With March left behind and Spring coming in, it’s time to take a look at some of the best titles from 2025’s opening few months (and the last gasp of 2024). We’ll spotlight a couple of games across most genres, so no matter your preference, read on to see some great finds to add to your collection. As ever, given how recent these titles are, store stock’s going to fluctuate, so make use of that Want List to ensure these great games hit your tabletop.
The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era
We’ve written a few times about Chip Theory, the Minnesota-based publisher of hits like Hoplomachus, and The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era hits all 
their quality marks and then some. Refining and adjusting their Too Many Bones framework, wherein you develop your character’s abilities (and get buckets of awesome custom dice) through tactical encounters, The Elder Scrolls opens up the adventure to larger maps, greater customization options, and multi-session campaigns. That last came to Too Many Bones through expansions, but The Elder Scrolls bakes in three-session variable campaigns from the get-go, giving you a sterling zero-to-hero experience in roughly 9-10 hours.
All this comes with Chip Theory’s excellent production, with neoprene mats and slick poker-style chips for virtually everything. It’s easy to joke that you could play their games underwater, but the quality translates to a satisfying look and feel on the tabletop. In other words, the gameplay will keep you at the table, and the looks will have you loving every minute.
The Adventurer’s Alternative: For those seeking a more narrative-focused, big box experience, check out Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread. From the designer of Xia: Legends of a Drift System, this is a grand, fun tabletop quest.
Metal Gear Solid: The Board Game
Stealth and video game adaptations go well together (see Triton Noir’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice), and CMON’s adaptation of Metal Gear Solid hits all the marks. You’ll be sneaking around with Snake, following the events of the initial videogame in the series. As a co-op title, up to three other pals can come along with you, each playing a different character with unique abilities. Dynamic AI actions will keep you guessing and ensure every mission plays out differently. Really, though, you’ll just want to play with the awesome Metal Gear miniature…
The Sneak’s Alternative: The Last of Us: Escape the Dark came out at the tail end of last year, letting you and a few friends attempt to cross the infected, disaster-stricken world of the videogame/TV show in a narrative-focused adventure. Choose your path carefully, as limited supplies make every encounter count.
Flip 7
Push-your-luck is a tried and true genre, going from standard-bearers like Yahtzee through to more unique spins like Cubitos, the space cats of MLEM, and the duels of Dice Throne. Flip 7 lands closer to blackjack, with the goal to flip over as many cards as you dare without drawing the same one twice. Should
you get cold feet, or follow the power of logical thinking, you can bank your points instead of making the next draw, but a little luck and a lot of courage can run someone from last to first. The cards aren’t evenly spread (there’s only a single ‘one’ card, for example), and special cards might interrupt or boost your run to get a higher score than your pals. It’s a game perfectly suited to the bar or the train, the hotel room or the beach cabana alongside some sugary cocktails.
Also on the party bus: A Message from the Stars sees you and your friends working together or in competing teams to decipher codes from… aliens. With one player embodying the E.Ts and the others the scientists, you’ll pass messages back and forth, each hopefully leading to a number that will, eventually, help you break the code and reveal the right word. The rare party game that’s fun at just two, A Message from the Stars is one to look at if your group loves puzzles.
Rebirth
Reiner Knizia and tile laying are like peas in a pod – always delicious, and Rebirth is no exception. As the title implies, you’re bringing back the world one tile draw at a time. What might seem random at first glance gives way to accessible strategy as the game goes on and you seed opportunities for yourself, leaving spots open for the perfect draw or compromising in one place to leave another chance open. You’re competing with other players on the same board, though, so take care not to leave an opening for them to score at your expense. Like Azul, Rebirth is friendly until it very much is not, and knowing when to get aggressive is key. At least the production is beautiful, so even if your best laid tiles come to naught, losing will look so good.
Fans of lighter euros should also check out: Foundations of Metropolis takes the elaborate, giant game that is Foundations of Rome and shrinks it down to an accessible size, lighter on the wallet and shelf space while maintaining the addictive city-building gameplay. You’ll be placing polyomino tiles, trying to build a better city than your opponents, and ending up with a cackle-inducing collection at the end.
Everdell Duo
The recent board games trend to remake everything as a two-player title continues with Everdell Duo, which takes Everdell’s up-to-four magical animal worker 
placement and slims it down. Normally, this shrinking results in a tight dance (see 7 Wonders: Duel or Splendor: Duel), but Everdell Duo uses the power of friendship to craft a neat co-op built around the sun and the moon. At its core, Everdell Duo retains the worker placement core of its elder, but after using workers to gain resources, you’ll spend those bits and bobs to play cards, developing your forest city and scoring points (or achieving other objectives). Those cards, though, must be timed to hit spaces with the orbiting sun and moon, which move as you and your partner (or opponent, if you’d rather smack each other around with bunny meeples) take turns. The timing wrinkle, coupled with a campaign option, make Everdell Duo a unique adventure that stands apart from its bigger brother.
If you dig puzzly adventures that play well at two, also check out Spectacular. You’ll be drafting dice and animal tiles, with the former acting as food for the latter, in an attempt to build the best animal park (a theme that continues to show up everywhere, and is always pleasant). Spectacular’s simultaneous play lets you go at it with up to six, but solo and two-player gamers will find lots to love in the included 18 puzzle missions.
Hispania
Co-op wargames are an emerging genre and Hispania, focused on post-Carthage Roman conquest, makes you and up to two others (though Hispania offers strong solitaire play too) don Roman garb and take the fighting to the locals. A mix of wargaming dice-throws and strategy coupled with tower defense and
a slice of Pandemic gives Hispania legs, laughs, and a bevy of fun challenges with a streamlined ruleset. This is one of those war games that works as a gentle introduction to the genre, perfect for euro or dungeon crawlers looking to branch out into a historical challenge with friends.
Lighter, faster war-gamers might also enjoy One Hour World War II, by Worthington Publishing. This nifty, up-to-five-player spin on the globe’s biggest conflict does its name justice (even if 60 minutes might be cutting it close). By stripping out fiddly bits and dropping downtime to almost nothing, One Hour zips from one interesting decision to the next. If you’ve ever wanted a grand scale on a weeknight timetable, One Hour is worth adding to the Want List.
In the Shadows: Resistance in France 1943-1944
The enduring appeal of the underground French resistance to Nazi occupation in WWII shows in the varied options we have for exploring the struggle on our tabletops. In the Shadows takes a twist on the setting with a two-player, card-driven format that’s less hex-and-counter and more Twilight Struggle. You’ll be trying to gain influence and ‘disappear’ anyone standing in your way amid a tight board. Easy-to-grasp rules put the play front-and-center, and the card art plus flavor text adds neat texture as you play. It’s a compelling package that plays in under an hour, perfect for running back at another go.
Wargamers looking for a meaty new conflict for their tabletops ought to scope out the new The Battle for Normandy: Deluxe Edition, a revamping of the 2010 original. GMT’s doing everything you’d want here, taking into account all the years of player feedback to adjust units, tweak maps, and add a couple of pieces, like a random events table, to the original. You’ll also get the expansion and new scenarios included with the all-new rulebook. Whether you’ve never stormed the beaches before or give every D-Day game a try, don’t miss this update to a winner.
And that does it for 2025’s first quarter gems – as always, use that Want List to make sure you get a shot at adding any of these games to your collection. It’ll save you time and let Noble Knight know what to acquire so you get these awesome titles to your table faster. Which is why we’re all here, right?
Check out our previous article here!
