🏆 The Endies 2025

Dear reader,

Inspired by the tabletop game awards called The ENNIES, The Endies are a year-end wrap-up for TTRPGs developed by Lady Tabletop. I did not keep reliable data about the games I played this year (surprising, because I track a lot of things), but I'm going to tell you about some of my favorites anyway!

Most Hacked Game: Dungeons & Dragons

As usual, D&D is my most-played game because I'm in two long-running campaigns. But I became the DM of one campaign this year, and I'm having a great time stuffing different bits of other RPGs into it! I'm running the module Vecna: Eve of Ruin (which I have renamed Secrets of the Lich King), and I've incorporated PbtA moves, random tables from The Zone, and my favorite stuff about building a house in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. We're only three chapters into the module, so I have plenty of time to keep on hackin'.

Game I Played With The Most Different People: Yazeba's Bed & Breakfast

I played this game while hosting friends, on vacation, at Side Quest Books & Games, and for my company's queer employees group! Because of the evocative pregenerated characters and easy-to-follow mechanics, getting this game to the table is a super smooth experience. We've finally unlocked the Moon Prince in my copy — please play this game with me so I can play as them!!!

Most Unexpectedly Emotional: Viva la QueerBar

I also ran this game for the queer employees group, and we had a lovely time! Our queer bar was at a space station rest stop and we mostly played aliens who related to concepts of sexuality and gender in strange and interesting ways. This was super easy to bring to the table, and was so much more impactful than I expected.

Best Game To Play On A Plane: HARDCASE

I brought my dice and everything to play this solo game while flying to visit my parents and had a lovely conversation with the guy next to me about how his kids play D&D. Now that I've played the Citizen Sleeper games, I feel like I really get the vibe of HARDCASE. My poor HC is struggling away in Basement Station.

Most Beautiful Game: Koriko: A Magical Year

I backed this solo game inspired by Kiki's Delivery Service on Kickstarter and finally started playing it! The design of it is just lovely; the artwork is beautiful, the layout is clear, and the extra cards and dice I got with the book are nice and tactile. I'm interested to see where the story of this one goes!

Favorite Game I Read: Girl Frame

A recent release from Isabelle M. Ruebsaat, this game about lesbian mech pilots is deliciously brutal. I've been following and enjoying the updates — it's very cool seeing how a game is refined in real-time!

Games I Want To Bring To The Table

• For the Queen: I've never played the original!
• Seven-Part Pact: wizard weekend, anyone?
• Songbirds: look, I'm still obsessed with this one and I wanna play it so bad
• Songs for the Dusk: I am the target audience for solarpunk community-building
• This Discord Has Ghosts In It: I love a game that's designed to be played online

On My Wishlist

• Triangle Agency: seems like a fun and wild time; I want to see what's behind the playwall!
• Slugblaster: frankly just looks cool as shit
• SPINE: I will buy this book and destroy it.

If you're interested in trying any of these, I've put the games that are available on itch.io into a collection!

Time to make my game-tracking spreadsheet for 2026...