Another year has passed, and it's once more time to announce the winner of Tabletop Games Blog's highly sought-after and extremely prestigious Top Table Award of 2025. The top slot for this year will join the hall of fame alongside previous years' board games that made it to the number 1 spot on the podium. The winner of the 2025 award will be in the company of Charms, Enemy Anemone, Pax Pamir: Second Edition and others.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/01/03/top-table-award-2025-saturday-review/
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As I was listening to an episode of the Ludology podcast recently, one focused on games and health, I started to think about how much the people we play with influence our gameplay experience. Selecting board games based on the audience is much more important than we may like to believe. Get it wrong, and you have one player rebelling and playing opposite to expectations, another disengaging completely, and the overall mood shifting from playful enjoyment to uncomfortable tension. In this article, I want to discuss how a mismatch can impact the enjoyment of the whole group, alter the tone of reviews, and even affect playtest outcomes.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/30/socially-afflicted-how-people-affect-gameplay-experience-topic-discussion/
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As another year draws to a close, it's time to pause, look back, and take stock. As has become something of a tradition, this article shares with you my 2025 gameplay experience, some stats about the blog, my event attendance, a summary of the blog's finances and a brief look ahead to 2026. It's as much for my own record as it is for anyone who wants to know more about what 2025 has been like for me and the blog. Just don't expect any grand conclusions or dramatic discussions.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/27/2025-a-year-in-review-saturday-review/
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As my board game collection grows, the chances of the same game being played regularly decrease. As a reviewer, that's fine, because I'm here to play new games and critically evaluate them. However, it's also sad that more and more of my games just sit there on the shelves unplayed, while the latest, shiny game barely lands before it makes it to the table. For many of us, playing board games isn't just about the games themselves, but the experiences we create with them and the people we share them with. So in this article, I want to look at the benefits of playing a small handful of games regularly, instead of briefly sampling many games once or twice, considering the psychological, social, and financial aspects that shape our hobby.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/23/regular-games-benefits-of-playing-the-same-game-with-the-same-people-topic-discussion/
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Lantern lifted, I stepped into the Crimson Cavern where a Tawny Steppe Wyvern crouched over a cache of meat and a single gleaming amethyst. It watched me calmly, dust motes swirling around its tawny wings. In the Golden Grotto, a Bellicose Firevern crackled with heat, sparks skittering across piles of scorched stone as it let out a low rumble. Finally, in the Amethyst Abyss, a Subterranean Basilisk hatchling blinked up at me, tiny and glittering, nestled among crystal shards. Once they got accustomed to me, the three dragons allowed me to go about my dracologist business and measure their Wyrmspan by Connie Vogelmann from Stonemaier Games with art by Clémentine Campardou.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/20/wyrmspan-saturday-review/
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This is a guest post by Glenn Ford from Man O' Kent Games.
As an independent games designer and producer, a lot of my time involves visiting conventions to meet gamers and, ideally, sell my games to them. When I do so, it’s always a surprise how little crossover there is between people who play board games, roleplaying games and miniatures games, which is a pity since I think all of them have something special to offer. So I’d like to take this chance to explain exactly what I think is so special about miniatures games for anyone who doesn’t necessarily play, or even consider them.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/16/mini-magic-the-human-side-of-miniatures-games-topic-discussion/
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Long ago, spirits and demons stirred in the land of the rising sun, wreaking havoc upon crops, rivers, and villages, unseen and unstoppable. As an Onmyoji, a practitioner of ancient cosmology, you learned to capture these restless entities, restoring balance where others faltered. Yet word came that your own village suffered, and another Onmyoji had been called to intervene, an affront to your duty and skill. With careful calculation and swift action, you must outwit your rival, claiming mastery over chaos. You must ensnare the seven spirits, the Yokai Septet by Muneyuki Yokouchi from Ninja Star Games with art by U.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/13/yokai-septet-saturday-review/
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It was like herding cats. As soon as you put one kitten down, the two nearest to it moved further away. The same when you tried to add a cat to the bundle of feline fluff. Some of the cats and kittens even decided to jump off the quilt completely. It was impossible to get everyone on there at the same time. What was cute though, was how each cat and kitten tapped their noses together and went Boop by Scott Brady from Smirk & Dagger Games with art by Curt Covert.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/06/boop-saturday-review/
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Balance in board games is one of those much-talked-about topics that keeps cropping up. Some people want games to be perfectly balanced, so that players' only advantage comes from their skill and hours of practice and graft. Others relish highly unbalanced games, where it's nigh-impossible to win, but when you do win, it feels amazing. Yet, balance in board games is much more complex and subtle than that. In this article, I want to look at the role that balance plays in board game design.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/12/02/losing-balance-the-role-of-balance-in-board-games-topic-discussion/
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Under the glow of the moon, the forest stalls sizzled and steamed. Ramen bowls, takoyaki, and miso soup filled the air with rich, savoury aromas. Woodland chefs scurried between stoves, each eager to cook the most delicious dishes, only to be outdone by competitors who stole their patrons right from under their noses. The question is whether you have what it takes to serve up the best culinary creations that burst with Umami by Don Eskridge from Heidelbär Games with art by Ikuko Nakai.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/29/umami-saturday-review/
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Board games are often seen as a way to bring people together. They're a social activity, even for solo gamers. When we sit down to play, we fall into familiar rhythms of turns, actions and mechanisms. We don't even need to share the same language. Playing board games is a time when gestures, shared goals, and the actions within the magic circle of the game itself act as a way for us to communicate. Board games themselves are like a shared language, where friendly rivalry, cooperative play and everything else sometimes conveys more than words ever can.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/25/games-as-lingua-franca-how-board-games-can-overcome-language-barriers-topic-discussion/
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From the mist of Lake Titicaca, eight children of Inti and Mama Quilla stepped onto the high plains, their feet brushing the grass and waking the land itself. As their journey continued, the mountains claimed some of them, caves swallowed others, until only one final pair held the golden rods. By then, they had taught the first clans who had accompanied them to weave, shape clay, carve terraces into the mountainside and coax life from reed and soil. These clans were the Ayar: Children of the Sun by Fabio Lopiano and Mandela Fernandez-Grandon from Osprey Games with art by Ian O'Toole.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/22/ayar-children-of-the-sun-saturday-review/
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This is a guest post by Abdel Mounim Bouazzaoui from The Cardboard Crew.
Most people see board games as entertainment. Roll some dice, move some pieces, maybe argue about house rules. But I've noticed something else happening at my weekly game nights over the past few years - we're all getting better at talking to each other.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/25/the-hidden-language-of-co-op-gaming-how-board-games-build-communication-skills-topic-discussion/
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Mist coiled between the ancient stones, whispering secrets of powers wielded by only a few. The forest waited, still and patient, as cloaked figures approached with burning torches. As they began to chant, the flickering flames stretched and twisted until fires flared in silent circles. Moving from shrine to shrine, they connected dolmens, built runestones and standing stones, and weaved their magic through leaf and root. In that sacred balance of offering and renewal, the old ways awoke once more. Those cloaked figures that called forth the wisdom of ancient times were The Druids of Edora by Stefan Feld from Alea with art by Fred Gissubel.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/15/the-druids-of-edora-saturday-review/
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Over the years, I have demoed quite a lot of games at a few different locations. It all started back in 2019 at Essen Spiel, where I demoed Fog of Love to the German audience. More recently, I have been demoing for Asmodee at UK Games Expo, as well as at my local board game cafe. With every demo, I have honed my skills, learned new tricks and generally fine-tuned my approach. So in this article, I want to share my demoing method, which can also be applied to teaching games in many ways.
Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/11/demonstrative-board-gaming-my-approach-to-demoing-games-topic-discussion/
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The ground trembled as the horizon flickered with violet light. Tribes gathered in small clusters, clutching relics that glowed faintly or fizzed with a strange energy. Some hoarded scraps of parchment filled with incomprehensible runes, others carried fragments of forgotten technology bolted hastily to their frames. Yet despite the looming end, laughter filled the twilight air. Every choice felt urgent, every move a gamble, but there was delight in the chaos. What mattered was not survival but the stories created along the way. That spirit lives in Doomlings: Legends of Enderas by Justus Meyer and Andrew Meyer from Doomlings with art by Justus Meyer.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/08/doomlings-legends-of-enderas-saturday-review/
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Some people enjoy running their fingers along a row of books, looking for one that catches their eye. Others love wandering past shelves filled with board games, drawn to the artwork or the imaginative setting. Book lovers love the smell of paper and ink, while board gamers relish the scent of a new box. Flicking through pages or rifling through components is part of the thrill. Collections are more than mere possessions. They offer manifold possibilities, shaped by curiosity, memory, and imagination. In this article, I want to look at what unites book and board game collectors.
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The land was divided, its provinces fractured by ambition and betrayal. Armies marched through rice fields, emissaries whispered in candlelit halls, and the people looked to their daimyo for guidance and protection. Every order carried the weight of loyalty and the promise of power. It was a time when each decision could tilt the balance of history, and so the samurai sent out their General Orders: Sengoku Jidai by David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin from Osprey Games with art by Tanner Staheli.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/11/01/general-orders-sengoku-jidai-saturday-review/
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Night had fallen over the village of Bodega Bay. Most people were at home, because they knew there were terrible creatures roaming the streets. Only a few brave heroes had ventured out into the cold, dimly lit streets to protect the inhabitants from the horrors that were lurking in the shadows. It didn't take them long to come across the first fiendish creature. As they looked upon the muddy Creature from the Black Lagoon, they were Horrified by Prospero Hall from Ravensburger.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/10/25/horrified-saturday-review/
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It all began with a voyage across calm seas, as we boarded the ship and searched for a paradise of our own. From there, the path rose skyward, climbing a mountain one careful step at a time until the summit finally revealed itself above the clouds. Now the journey turns in a different direction, leaving sunlight behind and slipping beneath the surface, into the shadows of the deep. The silence is thicker here, the choices more pressing, and every step takes us further into uncharted territory. It is time for Tranquility: The Descent by James Emmerson from Wayfarer Games with artwork by Tristam Rossin.
Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/10/25/tranquility-the-descent-saturday-review/
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