My Top 5 Board Games (x3) Part Deux

It's been six and half years since I posted some version my top 10 all time board games and I figured it was time to do a new update. I have written a top 10 New to Me Games list each year since 2023, but it's been too long since an all time list was written. This is technically the third update from the original list, which had one update in the standard Top 10 format. The second update followed the format I'm using for this post, which is 3 categories with 5 game each.

The rules from previous lists still apply:
    1) I must own the game
    2) I must have played the game more than once

I've played A LOT of games since the last version of this list, both in number of unique titles and total plays. This is all in thanks to starting a new in-person game group that meets publicly, the kids getting older and interested, and really embracing online play on Board Game Arena. My collection has also grown substantially, so I have a lot more to pick from. As I write this, I have not made the lists for each category yet. I'm expecting that I'll end up "killing some of my darlings" as my tastes have changed and/or other games do similar things better. As a reminder, the 3 categories are as follows:

1) Card Games - Card based games that may or may not have extra components but no board

2) Light Games - Have a complexity rating that is equal to or less than a 2.5 weight based on the BoardGameGeek scale

3) Heavy Games - Have a complexity rating that is above a 2.5 weight based on the BoardGameGeek scale

Card Games

5. SCOUT

SCOUT was my #1 New to Me Game of 2024 and quickly became a favorite with our game group as a filler to close out a gaming session. I keep it in my bag and bring it every week, even though it's been a year since it has hit the table. The gameplay is just so good that I would play it any time. It's by far my favorite card shedding game, even with excellent games like L.L.A.M.A. and Haggis in my collection.

4. Biblios

A perennial favorite of mine, Biblios, stayed on the list but did slip two spots. I haven't played it nearly as much as next 3 games on the Card Games category, so I'm still basing its ranking on the enjoyment I've had from playing in year's past. The last time this hit the table was in October of 2023, but I remember loving it still after it had sat longer than it has since it's last play. If this was available to play online, I wonder if it would had kept it's previous ranking or even fallen off the list entirely as I played it more. I'm going to make it a point to bring this to my in person game group more often to find out.

3. Castle Combo

Castle Combo was my #1 New to Me Game of 2025 and was one of, if not the fastest game ever to make my 100 Games 100 Plays List. In fact, I actually ordered this game while writing this post just so I could include it on this list because all of my plays so far have been on BGA. This tableau-building game combines simplicity with deep and engaging gameplay in less than 20 minutes. Having to balance your coins and keys over only 9 turns, while also trying to unlock all of your cards' full potential is highly satisfying.

2. 6 nimmt!

With over 300 plays, 6 nimmt! jumped up a couple of spots. I never get to play this in person because our game meetups never have 5 or more players in attendance, except one time very recently. However, almost all my plays are on BGA and it's really the optimal way to play because the platform does all the hard work moving the cards around. I'll go through periods where I'll play a handful of games in short time and have to stop myself from playing even more. I really enjoy that the strategies and optimal gameplay change so drastically depending on player count and variant. I'd argue that this is one of the best games out there at a 5 or 6 player count.

1. Star Realms

This pick should come as no surprise. Star Realms has been my favorite game since my first Top 10 Board Games list. At 1555 plays, I can go a year without playing it (as I have at the time of this post) and know that there's no chance this slips in the rankings. In the 10 years I've been playing, I still haven't played with the expansions because the base game is just that good. The game is tight, brutal, and pushes all of my favorite gaming buttons.

Light Games

5. Blokus

At this point, I'm not sure if this pick is just rage bait or if I actually like it better than a handful of games that could be in this spot. It was once my number three favorite game on the very first Top 10 list, when combined with Duo (playable with the base game) and Trigon. However on it own, it slipped and only stayed on the previous list because of the format change. It still remains as one of only 3 games I have rated as a 10 on BGG. Despite it having a high rating than others in this category, I would rather play those if given a choice. It stays on the list because I still love it and it holds a special place in my gaming heart from when I first started in the hobby.

4. Survive: Escape From Atlantis!

Slipping only one space, Survive: Escape From Atlantis survives another ranking due to a reworked version of the game, Survive The Island, being published and available on BGA. Yes, it's kind of cheating, but if you've read previous lists then you know I'm good for one or two. The reworked version made some rules changes, including different tile abilities and swapping whales for the Kaiju. However, everything else is basically the same so I combined them here under the title I own. I have played my copy somewhat recently and love social aspect of playing in person versus online. The kids are ready for a game like this, I'm just not sure I'm ready for the fights that will almost certainly break out.

3. The Guild of Merchant Explorers

Despite being only #8 on my Top 10 New to Me Games of 2023 List, being able to play this on BGA and trying the solo variant allowed me to explore all five maps and how much depth the game has to offer. It gives off Kingdom Builder vibes with the biggest difference being players are building on their own map versus a shared one. As another member of the 100 plays club, The Guild of Merchant Explorers is just a fun puzzle in trying to optimize what you can do as each card gets drawn. Anticipating what card(s) will be drawn next and how to use them best is very satisfying. Multiple maps, objectives to race towards, and asymmetric card powers sent this game skyrocketing up the rankings and onto this list for the first time. 

2. Cascadia

I didn't do a Top 10 New to Me list in 2021, but Cascadia would have been in the top spot if I had. I wrote a review on this blog after my first in person play and about a dozen online solo plays and it's only gotten better over time. It went on to win ALL the awards, including the 2022 Spiel des Jahres. Since then it's gotten an expansion and there were three spinoff titles including: two roll-and-writes (which are excellent) that can be played separately or combined and a new standalone game coming out this year that I backed. It does all the things I love in a light game so well that I expect it to stay on this list for a long time.

1. Carcassonne

I've stated many times that I think Carcassonne is a must own game for any collection. It's a gamer's game but is also incredibly friendly for new gamers. I've also said that I think with the first two expansions (Inns & Cathedrals and Traders & Builders), it's the closest thing to a perfect game that the hobby has to offer. There are many reasons that this continues to be one of my favorite games, but its accessibility is a huge one. If I'm being perfectly honest, opportunities in game to just be "mean" gives it the edge over the previous two games because you know I like some true player interaction over anything else.

Heavy Games

5. Scythe

Scythe continues to be my one "big game" and the only one on this list that has a complexity rating over 3. This doesn't see the table much and hasn't since I completed my 10th play as a part of my Deep Dive December 2023 Solo Challenge. It's just a little too much for some of the regulars at our meetups and it's a pain to transport if I'm going to include the expansions I've added. It's dropped a couple of spots because of acquisitions of games I've wanted for a long time and/or played but didn't own. I still find the gameplay engaging and would love to play more in person.

4. El Grande

I wanted a copy of El Grande for many years, but never pulled the trigger because the people I played with for a long time would have absolutely hated it. As a 40th birthday present to myself I bought the newest edition and to no surprise, loved it immediately. It landed #3 on my Top 10 New to Me Games of 2025, behind Rebirth, which probably should have made it in Light Games category, and Castle Combo which did make it in the Card Games category. El Grande is area majority in its purest form with a ton of player interaction, hand management, and take that, all things I greatly enjoy. The fact that it's still in BGG's top 100 after 30 years should tell you just how good it really is.

3. The Castles of Burgundy

Another mainstay from the first update to my Top 10 Board Games list, The Castles of Burgundy is the quintessential and absolute classic Euro-style game. I've played it in person a handful of times and also quite a bit on the app and BGA. It's stood the test of time by staying in the top 15 of all games on BGG since being published in 2011, for good reason. It's not flashy and does fall into the "multi-player solitaire" camp (as many euros do), but it does what it does right and in a very elegant way. With almost no flaws, it's a game I think everyone in the hobby should own. 

2. Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala

I played Five Tribes for the first time in 2017 and then not again until I acquired a copy in 2024. I've since played it a couple of times and wish I could get it to the table more often. The mancala mechanic of dropping meeples tile after tile to then complete one of five different actions is so clever that I can't get enough. Throw in some bidding, set collection, take that, and a modular board and you have a game that does a lot of things many of the games on this list don't. Being a Days of Wonder production, the components are top notch and it probably has the best table presence of any game I own.

1. Rajas of the Ganges

The only new number one from the 3 categories is Rajas of the Ganges, a game by the same designers of another heavy game favorite of mine, Village. This is another game I played years before acquiring my own copy in 2024. There are many things I love about this game, but the almost anxious feeling I get because of the end game trigger is an experience I don't have with basically any other game. I also adore worker placement with dice workers (a la The Castles of Burgundy) and there are just so many options on the main and player boards to go after that you almost always have an meaningful decision to make. When I decided to do this update, I knew this was going to be number one in this category because of the feelings it invokes.

Notes

• There were a lot of changes from the previous list (7 out of 15 were new), but it was expected given how long it's been since the last one.  As predicted, I did "kill some of my darlings" like Tikal, Kingdomino, and 7 Wonders, numbers one, two, and three in their respective categories. 

• The biggest shake up was in the Heavy Games category which only had 2 returning titles, a new number one, and the saw the previous number one slip completely off. Tikal hasn't seen the table since the last list came out in 2019, so I couldn't in good conscience justify keeping it on the list. I plan to try and get it back to the table soon, because I obviously really enjoyed it for it to make all of the lists until this one. One heavy game I could see making the list with more plays is The White Castle, which I just played for the first time recently and think is fantastic. Lost Ruins of Arnak was also a contender and would certainly make a top 10 heavy games list.

• Speaking of the Heavy Games category, I want to add that I know 2.5 and higher isn't "heavy" by BGG Standards and that only one game in that category was above a 3. Once a game hits medium to medium heavy around 3.5, it's an immediate turn off for me because that usually means it has a really long play time and I don't find fun in "spreadsheet" gaming. There are plenty of sub 2.0 weight games that can burn your brain and play in half or even quarter of the time.

• From the Light Games category, I wasn't surprised to see Kingdomino fall off despite it being #2 last time and also now in the 100 plays club. I still really like it and would never refuse a game, I just prefer the top 4 for sure. There was a bottleneck of about five or six games that could have been number 5 instead of Blokus, like the aforementioned Rebirth or Kingdom Builder. Res Arcana, Finca, Can't Stop, and Azul were all prime candidates as well.

• Saving the best for last, the Card Games category had the least amount of drama, outside of maybe 7 Wonders falling off which is probably shocking to some. It's in the 100 plays club but it never sees the table despite being the best pure card drafting game around. It would likely make a top 10 card games list but there are a few games like Point Salad, Fort, The Fox in the Forest, and Sea Salt & Paper that would give it a run for its money.

What are your favorite games? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading.