It’s that time of the year again. Every app you use has recently given you your ‘rewind’ for the year, telling you what you already know – what did you enjoy doing? It’s time for me to do some introspection and tell you which of the games that I played and reviewed in the past year I think were the best.
As with last year’s Game of the Year, instead of giving you my top 50, or even my top 10, I’m going to tell you what my favourite light, medium-weight, and heavy/complex games were. Before we start, my only disclaimer is that I don’t care about the exact date that each game was released. This is about the games that I’ve played and reviewed in 2025.
On with the show!
Best Light Game
Winner – Magical Athlete
I was torn when it came to best light game, because I played a lot of good ones in 2025. In the end though, I had to go with the new edition of Magical Athlete that landed recently. if you’d asked me when I started Punchboard five years ago whether a roll-and-move game would even be in the running for best game, I’d have laughed at you. Here we are though, a roll-and-move game with almost no player agency.
The crazy characters, the bold, chunky pieces and board, the rulebook that looks like a children’s story book – it all feeds into the overall feel. Each character’s asymmetric power breaks the game in some way, and the way these powers collide is what makes the game so wonderful to play. I played a six-player game of Magical Athlete at this year’s GridCon (read all about that here) which ended up drawing an audience. Nobody cares who won. We just laughed, sighed, and had a great time.
Read my full review of Magical Athlete right here.
Honourable mentions
Bus & Stop – This gorgeous little set-collection game from cult Japanese design house Saashi & Saashi is great. Collect passengers by drafting cards, then decide when to drop them off to maximise your scoring. Takako Takarai’s illustration style works perfectly, and because it looks like the sort of game your grandparents had in a drawer somewhere, it has a near-universal appeal. Getting hold of a copy can be an issue, but at bigger conventions and specialist import retailers in your part of the world (I recommend travel-games.co.uk in the UK), you should be able to source a copy.
Read my full review of Bus & Stop right here.
Pergola – I surprised myself by adding Pergola in here. I enjoyed it while I was playing it to review, and I’ve enjoyed playing it on Board Game Arena too. When I thought about it, it made me want to play it again, and that’s exactly what I look for in a game. It’s a set collection game with gorgeous components, a lovely ‘English Summer Garden’ aesthetic, and a player board which lets you place things wherever you like, just to make it look pretty.
You can read my review of Pergola right here, and if you want to try it out, you can play it right now on Board Game Arena.
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Best Medium-weight Game
Winner – Eternal Decks
I’d heard about Eternal Decks, but when I read more about it and saw how beautiful it looks, I knew I had to have a copy. It’s a limited communication, co-operative game where the players take on three different Eternals and try to defeat them before any of them run out of cards.
It’s engaging, it’s surprisingly easy to pick up, and it’s deeply satisfying when you come through one of the included scenarios with a win. If you’ve played games like The Crew and enjoyed the feeling of working with the other players without being able to talk openly, you’ll love Eternal Decks. Be aware that there are different versions out there at different prices. If you want the English version with great cardstock and the lovely silky cloth to play on, expect to pay a bit more than something like the French version.
You can read my review of Eternal Decks right here, and when stock is available, you can pick up a copy over at Travel Games.
Honourable mentions
Rebirth – This one came out at the tail end of 2024, but I didn’t treat myself to a copy until Spring of 2025. It’s a tile-laying game from the master, Dr Reiner Knizia, and it’s just brilliant. Every turn is as simple as picking up a tile and placing it anywhere on the map. It’s a game which looks way more complicated than it is, and I love how quick it is to teach and learn. It’s one of the few games my family (who aren’t as into hobby games as I am) have played and enjoyed multiple times. Read my full review of Rebirth right here.
Kanal – I’m a sucker for Uwe Rosenberg’s games. While I love the older games like Caverna and Le Havre for competitive play, what I enjoy most are the games I can play as a solo puzzle. Games like Nusfjord and Hallertau, and now Kanal. It’s a game of action selection where you’re trying to lay roads, canals and railways while trying to build an industry, and have them all work together. You can play with two players, but for me Kanal is best enjoyed as a solo experience. Read more about Kanal in my full review right here.
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Best Heavy / Complex Game
Winner – Railway Boom
It came late in the year, but Railway Boom is the winner for me. It’s my favourite complex game of the year, and I think it might well be my favourite overall game of the year too. It’s a game about building a railway network across Japan and running the trains on that network.
It uses a clever, simple auction system to determine turn order at each step of the game, and while it feels more like a medium-weight game at first, with repeated play, you start to understand the long-term strategy of the game, and the way that the auctions become a lot more than just how to choose who picks first at each stage.
Now you can argue that maybe Railway Boom fits more into the medium-weight category, but this is my list, and I get to decide the dilneation, so there. I feel justified in saying it’s a more involved, complex game with repeated play. Read my full review right here, and find out why I love it so much.
Honourable mentions
Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era – From one end of the setup and play timescale to the other. While Elder Scrolls: BOTSE isn’t a huge, sprawling campaign in the Frosthaven style, it is a truly epic undertaking. Chip Theory Games’ principles of modular neoprene maps and poker chips for game components work really well, and the game does an amazing job of conveying the feel and world-building of the video games that came before it.
It’s not a cheap or small game, but if you’re the sort of person who wants an epic game of fantasy, character customisation and progression, but doesn’t have the time to play the same story over the course of months, or years, Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era is probably the single best option available for your tabletop right now. Read my comprehensive review of Elder Scrolls: BOTSE right now to find out more.
Galactic Cruise – I loved Galactic Cruise the moment I played it. The idea of building and launching tourist rockets into space while developing asymmetric player boards, all using a clever action selection system, is really well done. Ignore anyone telling you it’s ‘Lacerda-like’. The reasons it gets this label are that it’s huge, well-produced, and covered with Ian O’Toole’s artwork. Playing it feels like its own thing, and it doesn’t need to ride on Vital’s coattails.
Since writing my review – which you can read right now – I’ve played it a lot more times in person and on BGA, and I still enjoy it just as much, if not more. Once you get the hang of the game, a new layer of optimisation emerges, and it’s a great experience. Galactic Cruise comes thoroughly recommended.
Summary
There we have it then. 2025 was a great year for games, and I’ve only just scratched the surface here. I went down a rabbit hole in the middle of the year and got stuck into a lot of Japanese games, which led to me writing a Japanese Games Festival.
I played a lot of card games this year. I’ve lost count of how many new-to-me trick-taking and shedding games I played and enjoyed, but I’ve really enjoyed having my horizons broadened.
in 2026 I intend to play and write about a lot more games, and to find niches and genres I don’t normally play. This hobby is diverse, huge, and constantly evolving. Riding the crest of that wave is tough, but worth persisting with.
Thank you all for your continued support in 2025. If you’re a paying supporter, I appreciate your help enormously. I still lose money each month through my hosting and other costs, but I’ll keep runniing Punchboard, because I enjoy doing it.
If you’re not a supporter and feel like sending a few dollarbucks my way each month, just click on your preferred button below.
Adam.
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