YORKTON – It is weird how a year in gaming evolves at The Meeple Guild table.
As the year progresses, we often have a post game discussion about how games seem to be maybe a bit lacklustre over a period of sessions.
Then the year end comes and we sit down to determine our top-fives, and our personal look backs prove rather different.
Take for example Meeple Guilder Adam who noted in his mind this year was sort of meddling for games in my personal opinion but five games did rise to the top and when I looked at my list it was rather easy to select the five. So in no particular order here are Adam’s five, who suggested each of these games could be number one really depending on his mood.
Rivages – This was perhaps the most surprising game of the year. My expectations when learning the game were not high. But once we actually started playing it was some of the most fun I had playing a game all year. In the game you are looking for treasure and to do that you are drafting cards and mapping an area with a dry erase marker on the map. It was a lot of fun and the theme worked great.
Trench Crusade – Perhaps the game with the best theme I played all year. The game is basically what would happen if the crusades met trench warfare. The minis are amazing, they fit the theme amazingly well and are the key selling point for me. The ruleset is easy to learn and allows a lot of customization for how you assemble your warband.
Rummy Snap – This is probably the game I played the most all year. Some might call it a filler game, but the gameplay is so fun that playing it for a whole night is possible. The fact the game comes in a bag lends itself to take it with you to the cabin or lake. It's a fun game that anyone will enjoy.
Tolleno – This game gave me Ticket to Ride or New York 1901 vibes, which is a good thing. Those are both really good games. In the game you are a builder, trying to build the tallest building along city channels. You lay tiles and move along the channel trying to control the tiles by building on them and you also have a boat to move supplies though the city. This was a great game and fun to play.
Aeon's End – As someone who loves deck building games I had my eyes on this one for a long time. This was the year I finally got around to playing and it was everything I wanted from a deck builder. It also has a fantasy vibe to it, you and the other players must protect the village from a powerful monster, it is a co-op game as well which is another genre I love. This game does everything right and it makes me wonder why I took so long to finally play it.
Meeple Guilder Calvin saw greater depth in 2025, as he started with a rough list of possibles and was surprised there were a dozen games he at least initially saw as possible of being in his top-five.
Then the head scratching really started as he pared things down, starting with – in no particular order — a few honourable mentions: War Chest, Bloomchasers (I really liked this one), Cubed: Next Level Dominoes, Butterfly Kingdom, YOINK! and Hex Factor.
Oh, and this year after struggling to determine my list we played Tolleno on a Sunday afternoon in early December, and I was back adjusting things, and surprisingly relegated the fine trick-taking game Trickadee to a late honourable mention.
Now onto the final five – which are;
#5 Rivages — So the day after Rivages hit The Meeple Guild table I admit I was searching for what the title meant.
For those like me it is apparently ‘middle English’ from the late 1200s meaning a bank, shore, or coast.
That fits as in Rivages from designer Joachim Thome and Catch Up Games, players are exploring islands.
While no single element seems outstanding, overall this was just a lot of fun.
#4 – Stakeout — Up front dice and I traditionally have had what might best be described as a hate / hate relationship.
The little spotted cubes are typically pure evil when I roll them onto the gaming table, so when I came upon Stakeout by designer Amber Wells I was rather torn.
The theme has players – two-to-four – taking on the roles of private eyes, with the art by Varvara Alay running nicely to hard-boiled detective noir.
I have long been a fan of Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer, Walter Moseley’s Easy Rawlins, Erle Stanley Gardiner’s Perry Mason and similar pulpy delights so Stakeout intrigued in that way.
Now I might not enthuse quite that much in terms of a complete immersion in the theme, but I’ll admit Stakeout is among the cream of games experienced for the first time this year, and for me to say that about a dice-powered offering is unusual to say the least.
#3 Rummy Snap – Every time I sit down to pen a review on behalf of The Meeple Guild in the back of my mind is the game one that might be one to make my personal top-five a year end.
It was only a quarter of the way into the year when Rummy Snap hit the table, and it quickly became a table favourite.
Rummy Snap is a game which initially hit the table with little expectation, but it really ended up surprising in a most positive way.
It helps of course that the game is based off rummy. There are 55 tiles, one for each card in a common deck of cards, and three wild cards – each with a special in-game ‘power’.
The game is a highly social one, great for couples over coffee in the evening, and fits into the realm of games which include Rummikub, Kings Cribbage and Mexican Trains, with Rummy Snap certainly as good.
All told, Rummy Snap was, and is, easy to recommend for almost every gamer.
#2 – Abducktion – In the original review I wrote “be forewarned you might just go quackers over this week’s game,” and I’ll stand by that.
As you might have guessed from the futile effort at humour back then, this game has something to do with ducks.
And, yes it is about as bizarre a theme as you can imagine.
In Abducktion players are basically aliens collecting ducks – no explanation is given as to why you want the ducks – and I suppose even if one were given it would be a highly improbable one. It matters not because wrapped up in the weird theme is a very fun game.
For #1 I am going to cheat offering up a tie. While I typically detest ties I simply feel these two are equally worth top spot.
#1 – Northwest – When you see Northwest on a shelf, you will note a rather plain, yet surprisingly attractive forest scene, unassuming yet likely to draw you in.
If you were wise enough to buy this one from designer Rick Hou and Brickhouse Games you are in for a treat.
This game is super easy rules wise, and looks so good, it’s a near must-have in my books.
#1 Tolleno – A last minute addition to the list but also a very good game that warrants co-top spot.
Tolleno is a one-part tile layer, overlaid with something at least akin to a worker placement element, which result in sort of an area control feel, which in the end has a bit of a ‘point salad’ ending with points adding up from a bunch of different things.
It all comes together well with Tolleno – even the box art is very nice. The result is this is as easy a game recommendation as there has been in 2025. Definitely a wise choice for any holiday cash if you are a gamer.
And then there is Guilder Trevor, tagged on here at the end after being tardy in creating his top-five which are:
#1 Rummy Snap
A quick fun game. If you like rummy, you’ll like this game. 55 pieces, 52 cards and three jokers. Each player starts with 10-13 pieces, depending on number of players. The object of the game is to be the first player to have no pieces left. When you get down to one piece, you call out “rummy snap!” to let all other players know that the end of the game is nigh! It’s a definite must for card game enthusiasts.
#2 Trickadee
A fun trick taking gamefor 3 to 5 players. After winning a trick, you get to select the bird of your choice and place it into your flock. The other players select a card based on card order. They also get to collect “seeds” that will help you. After three rounds of play, whoever has the most points wins. If you enjoy trick taking games and like birds, you will definitely like this game.
#3 Sheep
A game of mutant sheep. What’s not to like! It’s a co-op game for 2 – 4 players. Your job is to move caravans from across the wilderness. Each turn is two phases, day and night. During the day phase, the sheep are just sheep, but at night, watch out as they mutate and attack. To win, you must get all of the caravans across the wilderness. Lose just one and game over. This was just a prototype, so we were having issues figuring out some of the rules, however, it’s still a great game. I cannot wait to see the final product, with all the rules.
#4 Tolleno
A game about co-op building a city and individually scoring points based on how you play your building tiles. When you unlock your boat, use it to move tiles around to score more points. When a player places their last tile, they trigger a final scoring phase. There is also an advanced mode that scores points unique to each player. This game scratches a few itches, area control, tile placement and being able to move pieces to more desirable areas.
#5 Abducktion
This is a quick 1 to 4 player game where you have cards, worth points, that you have to match with the ducks on your stream board, which holds 10 ducks. When you match a card, take it, then remove (abduct) the ducks off your board into the UFO and add new ones to the board. The game continues until all cards have been collected by the players. The winner is the person who collected the most points when their cards are added up.
