Top 100 Games: 100-91
For the past several years I have been ranking my top games. This year I ranked my top 250 games and I will be sharing my top 100 with you along with some of my thoughts and where they ranked in last year’s list. I have played over 800 games and usually only play games I think I will enjoy so the top of my list are truly amazing games. The gap between 100-1 is not very large at all and every game on this list is worth playing if you get the chance. So here we go, hope you enjoy the list. Here is the first 10 games!
100. Unsettled
2025 Rank: 11
Designer: Tom Mattson, Marc Neidlinger
Publisher: Orange Nebula
Player Count: 2-4
Unsettled is a co-operative game set in space. The game has a core box that includes all the necessary components in order to play the game, as well as two planets. Each planet has a different atmosphere and set of tasks to win the game. Players will work together, along with their robot friend, to complete each objective. The game changes so much from planet to planet, adding new obstacles and challenges that all revolve around the core game concepts. Almost like a video game system. This has dropped because I did not play it at all in 2025. I believe this could be a top 20 or top 10 game for me if I could play it more often.
99. Roll Player
2025 Rank: 58
Designer: Keith Matejka
Publisher: Thunderworks Games
Player Count: 1-4
Roll Player is like Sagrada for fantasy fans. Well, not exactly, but it does have some similarities. Both use dice of different colors along with restrictions for those dice; however, this game adds a thematic flair around creating your own character. You have traits, equipment, skills, and a race which will dictate how you must play the dice you draft. The game is good on its own, but becomes much better with the addition of the Monsters & Minions expansion that adds creatures you will fight with the character you eventually create. Overall, a great game that more people should check out.
98. Watergate
2025 Rank: 39
Designer: Matthias Cramer
Publisher: Frosted Games
Player Count: 2
Watergate is a two-player game with asymmetric win conditions. One player plays as the Editor, and the other as the Nixon Administration. Each with a different goal to victory. While the end goal is different, the gameplay for each side is the same. The cards you play determine your actions for the turn, and each player has their own custom deck. Some cards are normal actions, while others are powerful, pivotal moments in history that, when used, are out of the game. I even believe this could be a great educational tool to teach someone about this important moment in history. I think the reason this has dropped is because of the overwhelming number of two-player games that have shot up my list this year.
97. Abyss
2025 Rank: 112
Designer: Bruno Cathala, Charles Chevallier
Publisher: Bombyx
Player Count: 2-4
Abyss is interesting. I think it could be a much more popular game if not for its box size and cover. It is essentially a card game, but comes in a large box with a cover that looks more like a miniature heavy dungeon crawl. Abyss is actually a very interesting push-your-luck card game that rewards your opponents the more you push. It also includes a bidding mechanism that allows the other players to buy cards during your turn. The goal is to collect sets of different sea factions in order to score points. These sea factions will also give you special abilities during the game. The art is fantastic and the gameplay is simple. I should try to push this more at our events. I think it’s something even the casual gamer could enjoy.
96. Rumble Nation
2025 Rank: New to list
Designer: Yogi Shinichi
Publisher: Asmodee
Player Count: 2-4
Rumble Nation is a simple and pure area control game. It takes the feeling that some larger, longer games give and provides a similar experience in 10-15 minutes. Simply choose to either roll dice and place pieces on the board or use one of the card powers. The card powers can only be used once per game and once per player, so almost all of your turns are the simple die roll action. The dice determine where you can place on the board and how many units you can place. Where this game really shines is after the game itself is over. The scoring starts, and each area is scored from highest to lowest. After an area is scored, the winner is able to place reinforcements in adjacent areas where they have units. It means areas that you were winning could sway in the direction of another player who won a lower scoring area. Another simple game that doesn’t give off simple energy by looking at it. Definitely could move up the list as time goes on.
95. Jamaica
2025 Rank: 199
Designer: Malcolm Braff, Bruno Cathala, Sébastien Pauchon
Publisher: Space Cowboys
Player Count: 2-6
Jamaica is an easy-to-teach pirate-themed racing game. Each player pilots a ship around the island of Jamaica. In order to be the winner and reach the finish line first, you will need to gather food for your crew, cannons to fight the other ships, and gold to pay when stopping at the ports. Just finishing the race first might not be enough; you also have to pirate the most gold along the way. The game is simple to play: roll some dice, choose a card that interacts with the dice values, and that’s about it. There is a newer edition with updated artwork and rulebook. This is a no-brainer family game.
94. Colt Express
2025 Rank: 107
Designer: Christophe Raimbault
Publisher: Asmodee
Player Count: 2-6
Colt Express is a Wild West programming game set on a train. Don’t let “programming” scare you off; it just means the game is absolute chaos most of the time. Each player is an outlaw robbing the train. You will be picking up loot, shooting other players, and trying to outmaneuver your opponents, but as with any good game of this type, you never know what actions the other players are going to take. Each round, players will secretly choose a card from their hand to move, shoot, pick up, etc. This card is played into a stack of cards, and then those cards are resolved in order to see what wild sequence of events is about to happen. You might plan to shoot one player, but they jump onto the roof of the train, and you shoot another player instead. You might try to move to pick up an object, but someone else is there first. You might just fall off the train. It’s crazy fun, and as long as you know that going in, it is a great time.
93. PitchCar
2025 Rank: 155
Designer: Jean du Poël
Publisher: Ferti
Player Count: 2-8
PitchCar is one of those games that when people see it being set up, they just have to come over and ask “What is this?” PitchCar is a simple flicking race car game, but it’s so much more than that. It’s absolute fun for all ages. The tracks can be as simple or as elaborate (there’s a loop!) as you want. It looks amazing on the table, and watching people walk around the table in a circle as they take their turn and then watch and cheer on everyone else is just awesome to see. It’s one of those games that winning feels great, but so does watching the person in last place finally make it over the jump. No one really cares who wins or loses in most of the games, and I think that something unique about it that makes it feel more welcoming. The biggest downside and probably why this isn’t higher on the list is that it is a beast to carry around and takes up significant table space when set up, so it doesn’t get played as often, but when it does, it’s always a hit.
92. Targi
2025 Rank: 40
Designer: Andreas Steiger
Publisher: Kosmos
Player Count: 2
Targi is unique. It takes worker placement, which generally only works with 3-4 players, and beautifully makes it shine at two players. This is a two-player-only game with all the tension and swearing of a 3-4 player game of the same kind. Each player plays a worker around the edge of the board one at a time. The board is made of a grid of cards that give you resources or “buildings”. The edge of the board mainly provides resources, but also some unique action spots you can take advantage of. After placing all your workers, you look to see where the 3 pieces you placed intersect, and those are the cards available to you for this round. The trick is you can’t place your workers directly across from your opponent or where the Robber piece is placed for that round, so your options become limited. I am shocked that this design has not been picked up and implemented into other games. Again, this has probably dropped because of all the amazing two-player games that have come out this past year. Targi is still amazing though.
91. Sagrada
2025 Rank: 150
Designer: Mac Gerdts
Publisher: PD-Verlag
Player Count: 2-5
This one has surprised me at the jump it made from last year. I don’t think I have even played it since my last list, but I teach this game so much at our events, and everyone loves it. I don’t think there has been one instance where I thought this game and at least one person who played it didn’t buy it. It’s a simple game: roll some dice, draft some dice, put them in your window. However, the game’s color and number restrictions make for some great decisions along with the public and private scoring objectives. The game also looks awesome. They did a great job capturing the stained glass window feel. If you come to our events and have not played Sagrada yet, please grab it off the shelf, and I’d love to teach you. This is one of the few games that I think will never leave our mobile library.
