We continually run out of space on our board game shelves, but that doesn’t mean we stop buying new ones. And luckily for us and all you tabletop enthusiasts out there, 2023 has plenty of exciting games in store. From games connected to big franchises to ones featuring cute woodland critters, the tabletop games coming out in 2023 cover a little of everything. Below are the 10 tabletop games we’re most looking forward to this year.
A couple of notes: these recommendations don’t include tabletop RPGs because that’s a whole other list. Additionally, we’re including games according to when retail stores will have them in stock. Any games that shipped through Kickstarter campaigns in 2022 but aren’t arriving in game shops until 2023 count.
Slay the Spire: The Board Game
Popular video game Slay the Spire gets a board game adaptation this year. Crushing its Kickstarter campaign in 2022, this cooperative game is a deck-building adventure. For 1-4 players, Slay the Spire is all about discovering relics, battling creatures, and gaining what you need to slay the Spire.
You can order through a late pledge for the Kickstarter campaign here.
The Fox Experiment
Like cute critters? Us, too! The Fox Experiment, from the same folks who designed the popular game Wingspan, puts you in the role of a fox geneticist. It’s based on the Russian Farm-Fox Experiment, a study of animal domestication. In this game for 1-4 players, you’ll breed domesticated foxes. We know it sounds weird, but it looks and sounds super charming. If nothing else, we’re into it for the art.
Stationfall
What if humans, robots, and other beings get turned loose on a space station that’s crashing towards Earth? And on top of that, everyone has their own intentions and their own skills. In Stationfall (for 1-9 players), you play one of these characters and the others are collaborators you have on hand ready to assist you in achieving your goals. But… they could be waiting to betray you.
You can pre-order Stationfall here.
Frosthaven
We all know Gloomhaven, the winner of the heaviest single tabletop game box (seems like it, at least). It’s getting a sequel in Frosthaven. It should be widely available in 2023. Frosthaven carries forward the combat-focused campaign style of game play with over 100 new scenarios, new playable classes, and minis galore for 1-4 players. Admittedly, we’re still working through Gloomhaven, but not being finished with a game never stopped us from buying another one.
Scotland Yard: Sherlock Holmes Edition
Scotland Yard is a classic board game, but in 2023, it gets a Sherlock Holmes twist. We can never resist a little Sherlock. In this game for 2-6 players, Professor Moriarty is on the run, escaping in a hot air balloon. You have to use your deductive reasoning to catch him before he plots even more nefarious schemes.
Pre-order Scotland Yard: Sherlock Holmes Edition here.
Thunder Road: Vendetta
Remember 1986’s Thunder Road? This a restoration with all kinds of added touches. For 2-4 players, Thunder Road: Vendetta has new hazards, damages, and an overall update to the post-apocalyptic setting. The board and the minis look like a blast.
Disney Lorcana
A trading card game but with Disney characters? Please and thank you. The art on this game with “unique and magical” gameplay leans into its setting of Lorcana. The players become sorcerers called Illumineers. We don’t know much about the actual game play yet, but we already want to collect the cards.
Hickory Dickory
A game for 1-4 players in the worker rotation style, Hickory Dickory is a royal scavenger hunt. Players control a team of mice that must ride around a cuckoo clock looking for matching cards. The game play looks straightforward and charming. It’s nice to have a low stakes game to balance out the more intense ones.
Pre-order Hickory Dickory here.
Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread
It’s an absolute yes to another ongoing campaign board game. Arydia, a cooperative game for 1-4 players, is set in an open fantasy world. While it has components of a legacy game, it’s designed to be replayed at will. You’ll interact with characters, build the game board, fight monsters—usual campaign things. It’s the world that has us intrigued.
Septima
A 1-4 player game, Septima is all about witches. You lead a powerful coven and you want to be the best so you can succeed the High Witch Septima. This game’s design looks impeccable. And the story? Witches enthralling townsfolk (among other things)?! Sign us up.
You can still slide in a late pledge for Septima at this link.