We're just a couple of weeks away from UK Games Expo 2025, the biggest event of the year for the UK board games scene, and one of the largest in the world. Team Wargamer is travelling there in force this year, and as part of our preparation we've drawn up a long list of board games we can't wait to try out - and we thought we'd share the five we're most excited about.
We're always on the lookout for real smash hits that deserve a spot on our guide to the best board games, and competition for a place is really, really tough - the guide is stuffed with cast-iron classics. But we've got high hopes for this year - there are already more promising board games on our short-list than we have time to test.
In fact the offerings are so strong, we've throw in some more at the end of this article as honorable mentions. For now, here are the five board games we're most excited to play at the UK Games Expo:
Revenant
How do you reinvigorate the worker placement genre? Revenant's answer is to make every board space into a physical location which can be blown up in the middle of the game by marauding aliens! The overall presentation of the game reminds us of Battlestar Galactica, which is dangerous for site editor Alex Evans, as he will need to try out some other games as well this year…
Ofrenda
Ofrenda might be the most beautiful game at an Expo characterized by beautiful games. Players attempt to create memorial boards that will satisfy their dead relatives for Dio de los Muetos. The need to place cards properly suggests Azul, but with a wholesome art style similar to Pixar's Coco.
Molly House
It's not just because it's named after our resident DnD expert Mollie Russell, but that doesn't hurt. Molly House is set among the queer communities of 18th century London, and sees the players attempting to organise festivities while dodging the oppressive Society for the Reformation of Manners, risking arrest, and perhaps being turned into an Informer. The low-color presentation is perfect for the Georgian setting.
Luthier
Luthier is a strategy board game that promises a unique blend of hidden bidding and worker placement - but frankly we just saw how busy the board was with spaces and icons and knew that this was the kind of heavy euro we have to test, at least once. The unusual theme - crafting musical instruments during the peak of Western classical music - and gorgeous presentation also help.
Line of Fire: Burnt Moon
We've long been fans of Osprey's Undaunted series, which provides a great mixture of light wargame strategy with interesting deck building mechanics. Line of Fire: Burnt Moon strips away the World War 2 setting and removes the map movement in favor of a bold sci-fi style and streamlined, lane-based gameplay.
Honorable mentions
There are so many games at UK Games Expo that we want to see that, even with three staff going, it's unlikely we'll get to half of them. So here's a few more that didn't make the list!
- Popcorn is a bright and bold euro-game
- Timber Town promises cute family friendly strategy
- Barbecubes is a pocket-sized dexterity challenge
- A Gentle Rain looks like dominos in a Japanese watergarden
- SETI: Space Agencies is an expansion to one of last year's biggest games
- Gwent is just Gwent from The Witcher 3, only printed on cardboard!
Whatever else we see at the UK Games Expo, you'll hear about it first in the official Wargamer Discord community, as we drop a lot of over-caffeinated hype messages over the weekend of May 31.
We'll be looking for titles that deserve on a few of our other 'best of' lists as well - if anything is worth inclusion on our guides to the best board games for couples, best cooperative board games, or best board games for adults, we'll let you know!