put your opponents meeples in the water, and direct very dangerous wildlife in their direction. With the right group, it’s a blast.
37 – ART SOCIETY
Recommended by a stranger in a shop, I was initially nervous about a bidding mechanic at just 2-players. It’s why I’d held off on buying the game.
But the paddles work wonders, even at a low player count. Grab paintings, trying to match frames, but not match picture type, and fill your wall efficiently. And all the while, those unwanted paintings are driving up value. It’s all smooth and clever.
36 – RAILROAD INK: DEEP BLUE EDITION
My favourite Roll ‘n’ Write of this year, it’s seen a surge in plays in the latter half of 2025 via BGA.
Roll some dice and then draw the combinations of road and rail onto your own player board. Things get rougher the further into the game you get as space becomes a premium, and the dice start offering up things you just don’t need, forcing you to make some tough choices.
35 – CYBERION
My second favourite solo only game of 2025 also remains my favourite Oniverse game.
Spending robot cards to complete orders sounds simple, but when there are five different robot colours, valued from 1-5, and the orders are every combination of this and more, it becomes a crunchy little puzzle.
34 – TENBY
After an impressive demo at UKGE, we grabbed a copy of TENBY while they still had some left.
It sort of uses the turn order selection of KINGDOMINO, but instead of building out a 5×5 square, here you’re expanding you quaint little village street(s) to the left and right, trying to make sure each card scores as much as possible based on what items are displayed on its neighbouring cards.
33 – IKI
I’ll be honest, I purchased this thinking it was a different Japanese themed game. But what a pleasant surprise it’s been.
A gorgeous rondel game of placing out shops and promoting the workers to earn end of round bonuses. It comes with a lot of admin each round, and the Akebono expansion is pretty much mandatory at 2-player, but it’s a great way to spend an hour of gaming.
32 – KUTNA HORA
First of all, this is one of the best looking games we own. The art style of Kutna Hora really stands out from other games in the collection.
But what puts it on my list is the gameplay behind the good looks. The way the action cards are used, the market manipulation involved each turn, it all comes together in the perfect way to make a fantastic game.
31 – SCYTHE
We still love getting this gorgeous and interesting game to the table, but we’ve been enjoying it more in bigger groups at meetups instead of at home with just the two of us. This means it’s been played less this year.
However, we did finally manage a 7-player game at last which was very epic.
Players expland out on the map, gathering resources and strengthening their faction while eyeing up neighbours nervously. It’s a game that teases combat but punishes the victor almost as much as the loser.
30 – CAYLUS 1303
A gift from my wife for our first annivesary, this was a Worker Placement game that I knew nothing about, but it quickly found it’s way to becoming a firm favourite in our collection.
A meaner Worker Placement than most, it sees your adding more placement spots to the board while you manage your supply of workers. Because workers carry over between rounds, and passing first makes any more moves for other players a little more expensive.
29 – STAR REALMS
Despite my opinions of the company behind this game, STAR REALMS remains my all time favourite competitive Deck Builder, and is the second game of the list to appear in all Top 50’s so far.
Go from a basic starting hand of cards that do little damage and afford you a small amount of credits, to become a powerful force in the galaxy, hitting hard and spending big. Most of the expansions just add more of the same, which is no bad thing.
28 – YAMATAI
An out of print classic that really shows off the quality behind a lot of ‘Days Of Wonder’ games. It’s seen a lot more plays this year, though I’m still desperate to try it with more than two players.
Each turn you’ll pick a tile with an ability and a couple of coloured boats. You’ll place the boats in the waterways between a bunch of tiny islands, trying to surround islands with certain colour combinations so as to claim buildings and score points.
It’s beautiful, thinky, and cleaver. A real hidden gem.
27 – CHAMPIONS OF MIDGARD
I was pretty happy with the base game when we first played it, but a few years later, the two expansions have really elevated this game. Despite that, this has never appeared on my Top 50. Until now.
Viking worker placement has you gathering fighters, food, and wood, and then heading out into the world to fight various monsters. Stay close to home to defend against Trolls and Drauger. Or grab a boat and sail of to distant lands to find mightier foes.
26 – SPACE BASE
I would enjoy just the base game, but having the semi-story expansions to work through has been a lot more fun with new cards and new actions showing up.
A step up from MACHI KORO, this is a game where you roll dice and everyone gets something, but the active player gets more. Purchase cards to build up your 1-12 sectors, making them stronger in the race to reach 40 points.
25 – SAGRADA
It only took one play of this dice game several years ago to cement its place firmly in our collection.
The dice drafting gets nail biting in the later half of the game as colour and number restrictions (and those pesky opponents) start screwing with your goal scoring plans. Colourful and crunchy.
24 – AZUL
While we love all the games in the series, the original was the last to enter our collection. I’ve played a lot of this on BGA during 2025 and it’s risen up to stand on the shoulders of the other three games.
Draft tiles, place them on your board, and then score them each round. But always look at your opponets boards for drafting opportunaties that will screw them over and deliver negative points. Brutal.
23 – MARVEL UNITED: X-MEN
I went all in on this series of Marvel United, and it sat collecting dust for a couple of years. But 2025 saw us make more of an effort with it, only to discover a tough little family friendly game.
Play cards to carry out actions and work together to disrupt the villains plan. While the characters can feel a little samey, the villains each come with clever mechanics to make them stand out. Each is it’s own little puzzle to solve, and with all the content, we have a lot of variabilty open to us.
22 – 6 NIMMT!
One of my all time favourite card games, this one works for gamers and non-gamers.
Play a card from your hand face down, all players reveal together, and then the cards are placed to one of four rows in assending numerical order.
You can plan your move all you want, but someone else will most likely screw things up before it comes to placing your card. Complaints will ensue.
21 – STAR WARS: OUTER RIM
We played once with just the base game, and then once more when the expansion was released. And that was it . . .
Until 2025. We’ve had a handful of games in the latter half of the year and the game finally clicked with us. Pick Up and Deliver while dressed in the Star Wars Universe, the game is an absolute blast at various player counts. The Unfinished Business expansion really does improve things, and the mixing up of Star Wars law (IG-88 flying the Millenium Falcom!!!) is worth the price of admission alone.
20 – PALADINS OF THE WEST KINGDOM
It may have dropped out of the Top 10, but it remains my favourite Garphill Games game.
Perfect at 2-player, I really enjoy the fixed round length of the game that allows me to focus on the slowly revealed goals. The puzzle of when and where to place your different coloured workers is an itch I love to scratch, and while it’s usually heavier games that my brain struggles with, there’s something that keeps me coming back to this one.
19 – TATSU
The third Top 50 regular, and my favourite 2-player only game, this one has had extra shine this year after I picked up a copy of the travel version at UKGE, which was sold to me by the designer.
It’s backgammon-ish as you roll dice and move your dragon pieces around in an attempt to capture the opponents pieces. Take out all of one type and you win.
18 – GALILEO GALILEI
It was a random teach at a group meetup that saw us order our own copy the very next day.
Using a rondel, players will carry out actions to increase dice values, gather cards, learn more at the university, and avoid the Inquisition. There are multiple paths to victory, and a lot of variabilty in the set up. And it works great at all player counts.
17 – TOKAIDO
The game that pulled me into the hobby got more plays than it’s 2-player only sequel this year, and that’s great because I still think it’s one of the best games ever made.
Take a journey along the beautiul Japanese costal path trying to have the most relaxing break. It’s all about collecting cards in different ways while admiring it’s basic, yet gorgeous, artwork.
16 – CASTLE COMBO
This one joins a select few small box card games that I zoom straight to for an opener or closer to a games day.
Draft cards into a 3×3 grid, with each character offering specific scoring restrictions, usually based on placement within said grid.
The artwork is brilliant, the rules are easy to teach, and the cards all comes with a nice mix of scoring conditions.
15 – ANDROMEDA’S EDGE
One of the big climbers this year, ANDROMEDA’S EDGE is a game that I rarely win at, but enjoy it none the less.
It’s Worker Placement on a grand galactic scale as you send out ships, build up your stations tableau, build developments on planets, and fight an array of Raiders.
And it has such table presence, especially with the Deluxe version. Hard work to set up, but worth it when it’s done and you’re in the thick of it.
14 – AEON’S END
The only game from 2024’s Honourable Mention list to make it onto this years Top 50.
Aeon’s End is co-op Deck building as your mages protect the city from a big bad nemesis. The ‘gimmick’ here is that you don’t shuffle your discard pile, allowing you to plan around how you discard cards. But this pales against the fight you have against the Nemesis and it’s minions. The spells are fun, the game is tough, and it’s nice to have a favourite mechanic (Deck Building) in a co-op game.
13 – ELDER SCROLLS: BETRAYAL OF THE SECOND ERA
Probably the game I was most looking forward to getting in 2025, this thing is an absolute beast. Our first dive into Chip Theory Games, based on an IP that I love, has seen us have some epic times at the table.
The set up time, the amount of rules we need to retain, and the ramped up difficulty of the third session (we regularly get wiped out fast by that point), are what kept it from the Top 10 this year.
12 – VANTAGE
A very marmite game, this recent Stonemaier release has certainly divided critics. But for us, it’s been the sort of game we can really get behind with it’s intrigue and mystery pulling us around the strange planet. Unless you’re my wife who end’s up spending one whole session running a shop in a city that she happened to be passing through.
VANTAGE is a game that you’ll get out what you put in. Sure, you can play mechanics and try to ‘win’, or you can just let loose and see what you stumble across, making each session it’s own story within a story.
11 – QWIRKLE
A simpler game, but one that will never leave our collection.
Basic tile placement that is best described as ‘Scrabble, with shapes and colours’. Each player has a constant rack of six tiles and needs to place them on the table so as to score big. Get six in a row (shapes or colours) and get bonus points.
Comes in travel, deluxe, card, and cube versions.
10 – CARCASSONNE
The final Top 50 regular, this absolutely classic game will always see me excited to play it. It works well for gamers and non-gamers, and as time has gone on, we’ve slowly been feeding in the early expansions in the series to keep things fresh.
Pick up a tile. Place that tile. Simple as that. Decide if you want to play friendly, or completely cutthroat (yes please). It’s up to you how to enjoy this 25 year old gem.
9 – MILLE FIORI
We took a punt on this game a few years ago and it’s remained a firm favourite ever since.
Play cards to place your pieces across a board which has several scroring zones. It’s all about getting those bonus actions that can see you place multpile pieces down in one turn.
Another game that has a pretty manditory expansion, especially at 2-player.
8 – FLIP 7
It’s great when you try a game that everyone is raving about to find that it is indeed, bloody fantastic.
Push your luck by taking cards to score points. but don’t draw the same number twice, or you’re bust. It’s simple game play that keeps everyone involved, even if they’ve been knocked out.
Add to this the three action cards that can be used to benifit you or screw other people over, and a bonus score if you can ‘Flip 7’ that can keep all players in the game, and this one is deserving of is tag line declaration.
7 – UPRISING: CURSE OF THE LAST EMPEROR
Before 2025, I think we only had one play of this beast of a 4x co-op. But this year we gave it another go and it shot up the rankings with each play.
Work together to score better than the two enemies of the game as you explore hexes, fight monsters, and build up your forces.
The plastic standees are somehow better than any miniture game we own, and it all looks amazing when the game is in full swing.
6 – THE WHITE CASTLE
Last years number 1 has fallen a few places, despite being one of my most played games of the year thanks to BGA.
I still really love the dice drafting puzzle and the tight limitiations on rounds that forces you to eek out efficenancy at every step, and it plays perfectly at each player count.
5 – DEAD OF WINTER
Like a good zombie, my original number 1 game of all time just won’t die. This year saw us get it to the table more regularly than it has for a while, and it made a last minute jump up this list after it’s most recent play.
A mostly co-op game that sees players venturing out from their coloney to recover supplies in order to survive the harsh winter . . . and those pesky zombies.
It’s a fun game, made more interesting by that hidden traitor mechanic.
4 – THE CASTLES OF BURGUNDY
This game has loitered around the top 4 for the past three years, and I was eager to grab the Deluxe version so that we had a nicer copy to play occasionaly.
Instead, this Deluxe version of this tile drafting classic has hit the table much more than I expected, and way, way more than it’s 2019 cardboard predessesor. The gameplay was already near perfect, but now it has the table pressence to match.
3 – FINAL GIRL
While I still manmaged my October playthrough of all three series, I didn’t get the game to the table as much during 2025.
But it still wows me with the variabily of boxsets, and this year’s series 3 inclusion just introduced so many more interesting killers to tackle.
And now, I’m (im)patiently waiting for the series 4 boxset to hit crowdfunding. (Feb 3rd!!!)
2 – BOONLAKE
This years highest new entry was a game that I was merely curious about until it popped up in a sale.
We really love GREAT WESTERN TRAIL, and this has a lot of the same DNA. But it just does more for us (which shows in that GWT was only played once this year).
The action selection board is pure genius, the way resources are used is clever, and the end of round scoring always trips up my plans. It’s just great.
1 – ARKHAM HORROR LCG
Has a game ever climbed so high on my list? Nope. 46 places since it’s first appearance this time last year.
After several false starts at 2-player with my wife, I conseeded to this being a solo only game for me to enjoy. But at the start of 2025 she gave it one more go, and it suddently clicked with her.
We have spent the year working through the campaigns (which I was lucky to get them all before they dissappeared), as well as drag our friends in for a 4-player game of the base game scenario.
ARKHAM HORROR LCG has fast become my favourite co-op game to enjoy with my wife and I’m now really excited to see what Chapter 2, and 2026, has to offer.
And that’s all folks.
That is my Top 50 for this year. As always, I wonder what it’ll look like in another 12 months. But of course, only time will tell.
Please, comment about you’re own lists, as well as the games you agree with (and disagree with) from my list.
HAPPY NEW BLUE YEAR!!!
Always Play Blue 