How do I find games to play?
Looking forward to 2025 by looking at how I find the games I want to play
Looking at the new year is fun because you get to be unabashedly excited about upcoming games being released. And there is a really exciting slate of games coming out this year.
But how do I actually figure out what games to pay attention to? The indie (and board gaming) space is a gigantic fragmented mess of information distribution, so keeping up with it is its own challenge and experience. I think it’s part of why people who are into games feel the need to talk about it. If you’re going to put in the effort to keep up, you might as well share it with other people, right?
It was surprising to go through this and see just how many sources I really subscribe to to keep up to date.
The Sources
What this boils down to is a combination of preview shows, podcasts, aggregators, reviewers, and streamers. If all of that sounds incomprehensible, I’ll try to break it down.
Preview Shows
A preview show is an event hosted by publishers to showcase new and upcoming games. I’m going to include board game shows like Essen, PAX, and Origins because they largely serve the same purpose. For the video game community, it’s a way of drawing broad interest, eyeballs, and coverage online. Most of the time, the games won’t come out immediately, but the devs are trying to get people to either wishlist in the associated storefront (typically Steam) or to sign up for their email list so they can get updated when the game comes out.
For the board game community it’s the same but in the form of an in person event, and extended coverage of the games content creators (and others) came away from the event with. Beforehand, Board Game Geek hosts a list of the games that are expected to be on sale or demoed at the event.
I’ll also note the Steam NextFest which is a week dedicated to highlighting game demos that players can download and try out. This feels pretty similar to a board game convention where publishers will often guided playthroughs of their upcoming games.Enter the Chronosphere
Aggregators
The next group is what I call aggregators. These aren’t people dedicated to sharing reviews of any single game so much as they are collecting lists of stuff that’s going up for sale or on crowdfunding that month. And these exist for both board games and video games. The video game side is a bit easier, as they narrate over existing trailers, whereas board game aggregators have to run through screenshots and other content.
The goal of these sources isn’t to get an idea of whether or not I would like something, but more of a lay of the land to understand what is available and when, so I know to look out for it.
Podcasters and Reviewers
Then there are the more general podcasters and independent reviewers. People that host personal websites, blogs, or podcasts that talk about games they’ve been playing and what they like and don’t like. If you notice (down below) this list has way more board game reviewers than video game reviewers, I don’t think that’s a coincidence. There are a fair amount of video game podcasts dedicated to indie games that have cropped up, but outside of the (shrinking) traditional journalism sites, I wouldn’t classify a lot of the great writing/thinking around video games as reviews in the traditional sense. A lot of it is about building context around how the game got made, why the game got made, and their personal experience playing the game.
Streamers
Finally on the media side, there’s the dedicated streamers. Mostly for video games, though online playthroughs of board games are gaining some steam recently, these folks don’t play games to review them, they play games so their viewers can watch them play the game.
I think the best way to think about streamers is like cooking or travel shows. Some of the time it’s to watch people do a thing to see if you yourself want to do that thing. And other times (most of the time) it’s to watch someone else do it so you don’t have to put in the time and effort. A lot of the games I’m most excited about will end up in that category, by the end of the year.
Traditional Media
Some traditional (and slightly less traditional) games media still exists. And I’m probably missing some here as well. Primarily I go to Polygon and Aftermath for stuff like that. For the most part, I don’t get a ton of recommendations from these sources, but it’s really helpful to get a vibe about what people care about and what’s bubbling up to the top of interest in games generally.
Track Records
There are a few designers and publishers who will automatically go to the top of my interest when they publish it. The biggest example of this is CMYK games. I will auto-purchase almost anything they come up with because they’ve never let me wrong. Wilmot’s Warehouse the board game based on the video game, was one of my games of the year that I referenced in 2 separate posts. Their hit rate is just so so good.
Other designers/publishers in this space include Zach Gage, Richard Garfield (who my affection for probably outstrips his hit record), and Elizabeth Hargrave.
Designers/publishers on this list doesn’t necessarily mean I will immediately buy the game, but it almost always means it’s going to the top of the list of things I’m really interested in.1
And that’s the list!
From there I keep a list of the games that I am on the lookout for in the new year.
One of the primary benefits of having so many sources is that seeing a game pop up on multiples is its own sort of ranking variable. It gives me context about what type of game it is as well as how highly I should track it and pay attention. Some games I follow deeply, others I am more comfortable waiting until it comes out.
For bigger games, like Slay the Spire 2, because the budget and the hype surrounding them, I’m less concerned about tracking because I know the various algorithms will push it my way when it comes out. On the other hand, there are games I will occasionally peak in on if I haven’t heard about them in a while. Like Monaco 22, not hearing about it at all makes me wonder whether or not it’s even going to make it out this year.
Honestly Though, How Much of this is the visual art?
A lot. A lot of it is art.
I don’t agree with the idea that mechanics represent the true ideas of a game. The representation of the game defines how we experience it and what we expect, which is part of the reason we play!
This isn’t to say that interest art is the only thing I care about. There are lots of games with interesting ideas like Sol Cesto or Flocking Hell, where the concept of the game speaks to me more than the art. But how the game represents itself is absolutely part of what I care about, and if you look at my Steam wishlist, that will jump out immediately:
Anticipation Station
What writing this has made me realize is how much of my enjoyment of games is the discovery of new potential games and experiences. The challenge, of course is figuring out which ones to play and which ones to leave by the wayside.
Below I’ve compiled a list of all of my resources, along with the games I’m most interested in playing in 2025.
See you next year!
Epilogue: The Lists
Here’s a list of the streamers I use to find new games, as well as the
The Games
Games I’m Very Confident I will Play
An autobattler that’s a single player version of Hearthstone Battlegrounds with a beautiful art style.
A multiplayer game by the same people who made the incredible Grindstone.
What if a Civilization game but every grid tile was a mini game.
Not even sure how to describe this one… It’s a… single player board game roguelike?
Battle card game by the people who made Battle Chef Brigade (what if Top Chef with monster hunting)
Another real-time turn-based roguelike blend with an awesome looking art style.
3d sequel to the dungeon crawling shop building roguelite adventure.
What if space invaders was a turn based tactics game?
LOK (Mobile)
Probably my favorite puzzle creator, releasing a game for mobile.
Sunderfolk (Digital and Physical???)
What if board game on TV? Who knows what will happen next?
Board game with good vibes and buzz and an incredibly unique art style.
Legacy version of a game that you can play with a 52 card deck. I am incredibly intrigued.
It’s been described as a cross between Battle Line and Marvel Snap!
A year isn’t complete without a ButtonShy solo game.
I am… on the hunt for 1 good dino game and the art on this looks solid.
Shutup and Sit Down described this glowingly on a recent podcast. I am intrigued.
My Follow List
Podcasts and Reviewers
So Very Wrong About Games (Board Games)
Triple Click (Video Games)
Shut Up and Sit Down (Board Games)
Dan Thurot/Space-Biff (Board Games)
Actualol (Board Games)
No Pun Included (Board Games)
Eggplant (Video Games)
Preview Events
Steam Nextfest
Day of the Devs
Wholesome Games Direct
Origin Game Fair
Gen Con
PC Gaming Show
Nintendo Direct (Indies)
Aggregators
Streamers
Traditional Media
Publishers/Designers with solid track records
For example, Final Titan, which Richard Garfield is attached to, is the type of game I will look out for reviews and actual plays of, but probably won’t go out of my way to buy.
Monaco 2 is another game where my affection might far outstrip my actual interest. I think it’s some combination of being one of the first co-op game I played with a good friend online, while reminding me of both Clue and Jewel Thief (beloved childhood games) that keeps this one at the top of my interest.