The new year is upon us, and with it comes the promise of brand new board games for our weekly game nights. This is the time of year where releases are slim as publishers are gearing up to have their latest and greatest titles ready for the upcoming convention season. So what games do we have our eyes on this year? Glad you asked! The BGQ Team gathers to list out the games we are most looking forward to playing this year.
Shallow Sea
Chosen by Marcus
I’ve not been let down yet by Bad Comet’s loose series of nature-themed games, with Wild: Serengeti being enjoyable and Life of the Amazonia becoming a favorite. Late last year when I heard about Shallow Sea, I backed right away. This time, the game goes to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The gameplay consists of placing fish in your reef and moving them around to complete reef tiles with certain fish to score points. There are also sea life tiles for other animals that call the Great Barrier Reef home, from the dugong to the seahorse, which requires fish in different patterns to score their points. It looks to be a very different game from its predecessors, but that’s part of the allure of this “series.” That, and the gorgeous art of cute animals.
1-4 Players • Ages 14+ • 30 minutes 
Railroad Tiles
Chosen by Emma
I played so much Railroad Ink in 2024. So very much. I played every expansion and every core set. I played it online, in physical format, solo, and with friends. It even went on my Honeymoon with me. There was definitely a point where I asked myself how much more of my life I could spend rolling dice and squiggling down train routes. Then the Horrible Guild announced a tile-laying version! In addition to drafting tiles to place routes, Railroad Tiles also lets you place cars, trains, and travelers, creating some new challenges for your network. I’m excited to see how these will update the feel of the game, and how it will capture the spirit of the original.
1-4 Players • Ages 8+ • 30 minutes
Oath: New Foundations
Chosen by Brandon
The new year is shaping up to feature some heavy-hitting releases that are certainly on my radar. I’ve backed Eternal Decks and Queen’s Dilemma, and am highly anticipating Sweet Lands, Shinjuku, Unmatched: TMNT, the Calimala reprint, and the upcoming Mage Knight expansion. A friend even secured me a copy of Molly House, releasing soon! But anyone who knows me knows where my heart lies. And the Oath: New Foundations expansion is the release that I’m pining for the most. Taking a system that’s already infinitely evolving and adding more content that directly interacts with the chronicle aspect is exactly what I’m seeking. There are new traits and curses, shadow denizens, site enhancements, new objectives, new relics and denizen cards, a star chart, an improved solo mode—AND there have been rules revisits to clean it up further. Oath is my group’s favorite experience. Each of us is ready to introduce all the shiny additions and continue to expand upon the majestic story (and wild inside jokes!) of a world we are building (and tearing down) together.
1-6 Players • Ages 10+ • 45+ minutes
Galactic Cruise
Chosen by Michelle
In a strange twist of fate, we have both a euro-style game and pleasing art all in one! With a space backdrop thrown in as a treat, I couldn’t help but pre-order this after missing the Kickstarter in early 2024. For the solo gamers out there or those who want to spend some time with a board game while waiting on the next game night, there is a solo rules section. You are instructed to play against an autonomous “unconventional hire” who appears to be a nepo baby, which is a fun theme to add to Galactic Cruise’s lore. I love that there are so many moving parts and that the main mechanic is worker placement. At its heart, this is a complex strategy game and one of the main issues with these games is the overwhelm of what to do next. However, having company goals and a progress track will help players get their bearings quickly so I’m confident that this can be a good choice when persuading your friends to play more euros. Sections of the board dedicated to planning, headquarters, manufacturing, and marketing will add that extra touch of immersion for anyone who prefers to get lost in a theme as well.
1-4 Players • Ages 14+ • 90+ minutes • $118
Rogue Angels: Legacy of the Burning Suns
Chosen by James
As I got a chance to play Arydia in 2024, it didn’t feel appropriate to list here so I’m going to list another crowdfunded game that will probably slip into next year like many of my recent picks: Rogue Angels. It’s sci-fi dungeon crawler with a unique IP that many liken to Mass Effect. And while there is already a Mass Effect board game (that wasn’t as good as some hoped) this might be the one that best captures the vibe of the video game with character relationship arcs and a branching narrative across another campaign game I’ll struggle to finish. Damage clogs your action card slots which come back to your hand via a simplified Oathsworn-like cool down mechanic. Characters in this RPG-like game evolve with personalities, skills, equipment, relationships, and scars (assuming battle scars, not emotional scars). And with battles being in a book, a la Jaws of the Lion, or many Plaid Hat games, it looks to set up and play quickly.
1-4 Players • Ages 16+ • 60-120 minutes
Dirt & Dust
Chosen by Austin
There is precious little info available for Dirt & Dust at the moment, but what I have seen has me very interested. I love games that abstract large concepts into clever mechanisms, and “rally driving as card-and-dice placement” could fit that to a tee. The promise of a solo mode is also intriguing, even though there’s even less information about that than the rest of the game. It’s hard to draw any other conclusions about Dirt & Dust at the moment, but that won’t stop me from getting excited!
2-4 Players • Ages 13+ • 60 minutes
A Place for All My Books
Chosen by April
I deliberated much over which game to feature here. I considered many deep, crunchy, and sprawling games, but I stopped and asked myself, “Would I actually buy this?” Then I stumbled upon A Place for All My Books. At first, it just made me chuckle, as I appreciated the relatable theme. But the more I looked at it, the more I saw that it might actually be a good game, if far removed from the euros and wargames I was drooling over, but couldn’t choose between. A Place for All My Books is a cozy, pattern building, worker placement game about buying books. Then you go home to arrange and admire them, thus recharging your “introvert batteries” so you can go out and buy more books! I think that’s a premise we introverts can unite behind.
1-4 Players • Ages 10+ • 40-60 minutes
Dying Light: The Board Game
Chosen by Tony
Glass Canon Unplugged knocked it out of the park with their video game to tabletop adaption of Frostpunk: The Board Game and I’m excited to try out their latest offering: Dying Light: The Board Game, based on the video game of the same name. It drops players in the shoes of Runners as they parkour around the city, trying to survive and fight off the undead. It tried this one out on Tabletop Simulator during its crowdfunding campaign and was drawn in pretty quickly. I loved the fast-paced action and 3D buildings to really help to create an immersive experience.
1-4 Players • Ages 16+ • 60-120 minutes
Cross Bronx Expressway
Chosen by Dawn
I love both historical and political games, so this is an easy pick for me. It made the P500 in 2024, GMT’s pre-order system, and is expected to ship later this year. This is a card-driven asymmetric strategy game about urban planning: the money, the infrastructure, the people, and the politics. It’s part of a series called Irregular Conflicts, which adapts wargame mechanics to other types of conflict. I haven’t played anything in this series, although I have enjoyed a couple of their other card-driven strategy games.
1-3 Players • Ages 14+ • 90-180 minutes • $86
Deep Regrets
Chosen by Brian W
I love macabre games and this one caught my eye on Kickstarter last year and backed this one. The cartoony artwork is the right mix of creepy wrong and right that I love and reminds me of the Lovecraft story: Shadows over Innsmouth but it’s not so subtle. Deep Regrets is a dice-driven game where players roll and decide whether to stay at sea or return to port to sell fish or mount fish, buy provisions, and recharge their energy for return trips to the sea. But you can also catch monsters and do some regrettable things, which will drive you mad. Deep Regrets is still expected to deliver in March and I can’t wait to get my hands on it and to the table.
1-5 Players • Ages 12+ • 30-150 minutes
The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era
Chosen by Brian B
While 2024 was a great year for coop fantasy games (my favorite genre), three of them slipped into 2025: Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era, Elden Ring, and Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread. Of these three, I am most looking forward to Elder Scrolls. First, not only am I a total fanboy of the Elder Scrolls series, but I also play the online game the board game is based on. Additionally, it has been respectfully labeled Too Many Bones 2.0, another game I love, based on the similarities of their dice-driven leveling up as well as the use of poker chips for battles on a tactical map.
What sets Elder Scrolls apart is its customization and replay value. There are five unique regions, each with its own map and quest booklet. There are nine different guilds. Guild choice impacts your main quest, which, in turn, is impacted by the region you are exploring. There are 10 races, each with its own ability and starting stat scores. There are 15 classes, each with its own set of abilities. Finally, there are 11 different skill lines to learn, none of which has a race or class restriction. Phew…
1-4 Players • Ages 12+ • 120-240 minutes
Source: Board Game Quest
