2021 was a surprising good year in board games. Lots of delays, yes, and a dearth of heavy generational hitters, but all around very solid with many games hitting my lists at the end of the year and several jumping into our top 100s.
With that said, I’m absolutely over the moon excited about the games on the horizon for 2022. We have new War of the Ring content, a new Splotter game, sequels to some of the biggest games of all time, and half a dozen new games and releases from Stefan Feld among others. So this was a fun list to put together.
Without further ado, here’s a rundown of our top 50 (actually 58) most anticipated board games of 2022:
1. Horseless Carriage
2. Gutenberg
3. Ark Nova
4. Boonlake
5. Frosthaven
6. Bitoku
7. Rolling Heights
8. The Spill
9. Familiar Tales
10. Founders of Teotihuacan
11. Settlement
12. Eternal Palace
13. Zapotec
14. Weather Machine
15. Messina 1347
16. Mobile Markets
17. Azul Queen’s Garden
18. Blood on the Clocktower
19. Darwin’s Journey
20. Frostpunk
21. Perseverance
22. Verdant
23. Return to Dark Tower
24. Vagrantsong
25. Hegemony
26. The 7th Citdadel
27. Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar
28. Madeira Collector’s Edition
29. Streets
30. Paperback Adventures
31. Nano9Games
32. American Bookshop
33. Dice Realms
34. Now or Never
35. Eleven: Football Manager Board Game
36. ISS Vanguard
37. Marvel Dice Throne
38. Hamburg/Amsterdam
39. La Granja: Deluxe Master Set
40. The Great Wall
41. Shikoku 1889
42. The Palaces of Carrera Second Edition
43. Tiletum
44. Unconscious Mind
45. Anunnaki: Dawn of the Gods
46. War of the Ring: The Card Game
Anticipated Board Game Expansions
47. On Mars: Alien Invasion
48. Root Marauders
49. Tapestry: Arts and Architecture
50. Everdell: Complete Collection
