Our Favorite Tabletop Games of 2022

We love tabletop games here. Whether it’s a card game, board game, RPG, or something else, there are tons of great tabletop games out there with more coming out. A few of us writers here at GeekTyrant have come together to list some of our favorites from this past year. Keep in mind that the game does not have to be new in 2022, but the game does have to be new to us. Let us know in the comments what your favorites are.

Tommy Williams

• Rear Window

  • Designer: Prospero Hall

  • Publisher: Funko Games

Rear Window is a really fun cooperative game that reminds me a lot of another great game, Mysterium. One player gives clues to the other players in the form of pictures. Granted each picture can easily point to several different aspects of the room including the person or roles of the characters. It’s a really fun game that tests your ability to communicate without words and the ability of your gaming partners to pick up on what you’re saying.

• 3000 Scoundrels

  • Designer: Corey Konieczka, Unexpected Games

  • Publisher: Asmodee

3000 Scoundrels uses transparent cards extremely well and offers near infinite replay value. Some of the card combinations are fun to play and some are just really fun to read. Every time I’ve pulled the game out to play, it’s been a really good time for everyone with a few different strategies you can aim for allowing a few different styles of play. The bluffing mechanic is well designed and doesn’t punish bad liars too much, while giving a bit of a boost to those that spot the bluff. Plus, it works very well with two players for those game nights when no one wants to come over.

• Um, Actually

  • Designer: Peter Nesbitt, Connor Reid, Mike Trapp

  • Publisher: Wiggles 3D

I love watching Um, Actually on Dropout and was pumped when they launched the Kickstarter for a game based on the show. I finally got my copy a month or so ago and it’s so much fun. I will say that you have to have the right people to play with. I originally went to play with some people who did not make it fun, but I pulled it out with some other friends and it was an absolute blast. The rules say that the role of host moves around with each question, but we were playing virtually and so we played it with just one person serving as host and it was a delight. I was the host and it was so much fun to hear what people were guessing for some of the questions where they clearly didn’t know the answers. Definitely a highlight for me and I’m excited to pull it out during the holidays.

Daniel Black

• Twilight Imperium

  • Designer: James Kniffen

  • Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

I love complex and intense board games, but sometimes their huge amount of rules never amount to impressive strategy, smart foresight, and adaptive gameplay. Basically, a good game should offer just as many thoughtful choices as it does complex rules. Twilight Imperium can seem kind of scary at first because of the multiple boards, loads of symbols, and unique factions. But that actual game and moment to moment gameplay is fast and consistent. I love how much this game encourages unique strategies for gaining points based on the faction you are dealt or the boards you have. I loved the visual design, roll-and-write format, and thematic mechanics. This is easily one of my new favorite games, sitting comfortably in my Top 10 Board Games and is well worth the time and effort to learn and play the game.

Anna Williams

• Call of Cthulhu

  • Publisher: Chaosium

Call of Cthulhu is obviously not a brand new game in 2022, but it is the first year that I was finally able to actually play the game. After reading about it and listening to live plays of the game for years, I was finally able to get a group together to play a few games and it was so fun. It's a surprisingly liberating game to run for people since the point is to make your player characters go mad or kill them. If you are afraid of killing player characters in other games, you need to give Call of Cthulhu a try to help you get over that fear. I had so much fun playing this game at long last and after getting to read through a lot of different scenarios and rulebooks, I have a huge respect for the team at Chaosium that helps make this game possible. They do a really good job at helping you know historical context and how to help have conversations with your group about tackling difficult topics.

• CATAN: Dawn of Humankind

  • Designer: Klaus Teuber, Benjamin Teuber

  • Publisher: CATAN Studio

Settlers of Catan is a classic game and was one of the games that introduced me to board games outside of Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. While I do enjoy the original Settlers, I eventually moved on to other games after not enjoying some of the expansions that had come out. Dawn of Humankind changed that for me. It shook up the game play so much that it almost feels like a completely separate game. The board is so much more expansive that you feel like you actually have room to play the game and someone can’t completely hose you by cutting off your road system. I really enjoyed all the new aspects and gameplay this one brought on, definitely making it one of my favorite games this year.

• The Great British Baking Show Game

  • Designer: Frederica Scott Vollrath

  • Publisher: Ravensburger

The Great British Baking Show is one of my all time favorite shows. This card game, while incredibly simple in concept, is a really fun easy game to play with a group. While I had opted to tweak the rules a little bit with the scoring, I still had a ton of fun with it. It works really well as a group game. You simply have a stack of ingredient cards and a picture of the thing you are trying to make and you just make it. Like I said, simple. There are ways to get more points and you are racing against the other players to get a point bonus for being done first. It's just a nice, easy game to play with people who enjoy games but aren’t going to sit through any explanation that takes more than 5 minutes to give.