It’s that time of year again for what might just be the most prestigious gaming award that can be given out by mere mortals! Welcome to the NoRerolls Top 50 Games of 2025 list; an arbitrary ranking of the games that I love.
This is a list of my personal top 50 games at this point in time. My choices are not limited to games from this calendar year, but instead, represent my current thoughts on the top 50 games to me. Next year, some of the games featured may move up and down as my opinions change and I get the chance to play more games or revisit old favourites.
This series will comprise 5 posts, each covering 10 games as we work down from number 50 to number 1:
- Part 1: 50-41
- Part 2: 40-31
- Part 3: 30-21
- Part 4: 20-11
- Part 5: 10-1
This year, this section of the list has a couple of new entries, some returning classics, and then one game that earned a pretty significant promotion. let’s get into it, eh?
10: Mothership
Previous Position: New to the list
Year: 2024 (core box release)
Designer: Sean McCoy, Luke Gearing, Fiona Maeve Geist, Tyler Kimball, Nick Reed, Donn Stroud, Sam Wildman
Publisher: Tuesday Night Games
Plays: I don’t know… It’s an RPG. Grab a few folks and a few hours!
Mothership rockets into my list this year at number 10, a huge leap for a game that thrives on tension, survival, and the creeping dread of sci‑fi horror. Its design makes every session feel razor‑sharp, with mechanics that push players into desperate choices and nail‑biting encounters.
What secures its place so high is the sheer atmosphere it generates. It’s all about claustrophobic ships, doomed missions, and the constant hum of paranoia. Whether running a one‑shot or a short campaign, Mothership delivers unique, tense experiences, proving itself as one of the most impactful and replayable RPGs I played this year. Indeed, it was Game of the Month back in September.
9: Scout
Previous Position: 12 (+3)
Year: 2019
Designer: Kei Kajino
Publisher: Oink Games
Plays: 2-5 players in ~15 minutes
This is a fantastic little box. It’s just a stack of cards and a couple of piles of tokens. Simple, innit? The game itself is a bit like Rummy, but with a set hand order. Once you have your hand, you can’t reorder your cards, and instead need to make the most of what you have to form sets and runs.
It sounds simple, but that’s largely because it is. It’s really simple, but it’s also incredibly satisfying. I play this at club, but I also play it a lot with family. Taking it on holiday with my in-laws is why this became my Game of the Month back in June 2024. This is an amazing little game which has broken into the top 10 this year!
8: Architects of the West Kingdom
Previous Position: 9 (+1)
Year: 2018
Designer: S J Macdonald, Shem Phillips
Publisher: Garphill Games
Plays: 1-5 Players in ~60 to 80 minutes
September 2023’s Game of the month, Architects of the West Kingdom is a game that beautifully marries theme, strategy, and player interaction. It challenges you to be not only a master architect but also a shrewd decision-maker. Whether you’re a seasoned gamer or a total noob (and we had both at our table), this title is sure to captivate your attention and keep you coming back for more. Gather your apprentices, don your architect’s hat, and embark on a journey to build the most impressive structures in the kingdom.
I love this game. It immediately clicked with me the first time I played it. I’ve played it a lot since then. I love the buildup, the strategy, the player interactions, and the whole feel of the game. The variable player powers/starting positions are relatively minor, but they have an impact on the early game that is definitely felt. This game is going to stay in regular rotation for a good while.
7: Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
Previous Position: 7 (no change)
Year: 2021
Designer: Sydney Engelstein, Jacob Fryxelius, Nick Little
Publisher: Fryx Games/Stronghold Games
Plays: 1-4 players in ~45-60 minutes
I’ve played a lot of Terraforming Mars over the past few years, but my copy of the original game has languished unplayed for some time. This is because it has largely been replaced for me by this newer version, Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition.
As with the previous version, this is a fantastic resource management game where each player takes on the role of a corporation trying to exert control over Mars as they terraform it. You use the money that you generate to complete projects and trigger events. You generate heat to raise the temperature to livable levels, use plants to create forests to raise the oxygen content of the Martian atmosphere.
I feel that this version of the game is a lot more streamlined than the original. This is an improvement. It’s also a lot prettier, as the art in the previous game is… inconsistent at best. This one just has such better production quality. The biggest change in this edition is that it has removed the central board and the area control aspect of the game. This makes the game a lot less directly competitive, which might appeal to some more than others. I love this game. I love that the project cards you get can utterly change the direction you’d planned to go in. It’s just great.
6: Isle of Skye
Previous Position: 16 (+10)
Year: 2015
Designer: Andreas Pelikan, Alexander Pfister
Publisher: Lookout Games
Plays: 2-5 players in ~30 to 50 minutes
This nearly made the list in 2022, but I didn’t manage to play it until we were already halfway through the list in December, and having only played it once I was not quite sure where it would fit. Pretty high, was the answer!
Playing it more in 2023, it was clear that this was something special. There are elements of Carcassonne here, which is a big plus for me, and a great drafting/bidding system that makes individual tile draws and choices so much more meaningful. This appreciation has only grown since, and it’s great to see it breaking into the top 10 in 2025!
5: Root
Previous Position: 2 (-3)
Year: 2018
Designer: Cole Wehrle
Publisher: Leder Games
Plays: 2-4 players in ~60 to 90 minutes
Root is a game of adventure and conflict in a forest kingdom inhabited by a variety of adorable critters. This cutesy theming belies a complex and competitive strategy game. Players take on the role of one of the factions vying for control over the forest, each with their own unique abilities and objectives. The game is set in a richly imagined world filled with vibrant characters and complex political manoeuvring.
This game is one of the best examples of asymmetrical play that I’ve seen. It just works so well, with each player playing fundamentally different games. It’s great to try different factions and really get an understanding of how the game works as a whole.
This was our game of the month for April 2024 and our number 2 game last year. It’s still a fantastic game that plays differently every time.
4: Viscounts of the West Kingdom
Previous Position: New to the list
Year: 2020
Designer: S J Macdonald, Shem Phillips
Publisher: Garphill Games
Plays: 1-4 players in ~60 to 90 minutes
Viscounts of the West Kingdom climbs all the way to number 4 on this year’s list after being our Game of the Month back in May. It really has cemented itself as one of the standout strategy games in my collection. Its blend of rondel movement and layered scoring creates a puzzle that feels endlessly rewarding, with every decision rippling across the board in satisfying ways.
What makes it so compelling is the balance between tactical play and long‑term planning; navigating the castle, managing debts, and timing card synergies all weave together into a rich tapestry of choices. It’s a game that consistently delivers tense, thoughtful sessions, and its high placement reflects just how much depth and replayability it has brought to the table.
3: Call of Cthulhu
Previous Position: 3 (no change)
Year: 1981
Designer: Sandy Petersen
Publisher: Chaosium
Plays: It’s an RPG, grab a party and commit some time!
Call of Cthulhu is one of the legends of the genre. It’s been around for so long and hasn’t actually changed all that much from edition to edition. I’ve long been aware of the game, and I picked up the books on a visit to London a few years ago. In the past few years, I’ve finally got to actually play the game and had an absolute blast. I’ve subsequently played a lot of it and have had an absolute blast with it in the past 2 years in particular. That should be obvious from the meteoric rise in my rankings, going from number 30 in 2023 to number 3 for 2024. It’s remained there in 2025. It was also our game of the year in September 2024.
I’ve really been impressed with the quality of the books and resources that Chaosium has been putting out for 7th edition. They’re just consistently fantastic. I’ve picked up a couple of them, but have also grabbed a few classic adventures. These are easy to use given the pretty minimal changes between editions.
1: Magic The Gathering (Commander)
Previous Position: 1 (-1)
Year: 1993 (for Magic: the Gathering)
Designer: Richard Garfield, David Iezzi (for Magic: the Gathering)
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Plays: 2-4 players in ~30 to 120 minutes
Last year’s number 1, Commander is definitely my most played game of the year for 2025. I made the plunge into Commander last year after getting into Lorcana. Lorcana really got me back into the idea of card games, and Magic seemed a more full and exciting prospect.
I really enjoy tinkering with decklists, sitting around a table with friends, and slinging some cards. It’s nice.
I see Magic being with me for a long time to come, and I hope that it can keep my enthusiasm as high as it has been.
1: Warhammer: Age of Sigmar
Previous Position: 6 (+5)
Year: 2015
Designer: Uncredited
Publisher: Games Workshop
Plays: 2 players in ~40 to 180 minutes
Games Workshop’s Age of Sigmar 4th Edition earns the top spot in my 2025 list. As usual, I tuned out a bit during the edition change, but I’m back into it now. The rules are streamlined without losing the asymmetry and wild faction flavour that make the Mortal Realms so compelling, and battletome integration is as good as ever. Scenario design pushes players into dynamic, tactical choices, while the recent(ish) changes to battle tactics have been fantastic. It’s a system that adapts equally well to competitive precision and casual or narrative play.
The lore and miniatures continue to expand boldly, reinforcing AoS as a living world (well, worlds). For me, 4th Edition is ambitious, fun, and endlessly replayable; it’s the game I most want to play in 2026.
No Rerolls 