Sean Winningham
Although I’ve played board games for years with my family, it wasn’t until this year I started to really focus on expanding my exposure to the gaming world. Thanks to my decision to take a pause from my podcast about comics, the influence of Critical Role had on me wanting to explore more tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), getting connected to an amazing local gaming store, and attending my first GenCon this year, 2023 was a great year for me to start my gaming experience.
Aside from my personal gaming journey, 2023 has been a phenomenal year for games as well. From new trading card games to video game versions of TTRPGs, there’s so much that you can pick from this year that made gaming exciting for anyone this year.
Here are my top 5 biggest games of 2023, in no particular order. If any of these interest you, find your local gaming store to buy or play (many game stores have demo libraries for you to try out), and let me know which one you decide to play!
Disney Lorcana
- Medium: Trading Card Game (TCG)
- Players: 2-6 players
- Play Time: 15-30 minutes
- Ages: 8+
- Designers: Ryan Miller, Steve Warner
- Artists: Cory Godbey, Luis Huerta, Cam Kendell, Jake Parker
- Mechanism: Card Game
- Genre/Theme: Disney
- Publisher: Ravensburger
- Year Released: 2023
Publisher Description
Disney Lorcana is a trading card game (TCG) that features Disney characters in both original and reimagined art styles that live in an all-new world with unique and magical gameplay.
The game is set in the rich and fantastical world of Lorcana, a combination of the words “lore” and “arcana”. Players will take on the mantle of Illumineer, a powerful sorcerer, and band together Disney characters from Lorcana’s “The Great Illuminary”, a treasury of all Disney songs and stories ever made.
Disney Lorcana doesn’t have an official player count on the packaging, but the designers have suggested 2-6 is an appropriate range.
Why It Made The List
This game is a mix of style between Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering. Growing up in the 90s, I was familiar with Pokemon but was never really into that world (and only started to understand how the TCG version of it worked when my kid learned how to play it this summer).?But hearing a lot of people at my local gaming store talk about this game and how excited they were about it, I gave it a shot. It was really easy to learn and a lot of fun to see some of your favorite Disney characters become part of your team. If you are a Disney fan and you ever wanted to try your hand at a TCG, this would be it.
Lorcana debuted at GenCon this year and was a huge hit. Every day there was a huge line for people wanting to get up to the Ravensburger booth to try to purchase Lorcana cards before it went on sale for the general public. In fact, there were people waiting in line the night before in order to get a good spot, which I was told has not happened before in the past. This did create some confusion and chaos at the convention, and there’s still skepticism about if this game will last beyond a year. Whether it does or not, this is surely a game that will make a dent in a lot of people’s gaming lives.
Dragonbane
- Medium: Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG)
- Players: 1-6 players
- Ages: 12+
- Designers: Marco Behrmann, Gabrielle de Bourg, Moa Frithiofsson, Tomas Härenstam, Mattias Johnsson, Gunilla Jonsson, Nils Karlén, Kosta Kostulas, Svante Landgraf, Mattias Lilja, Andreas Marklund, Pelle Nilsson (II), Michael Petersén, Magnus Seter, Johan Sjöberg, Krister Sundelin, Shawn Tomkin, Roger Undhagen
- Artists: Dan Algstrand, Francesca Baerald, Niklas Brandt, Johan Egerkrans, Christian Granath, Anton Vitus
- System: Skill-based d20 (roll under)
- Genre/Theme: Fantasy/High Fantasy
- Publisher: Free League Publishing
- Year Released: 2023
Publisher Description
Dragonbane is a classic fantasy tabletop roleplaying game full of magic, mystery, and adventure. It is designed from the ground up to facilitate fast and furious play, with very little prep time and adventures that are a breeze to run. This is a game with room for laughs at the table, while still offering brutal challenges for the adventurers. We call this playstyle “mirth and mayhem roleplaying” – great for long campaigns, but also perfect for a one-shot.
Dragonbane is a translation of Drakar och Demoner, Scandinavia’s first and biggest tabletop RPG, originally launched in 1982. This new and reimagined edition has one foot firmly planted in the heritage of decades of Swedish gaming and the other in the modern and innovative game design for which Free League Publishing is known worldwide.
Why It Made The List
I’m not going to lie – the biggest appeal to me about this game when I saw it at GenCon was the medieval, Darkwing Duck-like figure that was on the box. But luckily after buying it, I found a group of people at my local gaming store who also wanted to play this game. We started in early September, and we still meet weekly to play one of our new favorite TTRPGs. It has a lot of similarities with the popular Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game, with a fantasy element and how one would play the game. But there’s also enough differences that makes the play style more unique and challenging (e.g. each weapon you have has a certain number you need to roll under in order to successfully strike that person. Perhaps you have a high score in swords but your axe score is a little lower.)
This is a skill-based d20 roll under system, which mean that in order to be successful, you need to roll a number that is equal to or lower than the number listed on your character sheet. For those who are fans of D&D, this may take some time to get used to it, but I believe you’ll definitely enjoy this game if you’re looking for a new, fantasy-based TTRPG. The box has everything you need to get started with your friends, as well as a solo adventure if that interests you.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Publisher Description
Why It Made The List
Horrified: Greek Monsters
- Players: 1-5 players
- Play Time: 60 minutes
- Ages: 10+
- Designer: Michael Mulvihill
- Artist: Victor Maristane
- Mechanism: Cooperative, Action Points, Pick-Up And Deliver
- Genre/Theme: Horror, Greek Mythology
- Publisher: Ravensburger
- Year Released: 2023
Publisher Description
Pandora’s Box has been opened, and Greece’s most notorious monsters have escaped.
Horrified: Greek Monsters is a standalone game that features gameplay similar to 2019’s Horrified. In this co-operative game, players become avatars of the Greek gods and must work together to re-capture these monsters.
To do that, they must first uncover the monsters’ lairs. Medusa, Cerberus, Chimera, and Minotaur are hidden in locations that must be discovered: the Statue Garden, Underworld Door, Chimera’s Cave, and Labyrinth. Similar to the myths that inspired the game, uncovering the lairs comes with a cost: Players must discard three color items before the lair token can be flipped over to reveal which monster’s hideout they’ve discovered.
Horrified: Greek Monsters includes six monsters, each with unique abilities, and the more monsters in the game, the harder the challenge, with players needing to use their unique powers to figure out how to defeat each monster.
Why It Made The List
The Horrified game series has always been a hit for my family and friends. This is a game that we have a lot of fun playing that is really straight forward but also allows you to strategize with your fellow players, taking into account everyone’s special ability and what powers the monsters have as well. We also enjoy Geek mythologies (Percy Jackson & The Olympians fans in this household), so playing a game based on that world is a lot of fun for anyone who enjoys that.
If you haven’t played a Horrified game yet, this is definitely one to check out (although any of them are good). It’s an easy to learn game that encourages your playgroup to work together and doesn’t have a cumbersome learning to curve to play.
Candela Obscura
- Medium: Tabletop Roleplaying Game (TTRPG)
- Players: 3-7 players + 1 Game Master
- *Ages: 13+
- Lead Game Designers: Rowan Hall & Spenser Starke
- Artists: Shaun Ellis, Jamie Harrison, Allie Irwin, Amelia Leonards, Lily McDonnell, Justin O’Neal, Sunga Park, Gustavo Rodrigues Pelissari, Doug Telford
- System: Illuminated Worlds
- Genre/Theme: Horror, Paranormal
- Publisher: Darrington Press
- Year Released: 2023
*This is my recommendation. Darrington Press does not have an official or suggested age range for this game.
Publisher Description
You’re needed, investigators: join the secret society Candela Obscura to confront occult horrors from beyond, keeping hidden the true nature of magickal incursions besetting our world.
Candela Obscura (bestowed the hashtag #CandelaObscura) is a new tabletop roleplaying game that places you in the roles of investigators working for an esoteric order. In this game of investigative horror, individuals of varied talents are brought together under the organization Candela Obscura. You’ll pursue strange occurrences and encounter dangerous magicks, fighting back against a mysterious source of corruption and bleed. Candela Obscura is the first to use the Illuminated Worlds System, a newly designed system that uses 6-sided dice and lends itself to narrative, arc-driven play.
Why It Made The List
Critical Role, the popular roleplaying group behind publisher Darrington Press, is the reason why I delved into TTRPGs this year. So it’s no surprise to anyone who knows me that I would play this game when it was published this year and even wrote a review of the new roleplaying game. But if you know me, you would also know that I absolutely hate horror genre. (Okay, maybe not hate, but it’s definitely the very last genre I would pick for anything).
However, I did want to give this game a try so I did a one-shot of the game at GenCon this year, and I couldn’t stop talking about it. I thought it was so amazing having a game like that that really played off of character relationships and storytelling that I wanted to continue to playing the game as much as I could. So the fact that they were able to get me to love a game from a genre I absolutely loathe is always going to be impressive for me. This is also a great way to introduce someone to TTRPGs that’s not Dungeons & Dragons that is not intimidating and is lighter on the mechanics so that the players can focus more on the role and their character development.
Honorable Mentions
Sail
- Players: 2 players
- Play Time: 20 minutes
- Ages: 11+
- Designer: Akiyama Koryo, Korzu Yusei, Taylor Reiner (Developer)
- Artist: Weberson Santiago, Anca Gavril (Graphic Designer)
- Mechanism: Cooperative, Card Game, Communication Limits, Track Movement
- Genre/Theme: Pirates
- Publisher: Allplay
- Year Released: 2023
Publisher Description
Strap up your piratical boots, and navigate your ship through turbulent waters in Sail, a co-operative trick-taking game for two players. Reach the end of this dangerous deep end, and avoid taking damage from the Kraken to win the game together…or your crew will be sleeping with the fish!
Before each round begins, players exchange cards, then play a series of tricks. Different game actions will be triggered depending on who wins each trick in combination with the unique character skills. However, the crashing sea water and the roaring Kraken make for a deafening situation, and players are unable to communicate about tactics and card information from the moment cards are dealt to the end of the action phase.
Players win the game as a team if they sail their ship into the final token before the Kraken reaches the Death tile or the Kraken deck is exhausted.
Why It Made The List
This was a game that I didn’t hear about until I played this at my local gaming shop with a friend of mine who learned how to play this at GenCon. At first, I didn’t know what to expect because the game came in a small box and there wasn’t a lot of pieces to it, so I thought it was a travel game that didn’t have much to it. But honestly, this was such a fun game! It can definitely be great for traveling, but also perfect for a quick game or if you like short challenges. It’s definitely challenging and you can’t really strategize with your partner – you have to try to anticipate what they may have or play, so it’s a different experience all around! Plus – it’s pirates!
Caper Cards
- Players: 1-4 players
- Play Time: 15-30 minutes
- Ages: 12+
- Designer: Manny Vega
- Artist: David Rodrigues, Matt Paquette and Co. (Graphic Design)
- Mechanism: Cooperative, Card Game, Deduction
- Genre/Theme: Blackjack, Dungeons & Dragons
- Publisher: Darrington Press
- Year Released: 2023
Publisher Description
In this cooperative card game, assemble the Bells Hells adventuring party of Critical Role Campaign 3 to pull off a daring heist. You’ll aim to play your Crew cards strategically as a team, hoping to exceed the value of the treasure you’re pursuing without going over 21. Each Crew card bears gorgeous art of the teammate, the card’s numerical value, and an ability, such as Chetney’s ability to be played as either a 6 or a 9. Play is quick, with gameplay lasting around 20 minutes, and you can play it with up to 4 players, including a solo mode.
The game comes in a compact box containing 24 Crew Cards (3 of each member of Bells Hells), 1 Risk Card, 10 unique Reward Cards, and a Player 1 Marker Card. With these cards, players can work together to plan and execute their heist.
Why It Made The List
Besides being a huge Critical Role fan, I really enjoy playing this game. It’s another fun, quick game you can play with other people while you kill time, and it’s really easy to learn. It definitely gets more challenging the future along you get into the game (and if you lose even once, the game is over), but having such a simple game that is challenging is always a plus for me. Plus, the art on the cards is really good!
Spider-Man 2
- Medium: Video Game
- Players: 1 player local
- Ages: Teen+ (ESRB)
- Mechanism: Action, Fighting
- Genre/Theme: Superhero
- Publisher: Sony PlayStation
- Year Released: 2023
Publisher Description
Spider-Men, Peter Parker and Miles Morales, return for an exciting new adventure in the critically acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise for PS5.
Swing, jump and utilize the new Web Wings to travel across Marvel’s New York, quickly switching between Peter Parker and Miles Morales to experience different stories and epic new powers, as the iconic villain Venom threatens to destroy their lives, their city and the ones they love.
Why It Made The List
Spider-Man was an amazing game. Spider-Man: Miles Morales was also just as equally amazing. Sony set the bar high with these two games so for me there was just no way they were going to make the game even better.
Except they did.
These games are so much fun but even more so, the graphics are so realistic and the story is so well written that you’d think they were writing a movie (which, they are in a way). If it wasn’t for Baldur’s Gate 3, this game would have easily been in the top 5 for the video game selection.