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The Best Board Games Released In 2025

It’s always a good time to bust out your favorite tabletop titles when your friends or family have gathered together for game night, but if you’re growing a bit weary of always playing the same classic titles everyone knows and loves already, consider checking out some of the newest offerings on the board game market.

New games are coming out all the time; just check your local tabletop or TCG shop’s newest release shelf, and you’ll find a plethora of solid new offerings to bring to your next game night. Here are our picks for the best of 2025.

Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Fantasy/Adventure

1-4

60-240 Minutes

Cody Miller and Ira Fay

If you and your fellow board game night attendees are all fans of co-operative science fiction titles for your entertainment, then you’ve likely given Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread a try. You and your pals will venture out on a grand journey together in this tabletop delight, and you’ll need to learn to work together and play to your strengths to survive the combat lurking out in the wilds.

Dice bag card sleeves and box separators side by side in a 3 image collage.

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Players of hex tile board games will feel right at home with Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread, and those who enjoy a good RPG flavor in their board games will no doubt find hours of enjoyment with this one.

Eternal Decks

The cover of Eternal Decks in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Strategy/Card Game

1-4

30-40 Minutes

Hiroken

If your group of TCG pals is more into card games versus board games, or you’re just looking for something with a more unique flavor than some of your other favorite board games, consider picking up Eternal Decks. You’ll be solving all kinds of increasingly complicated puzzles using only the hand you’re dealt – no pressure.

These cards are played largely in order to beat the Eternals, so work collectively with your friends to establish yourselves as serious puzzlers, but beware that you can’t exactly share what cards you’re holding. You’ll need to work together with your friends and do your best with the limited info you can share to make it through each puzzle in Eternal Decks.

The Old King’s Crown

The cover of The Old King's Crown in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Fantasy/Card Game

1-4

60-120 Minutes

Pablo Clark

You’ll see The Old King’s Crown mentioned a lot in board game circles as one of 2025’s biggest games, and it’s for good reason! If you’re in search of a game with asymmetric gameplay and a slew of different ways to seek to claim your territory, you’ve come to the right board game.

The gameplay is based on your faction each game, leading to plenty of options for replayability. Influence your friends behind the curtain and do what you need to do to establish yourself as the one with the highest influence, claim your power, and seek to sit on the abandoned throne of this ancient civilization for better or worse.

The Lord Of The Rings: Fate Of The Fellowship

The cover of The Lord of the Rings Fate of the Fellowship in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Fantasy/Adventure

1-5

60-150 Minutes

Matt Leacock

If you and your group of board game night friends are longtime fantasy fans, you’ve likely tried out one of the board games for The Lord of the Rings before, but 2025 gave us a great new one in The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (especially if you and your squad are hunkering down for the night – this one can take a bit to finish).

A Catan board with a clock graphic in the center.

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You and your friends will work together as the Fellowship, each controlling a few characters and trying your best to get Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom. You’ll need to know how best to play each of your characters for the smoothest time on the adventure ahead.

Hot Streak

The cover Hot Streak of in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Party Game

2-9

20 Minutes

Jon Perry

If you’re looking for a much more casual vibe for your next game night (and maybe you’ve got a big group together) aiming to keep things a little lighter and friendlier than some of the other entries in our list of the best board games of 2025, then Hot Streak might be the best choice for you.

You’ll bet on the races happening between four rather intriguing cartoon mascot characters, seeking to make the most money by the end of the third race. Access the risks involved with your potential bets and be willing to risk it all to earn enough money to take the victory.

Toy Battle

The cover of Toy Battle in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Family/Warfare

2

15 Minutes

Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini

For those tabletop fans looking to bring some family-friendly fun to the table to include the littler members of their team, Toy Battle is a fun choice for tabletop gamers of all ages. You and another player will be pitted against one another in this quick title that tasks you with tactical decisions for your army of toys.

You’ll need to capture your opponent’s territory throughout the game, building paths and doing your best to meet the conditions for victory across your series of hard-fought, adorable battles. Take over your opponent’s headquarters or earn enough medals and claim your victory!

Corps Of Discovery: A Game Set In The World Of Manifest Destiny

The cover of Corps of Discovery in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Strategy/Deduction

1-4

60-90 Minutes

Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim

There’s nothing quite like a good historical board game that lets you tinker with history, and Corps of Discovery: A Game Set in the World of Manifest Destiny is the latest tabletop title to do just that. Players will be aiming to help famous American explorers Lewis and Clark as they venture out across North America to establish the United States.

A single adult sitting in a rainstorm frowning, in front of an image of a red and blue board game board.

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You’ll be in charge of all kinds of resource management, watching supplies run low as you venture further and further out. You’ll face combat, hazardous terrain, hidden rules, and so much more as you seek to map out what will become the US.

Moon Colony Bloodbath

The cover of Moon Colony Bloodbath in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Strategy/Card Game

1-5

45-90 Minutes

Donald X. Vaccarino

If you’re looking for something with a touch of history that’s not quite as serious or hefty as some of our other entries in our list for the best board games of 2025, Moon Colony Bloodbath will give you a wonderful 1950s vibe as you work with and against your friends to build up a society on the moon using a limited shared deck.

There’s plenty of danger that lurks out there, waiting to mess up your colony, and these will present themselves as Trouble cards. Your team will need to think fast and handle the threats coming your way to carefully make the sacrifices necessary to survive, even if those sacrifices are your own buildings and citizens.

Timelancers

The cover of Timelancers in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Sci-Fi

1-4

45-70 Minutes

Juliana Chang, Kenny Heidt, Teresa Ho, and Lee Ho

There’s always going to be a fun new science fiction game hitting the market, and one of the best of 2025 was Timelancers. You and your fellow board game pals are going to be traveling through time, seeking to catalog and collect the events you’re seeing play out.

You’ll need to manage your resources and weaponry, use time gems to move across the timeline with ease, earn new perks from the historical events you collect, and decide how said events play out in your own timeline. These freelance time travelers have the whole of human history in their hands – no pressure!

The Gilded Realms

The cover of The Gilded Realms in front of a hand playing a grid-based board game for the best board games of 2025.

Genre

Players

Time Estimate

Designed By

Kingdom Builder

1-4

90-120 Minutes

Ivan Hruszecky, Dale Hruszecky, and Michael Karageorges

Fans of euro-style board games had quite a big year with the arrival of The Gilded Realms, tasking you and your friends with spending 12 rounds building up your own fantastical kingdoms. There’s plenty to micromanage in the establishment of a new kingdom, though, so you’ll have your work cut out for you.

You’ll need to carefully balance production to keep your people happy, defense to keep them safe, and attacking any nearby threats on your turn, but your friends are taking their turns at the same time, so think carefully and quickly to create the most bustling kingdom of all.

Screenshot taken from the trailer for Gatlopp Hell Of A Game with the bored, angry, and side eye emojis added.

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