2025 was ruthless, and no, not because of the economy, the weather, or the fact that GTA 6 had been delayed yet again and not even because my favourite comic series was “on hiatus” for the fourth time.
No, it was the board games.
The genuinely, undeniably excellent board games that were hitting shelves last year like they were trying to personally bankrupt us.
Still, through the year, I survived dice-induced heartbreak, negotiation-based betrayal, co-op catastrophes, and at least one friendship-ending rules dispute.
And after all of that? I’ve narrowed it down to the absolute ten best board games I’ve played in 2025, the ones that earned their place on my already groaning shelves, stole entire weekends, and reminded me why I love cardboard chaos in the first place.
Shuffle up. It’s game time.
Joyride: Survival of the Fastest
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Playtime: 30-60 Minutes
If Mario Kart and Mad Max had a love child, it would be Joyride, a chaotic, car-smashing, boost-stealing race to the finish line.
You drift, ram, fire weapons, hit jumps, and absolutely ruin friendships while doing it.
It’s fast, it’s loud, it’s beautifully unhinged. Perfect for anyone who’s ever wanted a board game to yell at them.
Flip 7
Player Count: 3-18 Players
Playtime: 20 Minutes
Flip 7 feels like someone turned the brain-satisfying “just one more round” of a match-3 puzzle game into something you can slam on the table.
You’re racing to complete combos using cards, chaining moves and pulling off turns that make other players quietly reconsider their life choices.
Quick, crunchy, addictive, a perfect filler that somehow ends up being played for two hours.
Arcs
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Playtime: 60-120 Minutes
Cole Wehrle looked at space operas and said, “What if we made them political?.”
Arcs blends strategic space combat with narrative-driven escalation, letting your tiny galactic empire rise, fall, and desperately cling to dignity.
Every decision feels like the start of a sci-fi epic… or a spectacular cosmic disaster. Either way, it looks incredible on the table.
Sea Salt & Paper
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Playtime: 30-45 Minutes
This is the ultimate tiny-box “don’t underestimate me” game.
Made from stunning origami-style art, Sea Salt & Paper is a swift, strategic card game where you collect sets, trigger combos, and time your end-game call like a shark smelling blood.
It’s light, clever, gorgeous, and addictive enough to play a dozen rounds accidentally.
Trickerion: Legends of Illusion
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Playtime: 60-180 Minutes
Welcome to 19th-century stage magic, but make it deeply strategic.
You and your rival illusionists gather resources, plan tricks, hire assistants, and prepare your grand performance. It’s worker-placement theatre with more depth than a magician’s hat.
A heavy, satisfying feast for fans of big-brain gaming.
Skyrise
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Playtime: 30-90 Minutes
Imagine a floating city in the clouds where everyone politely pretends not to sabotage each other’s architectural dreams.
Skyrise is pure bidding and building bliss – elegant, sharp, and surprisingly cutthroat as you compete to leave your mark on a utopian skyline.
It’s beautiful, interactive, and perfect for players who like their strategy clean but competitive.
Brass Lancashire
Player Count: 2-4 Players
Playtime: 60-120 Minutes
If you’ve ever wanted to feel clever, ruthless, and slightly Victorian, Brass: Lancashire delivers.
You’ll build coal networks, open cotton mills, manipulate trade routes, and stare intensely at iron tokens like you’re plotting a stock market coup.
It’s one of the best economic strategy games ever made – brutal, brilliant, and endlessly replayable.
SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Player Count: 1-4 Players
Playtime: 40-160 Minutes
SETI scratches the itch for anyone who loves science, space, and the idea of accidentally calling aliens.
Players work together or competitively to scan the cosmos, collect data, and manage complex systems as you unravel the universe’s biggest mystery: Are we alone? It’s atmospheric, thematic, and makes you feel like a real researcher, minus the existential crisis.
Ark Nova
Player Count: 1-4 Players
Playtime: 90-150 Minutes
The game that launched a thousand zoo metaphors.
Ark Nova is a heavy, brilliant engine-builder where you create your own modern zoological park with conservation in mind.
It’s deep, strategic, and wildly satisfying when your puzzle finally clicks into place. Think Terraforming Mars, but with animals and significantly fewer arguments about oxygen levels.
Stardew Valley: The Board Game
Player Count: 1-4 Players
Playtime: 60-150 Minutes
If you’ve ever played the video game and thought, “What if this cosy lifestyle could induce mild cooperative panic?” – good news.
Stardew Valley: The Board Game turns farming and friendship into a race against time as you work together to stop JojaMart, restore the Community Centre, explore the mines, catch fish, befriend villagers, and desperately plant crops before the season flips again.
With only 20 turns in the entire game, every action counts – and every round feels like Grandpa himself is judging your productivity.
It’s wholesome, challenging, gorgeous on the table, and easily one of the best co-op experiences you can have without touching a controller.
If 2025 has proven anything, it’s that board game designers collectively woke up and chose violence, specifically violence against our free time, our wallets, and our ability to say “no” to just one more round.
These ten games have dominated my table this year, and honestly? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Whether you’re a strategist, a chaos gremlin, a dice gremlin, or just someone who keeps buying games faster than you can play them, there’s something on this list that deserves your attention – and probably a permanent spot on your shelf.
