My Top 10 Favorite Games Played in 2025
Today I'm discussing my favorite games that were released or widely available for the first time in 2025.
New Stonemaier-Related Products Released This Year: Finspan, Tokaido and expansion, Between Two Castles Essential, Vantage, Origin Story, Wyrmspan expansion, Smitten 2, Tokaido Duo, Wingspan promo birds
2025 Releases I Haven't Had the Chance to Try Yet (that I'm most eager to try): Moon Colony Bloodbath, Fate of the Fellowship, Shackleton Base, Tag Team, Bohemians, Ada's Dream
Ambassadors
Ambassadors (game): Emberleaf, Galactic Cruise, Fate of the Fellowship, Luthier, Moon Colony Bloodbath, Origin Story, SETI, Speakeasy, Tag Team, Vantage
Ambassadors (sequel/new edition): Above and Below Haunted, Clank Legacy 2, Everdell Duo, Finspan, Forest Shuffle Dartmoor, Formaggio, Duel for Middle-earth, Magical Athlete, Nemesis Retaliation, Santorini Pantheon, Battle of Hoth, Tokaido, Tokaido Duo, Unmatched TMNT
Ambassadors (expansion): Black Orchestra Resistance, Clans of Caledonia Industria, Wyrmspan Dragon Academy, Forest Shuffle Exploration, Lost Ruins of Arnak Twisted Paths, Sea Salt and Paper Extra Pepper, SETI Space Agencies, Tokaido Crossroads & Matsuri
Panelists:
--Vantage (Aryn, solo gamer)
--Sweet Lands (Dillon, heavy gamer)
--Finspan (Skiler, family gamer)
--Symbiose (Kaitlyn, digital gamer)
shareholders and coworkers: Rise & Fall, Rebel Princess, Civolution, Sleeping Gods, Formaggio, Return to Dark Tower, LotR Trick-Taking, Vantage, Slay the Spire, Finspan, Blue Prince, Harmonies, RAVEL, SW Unlimited, Concordia, Orleans
Various Picks from Jamey
--Older: Nunatuk, Night of the Ninja, Life of the Amazonia, Fairy Ring, World Wonders, Liar's Dice
--Expansion: Forest Shuffle (Woodland Edge), Dune Imperium (Bloodlines), Abundance (Earth), Skull King expansion pack
--Sequel/New Edition: Rajas Cards & Karma, Farshore, Saltfjord, Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor
Honorable Mentions That Didn't Quite Make the Top 10: Wondrous Creatures, Art Society, Wilmot's Warehouse, Ostia, Mesos, Panda Spin, Millennia, Jingle Bell Roll, Apistocracy, Panda Royale
My Top 10 Games of 2025
10. Digital: Dispatch and Inkborn
9. Emberleaf
8. Endeavor Deep Sea
7. Gudnak
6. Naishi
5. Here Lies
4. Zenith
3. Duel for Cardia
2. Mistborn
1. Vantage, Origin Story, and Finspan
A little note about my #1 pick: Typically I don't consider Stonemaier games for these major top 10s, as I'm inherently biased towards our games. However, this year I simply couldn't shake the truth that these are my favorite games of the year. More than any other new-to-me games of 2025, I love to teach these games, I love to play them over and over, and I love talking about them.
00:00 - Stonemaier Games
02:50 - Ambassadors
04:30 - Panelists
09:23 - Various and Honorable Mentions
11:45 - Top 4-10
25:00 - Top 3
2025 mid-year video: https://youtu.be/IKehUsDcff4
2024 video: https://youtu.be/_k2aikLqmiU
Become a champion of this channel: https://stonemaier-games.myshopify.com/pages/stonemaier-champion
podcast link: https://stonemaiergames.com/about/podcast
Intro animation by Jeff Payne https://vimeo.com/jaaronpayne
