My Favorite Games of All Time (1-10) as of 2025

Welcome to this week’s gaming post! This is the grand finale to my latest four-part series where I count down my top 40 games this year. If you missed last week’s list, then I recommend you check that out here. There hasn’t been much movement in my top 10; however, there are two new games to the list! So without further ado, let’s jump into the games!

Arydia is currently my favorite open-world, exploration adventure game. This is easily one of my most-played games this year, and I still feel like I’ve only seen a small fraction of the game’s content. I recently published a full review of the game here. If you’re someone that enjoys roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, or you’re a fan of other exploration games like Sleeping Gods, I would definitely recommend checking this one out.

Space Base is my go-to game when I’m looking for something a bit lighter, and the game is a consistent crowd-pleaser. I love the “I roll, everyone gets stuff” mechanism that keeps the entire table engaged, and the cards offer plenty of different strategies and paths to victory. Even after many attempts, I’m still looking for my first win with the “You Win” card, so maybe I’ll have to bring this to a game night soon.

The highest ranked new game to my Top 40 is SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. I love its theme of exploring the galaxy by launching probes and scanning distant systems. Additionally, the multi-use cards and the unique alien factions are highlights. I wrote a full review of the game at the beginning of this year here, and I’m eagerly anticipating the upcoming expansion – Space Agencies, which promises asymmetric organizations, more alien species, and a “Quick Start” option.

I recently wrote a full review of Brass: Birmingham after returning to the game after a couple years on the shelf. After playing a number of recent heavy euros, I was honestly surprised by the smooth gameplay. Also, the artwork that reflects the game’s theme of industrial revolution England is absolutely stunning. Just writing about the game again is giving me the itch to pull it off the shelf soon, and I’m certainly looking forward to the upcoming Brass: Pittsburg.

Writing this list reminds me that it’s been far too long since Ark Nova has hit the table. The theme of running your own zoo is strong, and I really enjoy the action row mechanism and the timing involved. In addition, Marine Worlds further increases the variety by adding new animal types, as well as variations on the action cards. The game can run long at higher player counts, which is why I generally prefer to play with less than four players.

There’s so many things I love about Great Western Trail. I love the engine-building by way of the buildings along the rondel board, the deck-building, and just a bit of push-your-luck thrown in. Of the three mainline versions, my preferred pick is likely New Zealand because I enjoy the additional deck-building options, shipping track, and new worker type. However, I’ll still happily play any of the others, and I’m glad to have all three in the collection.  

I cheated on this next entry to the list because while one could argue that Caverna and Agricola feel like different games, it’s difficult for me to pick one over the other for drastically different reasons. Agricola was really the stepping stone that got me into modern board gaming and is still the reason why mid to heavy euros dominate such a large percentage of my shelves. To this day, another game hasn’t been able to replicate that feeling of drawing your initial hand of occupation and minor improvement cards and then trying to piece together the most optimal strategy. Meanwhile, whereas Agricola can feel punishing at times, Caverna is much more of an open sandbox. While the buildings cannot replicate the cards from Agricola, there are still so many different viable strategies, and the game encourages players to go off in unique directions. These days, I find myself choosing to play Caverna over Agricola more often than not, but Agricola will always hold a special place for me.

While Hegemony has been in the collection since its release two years ago, I recently wrote a full review on the game here. To reference my review, “since Hegemony is quite long and is best enjoyed with four players, it doesn’t make it to the table as often as I would like. I will say though, whenever I do get the chance to jump into the game, it’s one of the best experiences I’ll have in board gaming. The strong politico-economic theme might surprise some, but it also makes it a game that I would recommend almost any board gamer to give a chance at least once. There’s no other game in my collection that is able to integrate such a complex theme with its gameplay with such care and success, and that is why Hegemony is among my favorite games of all time.”

It was extremely difficult for me to choose between Lost Ruins of Arnak and my number one game on the list. I recently reviewed the latest expansion Twisted Paths along with the Adventure Chest, and while I’ll likely never say no to more Arnak content, the new additions in Twisted Paths feels like the perfect culmination to the game. I highly doubt I’ll tire of Indiana Jones-esque theming along with the excellent combination of deck-building and worker-placement mechanics. And while the game is easily among my most played, I’m still considering jumping back into another campaign through the Missing Expedition expansion.

While Arnak came close to topping Gloomhaven this year, there’s still just something special about this mammoth of a dungeon-crawler. For my wife and I, this game occupied much of our table space during COVID. While I mostly play the game digitally these days, the hand management system is still incredibly compelling. Who knows whether I’ll get a chance to play the physical version of Frosthaven; however, now that a digital version of the game is in early access, I anticipate needing to give that a go at some point. Even then, there’s still plenty of content in Gloomhaven I’ve yet to explore, and I imagine this system will continue to be a highlight of many gaming nights.

With that, I’ll wrap up my Top 40 games as of 2025! Let me know what some of your favorite games are, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the games I’ve mentioned or future content suggestions in the comments below. Happy gaming!

If you liked this post and want to be notified when new content is released, then follow me on Instagram @themeepledigest.