I don’t always get a chance to play a lot of the newest, hottest board games, but I played a fair amount of games from 2024 (about 80 titles!) So I wanted to put together of list of a few of my favorites from this year. What was your favorite board game that came out in 2024?

10. Ovation

I really liked the theme on this one, and thought it had some interesting mechanisms with how players interacted with one another. I’m also pretty into contract fulfillment in games. I was excited to pick up my own copy at PAXU!

9. Lost in Adventure: The Labyrinth

I’m a sucker for a one-shot “escape room adjacent” type of game, and this was a really cool one. This definitely gave me the same vibe as 7th Continent in some ways, but in a much more manageable game. I definitely want to play it again in a bit to try and get a better score, but I am also really excited to, hopefully, see more games come out in the series!

8. Duck & Cover

I didn’t think this one sounded too interesting at first, but upon playing it, it’s pretty neat! It’s very quick and very light, but it still has meaningful decisions in how you choose to move your ducks around, and how you try to approach scoring.

7. Spectacular

I love a good dice game, and this was really cool. There’s drafting, pattern building, and a bunch of opportunity to score, which all comes together really well. I also like looking at what others are taking for their boards to try and determine what my best options are for each turn…and what I might want to take to keep it away from someone else!

6. Confusing Lands

This little 2 player game seems very simple, but there’s a lot of layers to it! (And not just the layers of cards in your grid!) You only look at 2 cards per turn, but there’s a lot to consider for your grid/score, so it’s really engaging, and a lot of fun.

4. Explorers of Navoria

I really like in this one how you draft cards with the tokens and then use the same tokens to take up the worker placement spots in the second phase because you really have to be thinking about the duality of your actions, and what other people are doing too since you might not have access to certain actions later if you don’t take certain cards earlier. I think there’s a lot of opportunity for scoring, which I always like, and I just love the look of this one.

4. Creature Caravan

I love a multiplayer solitaire game! I felt like I had so many choices and so much flexibility in this game, and I just love being able to do my own thing for the most part without worrying too much about what others are doing. Though, it is still interesting to watch what others are doing, to try and see where you might need to make up points!

3. Stonespine Architects


This one has players making a dungeon and you can score points for connecting paths, finishing your blueprints, and various challenge cards you pick up each round. I like that you aren’t forced to connect paths, because it helps alleviate some of the luck of the cards (though, so does drafting). I think it works really well, and it has a unique vibe to it.

2. Neodreams

I can be pretty hit and miss with engine building type games, but this one is really cool. I really like balancing the worker placement with everything too, and trying to position yourself so you don’t have to pull back as often, if other people can trigger that for you instead!

1. Forges of Ravenshire

I love dice as workers, but I love even more than there is value in low and high numbers alike for the different worker spots! I think it helps the game feel different play after play and keeps it fresh.

The upgrading on player boards is fun, the contract fulfillment is solid, and overall the game has a great flow and doesn’t overstay it’s welcome!