by Justin Bell

One of the best things about being a media member, content creator, and/or influencer in the tabletop space right now is that we get the chance to play lots of new and often unreleased games before the masses. It’s a blast to be able to influence the messaging for an upcoming title.

Like many of you, I love trying out new games. Some of the games I’ve had the pleasure of trying out early over the last couple years, it was very cool having the chance to play a pre-production copy (or “PPC”, for short) of Vital Lacerda’s strategy title Speakeasy, about a year before it hit the market. Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon, Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory, and the Andromeda’s Edge expansion Genesis were some of the other strategy games I’ve had the chance to influence early, so getting those chances is always a joy.

My latest obsession is something I call “the cult of the new-ish.” It’s something that I’m also pushing with publishers when I reach out for review copies. While I am interested in covering brand-new titles, there are dozens of games I want to cover that were released in the last 2-3 years that are a mix of popular, well-regarded titles and gems that didn’t catch on with a larger audience.

Often, these are games that previously sat on BGG’s The Hotness charts, which track the top 50 games trending here on the site each day. Some were on The Hotness for weeks, while others were a relative flash in the pan before vanishing from view.

Thousands of games hit the market every year now, and none of us can cover every new game—even the brilliant [user=boardgamersteph]Steph Hodge[/user], a fellow member of the news desk who gets a couple thousand plays in every year. I’ve begun to intentionally slow my pace, going back a year or two to catch up on the games that I missed.

With that as our frame, here’s a short list of titles I’m hoping to try this year:

Age of Innovation: I’m sort of shocked that I still haven’t caught up with this one. Like other games on the list below, I wasn’t able to procure a review copy of Age of Innovation when it hit, and I missed the game nights when friends put their own copy of Age of Innovation on the table when it was initially released. Like other “Cult of the New” games in my circles, Age of Innovation was hot for a month or so…then other games took its place, so I missed out. But I love Terra Mystica and like Gaia Project, so I know I’ll like Age of Innovation.

Wilmot’s Warehouse: many of my peers in the media space swore Wilmot’s Warehouse was one of their favorite games of 2024. When pressured by these individuals at conventions—”what did you think about Wilmot’s Warehouse?”—I lowered my head and admitted I had not tried it yet. No more excuses, friends…I’m trying Wilmot’s Warehouse at some point in 2026. I mean it this time!

Bomb Busters: I actually got a review copy of Bomb Busters from the team at Pegasus Spiele at Gen Con 2024, but was overloaded with other titles I needed to review that fall. I decided to hand my copy to another writer on our team at Meeple Mountain. Big mistake. I still haven’t played Bomb Busters and the game has gone on to win a ton of awards, in addition to the hearts and minds of thousands of players around the globe. (Bomb Busters has become the Star Wars of my gaming groups; players look visibly shocked when they learn that I haven’t played Bomb Busters, as if I’ve never seen the movie Star Wars. You know what I’m talking about!!) I’ll snatch a copy of Bomb Busters from a friend to find out for myself why everyone loves this now-classic deduction game.

Stationfall: here’s the blurb from the BGG snapshot: “A game of blackmail and betrayal, murder and mayhem, danger and destruction.” In a board game setting, I love all those things! It’s got a funny image of an “astrochimp” on the cover! It plays up to like ten players! Why have I not played this game???

Scarface 1920: my buddy Johnny keeps asking me to play this game, in part because he loves it but more so because he knows I would love it. I love mob themes, so games like Speakeasy and The Godfather: Corleone’s Empire always land for me. It’s got a sweet-looking set of illustrations. I can attack my neighbors. This one seems right up my alley, but I didn’t back the game and never got my hands on a copy. I need to make this one happen!

Things in Rings: maybe I need to go to more parties. Or, maybe I need to go to more parties where people are playing party games. Either way, I still haven’t been to a game night where someone broke out Things in Rings and I’m starting to wonder if I need to make new friends. Things in Rings hit the market in 2024 and I still haven’t found a way to put said things in rings…and it’s starting to make me angry. Somebody, please, invite me to a party where things and rings meet up!

Rise & Fall: I’ve got nowhere to run with this title. Everything about it sounds like my kind of game, right down to a playtime that lands in the 90-minute range. A couple friends have copies, people who I trust love it, and it looks like the kind of board state that develops into something that looks cool by the end of each play. This will be an easy one to table because others in my network love it.

Last Light: I did a demo of the Last Light prototype at Dice Tower West in the spring of 2022. I know the demo took place at that show, because I only have one DTW t-shirt, and it was from the 2022 event. After finishing an eight-player game of Last Light in just over an hour with the designer, Roy Cannaday, I wanted to play it again when the production copy reached the market. And here we are, three years after the game hit, and I still haven’t played it again. I’ll shallowly try to blame my network for this, but the reality is I need to work harder to get a copy and get this one on the table to see if my initial excitement will be realized once again.

And these games are only the tip of the iceberg. A river of games hits every year, but there are so many good ones from just a few years ago that I need to catch. Looks like I have to go out and play more games!