Tag: top-10

Top 10 Solo/Cooperative Trick-Taking Games

Trick-taking games are a genre that’s been around for ages: Bridge, Hearts, and a more gamery games like Rage! We’ve now reached a point where there are a lot of solo and cooperative trick-taking games as well! To be cooperative, every single one of these games has a pretty severe notion of Limited Communication … if you could just communicate anything, most of these games would become trivial! So, most games on this list have very constrained notions of communication! Interestingly, most of these games also have a very constrictive player count, so we take note of that as well! Let’s take a look below!

(We also note that two of these are in German, which required me getting a translation, and a third was mostly German but luckily included English rules!)

10. Park Life

Player Count: 1-4

This cooperative Trick-Taking game is a little misleading because, depending on the version of Park Life you get, there’s a very different trick-taking game! 

The Deluxe Hedgehog version (above) has a different version of a trick-taking game …

.. than The Deluxe People Edition (above)! 

Both games have a solo game, but the game is a little better with more people.  These games are at the bottom of this list because they seem the least developed: they are very cute and have some interesting ideas for trick-taking games, but feels like they could use a little bit of either explanation or work.   

Still, you may play these and fall in love with them because of the cute art!

9. Lindyhop

Player Count: 2-Player Only

This game presents is an interesting theme, as a trick-taking game recreating a dance from 1928 (from the African American communities of New York City).  Two players “dance” with each other, with trick-taking simulating the back-and-forth/give-and-take as players try to “groove” together.

Players traverse a path together, picking up tokens if they land on exact spaces. See above.

Players play cards and the difference in card value is how far they move!  The art is gorgeous (see above) and very thematic: there are even special powers on some of the cards!

The only reason this is a little lower on the list is because there is really only one opportunity to strategize: at the beginning of the game!  But it’s a fun little romp that’s easy to bring out.

8. Claim with the Expansion Claim: Alliances

Player Count: 2-Player Only

Claim by itself is a 2-Player only competitive trick-taking game.

But, with the Claim: Alliances expansion (see above) this becomes a cooperative trick-taking experience!

This is one of the games that was originally in German, luckily I was able to find English rules online!

Since the way to play cooperatively is to use the Alliances expansion, you first have to learn the base game! The game proceeds in two phases, both powered by trick-taking! In the first phase, you play tricks to try and recruit cards for the next phase. The winner of each trick gets the named recruit, and the loser gets the “random” top-deck recruit! The second phase has the players trying to win factions (using trick-taking): whomever wins the most factions, wins!

In the cooperative game, some Alliance cards are added to the mix. During the recruit phase, the winner has to take an Alliance card, which includes bad guys and commanders, and at some point, both sides must have a commander whose factions they MUST win!

This is a little lower on the list because you have to get the base game under your belt before you can play the expansion. But there are some cool ideas in here, including the two phase system and some special powers on some factions!

7. The Fox in the Forest Duet

Player Count: 2-Player Only

This is a 2-Player trick-taking game where players play tricks to move around a forest map collecting gems.

The art is cute and the game is pretty light.  The Communication Limitations are fairly draconian once you have your cards (you can’t even discuss strategy), but you can discuss strategy between rounds. We had fun playing it; it’s a lighter game that isn’t crazy rule heavy.

6. Trick ‘n Trouble (Fangt Doc Crazy!)

Player Count: 3-Player Only

What???? A 3-Player only game???

This is a bit of a surprise as a 3-Player only cooperative game! It has kind of a spooky (silly spooky) theme!

Players try to fulfill tasks based on the cards from “won tricks”: The players have a tableau of tasks to fulfill (see above).

The “trick” in this game is that some of the cards are double-colored, and you can use them as you wish.

This was a surprisingly fun little game, even if the 3-Player only count is a little different.  Like most cooperative trick-taking games, the limited communication permeates and you can’t really talk about the cards in your hand.

5. Sail

Player Count: 2-Player Only

I’ve been able to get Sail to the table a number of times with Sam and Kurt over the past year!  It’s a fun theme as you use trick-taking to help move a ship towards its final destination! 

Winning a trick means “usually” moving the boat in your direction (towards you), but there are many different things that happen along the way! 

Can you avoid the Kraken?  Can you move forward when you really need to?

Using trick-taking as a means to move the ship forward is real interesting mechanism!  If you like Sail, be aware that Sail Legacy is coming to Kickstarter soon!

4. For Northwood

Player Count: 1-Player Only

Yes, that’s right, this is a solo trick-taking game! It sounds like this can’t work, but it works really well! The tricks are “conversations” with fiefs, and you try to make fiefs “friendly” to you by winning them over with conversation! It’s a pretty thin theme, but it works pretty well as a trick-taking schema.

  

This is a tiny little game with super cute art!

There are special powers you can activate!

Winning is a victory point threshold, as you count how many friendly fiefs you obtain (and count the stars)! Because this is a solo-only game, there is no notion of Limited Communication!  This is a really unique little game that I had to scour all the gameshops to find!  I think there were reprints, so I believe this is back in stock!

3. Jeckyl and Hyde vs. Scotland Yard

Player Count: 2-Player Only

The two players cooperatively play the two sides of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, vying for control! 

This is a fascinating idea, using trick-taking as a way to take control of the personality!   To keep ahead of Scotland Yard, the two players must win tricks in such a way as to keep Scotland Yard off their tail!

The two players each play a different side of the personality!

I, unfortunately, was unable to get the English version for some time, so I ended up using Google translate to translate the German text to English!  But this game was so cool, the art was so neat, and it had such neat ideas, I really liked it!  That’s why, despite only having a German copy, this made it all the way to #3!  (And I did finally get the English version: it is available more widespread now!)

2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Trick-Taking Game

Player Count: 1-4 Players

This game has taken my game groups my storm: everyone loves it!  

I played it solo when I was sick, and had a wonderful time going through the whole campaign solo! 

My friends in Las Cruces have played through the entire campaign as a 3-Player game and love it!  See our review here!   I played a bunch 3 and 4-Player games at Dice Tower West with my friends Becca and Tricia and had a ball!

The reason this game is so high on the list is that everyone seems to really enjoy it!  The fact that it can play at so many player counts speaks volumes to the design team!  The solo game is very different from the 2-Player game, which is very different from the 3 and 4-Player game, and yet all the different modes seem to work, and work well!  The theme seems to come through fairly well! My friend Andrew was surprised this was #2 and  NOT #1 on my list!

1. The Crew: Either The Quest For Planet Nine or Mission Deep Sea

Player Count: 3-5 Players (sorta 2-Player)

There are two different versions of this game, but they are essentially the same kind of game. Like Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking game, the game players differently depending on the player count. There is a 2-Player mode, but it’s very clumsy and probably not the way you should play.

Players play tricks, but have to fulfill missions in order to win the game!  The missions give the game focus, and change every game! 

Honestly, even though I have the physical copy of both games (which are arguably the same game), I have played this game SO MUCH on BoardGameArena! During the Pandemic, this was the goto game for me and my friends! It was so easy to just bring this out and play for hours. Something called The Crew brought us together; there is probably some deeper meaning there.

What makes this #1 on the list for me is the brilliant rule that you can communicate WHEN IT REALLY MATTERS! You have a token that allow you to communicate once during your turn, by sharing the lowest, highest, ot “only one” of your hand. This is so unique: all the other trick-taking game have very restricted communication, but essentially there’s none or high-level “strategy” communications. With this one mechanism, The Crew makes it feel like your CHOICES MATTER: It matters when you choose to communicate, it matters when you choose to hold off, it matters!

This is the #1 on my list because I have played it so much more than every other game, and it’s so easy to play online or in person, and you feel like your limited communiques matter.

Top 10 Solo Board and Card Games of 2024

What makes a good solo game? I find them when I typically start playing solo games to learn that game cooperatively for my friends. If a game starts to enchant me and I can’t stop playing it solo … there’s something to it! All the games on this list were games I played solo to teach my friends … but then I kept playing! Some of these games will end up on either my Top 10 Cooperative Games of 2024, some but of them will end up on my Top Cooperative Expansions of 2024, but one things for sure … they are all great solo!

For more great solo games, see last year’s list: Top 10 Solo Board and Card Games of 2023!

Honorable Mention:  Solo Project PEGASUS Campaign for Marvel United 


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After getting Marvel United Multiverse Season 3 with all of its content, I was very taken with the Campaign Decks (see below and see review here), but I was saddened to learn there was no campaign for the Project PEGASUS saga (see above)!

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 So I spent many many weeks developing my own campaign using all of the Marvel United content!   This is a print-and-play campaign for Marvel United! I played this campaign solo over and over and over again (multi-handed with 2, 3, and 4 characters) as I playtested all the the different combinations of characters! There is no game I played more solo this year than the Marvel United: Project PEGASUS campaign!

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It’s awkward to put this on our list since I developed it, but I had so much fun playtesting it solo over and over for weeks and weeks, I had to acknowledge how much time and how much fun I had with this!  If you liked the Marvel United Campaign Decks and wanted more, check out the free Project PEGASUS Campaign here!

10. Skytear Horde: Monoliths

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Now, Skytear Horde: Monoliths is a standalone expansion in the Skytear Horde universe!  This is a great little solo and cooperative tower defense game!  But you might ask: “Why isn’t this on the Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of 2024 instead of this solo list?”  That’s a very good question!  It’s because, although this is a really good expansion with great components and cards, the game really works best as a solo game.

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We tried it cooperatively (see our review here), and it was just okay. It’s significantly better as a solo game!  It feels like most of the balance and playtesting was done as a solo game, so it can’t really go on our Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of 2024 list …  because it really is best as a solo game.

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It’s got some great components and some really great art!  Take a look at our review here to see if this is something you might like!

9. Batman: Gotham City Chronicles + Solo/Cooperative Expansion
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So, you can’t play Batman: Gotham City Chronicles solo without both the base game (which came out years ago) and the Solo/Cooperative Expansion (which came out this year)!  In order to get to the cooperative game, I had to wade through learning the original base one vs. many game, then learn the solo game, to finally learn the cooperative game! Whew!
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Now the cover of the Solo/Cooperative Expansion looks great! See above!

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But there were some major production issues with the expansions as: 1) The English translation still had some scenarios in French!  And 2) The binding on the solo/cooperative rulebook is terrible!  It’s impossible to hold open!  See above as I came up with a kludgy workaround for that!  Objectively, I feel like I had to give this game a 5.5/10 since the production had issues!

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Yet, even after all those issues (and the sheer complexity of the game), I still enjoyed being Batman in this solo romp around Gotham City!  Subjectively, I gave it a 7/10 because I felt like I was Batman!  Because of the production issues, this has to fall close to the bottom of the solo list, but I still enjoyed this overall!  See our review of Batman: Gotham City Chronicles Solo/Cooperative Mode to see if this might be something you enjoy!

8. NYC: Emergency Room
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This might strike you as an odd pick: A Medical Mystery game!   I picked this up at Target and really enjoyed playing through the mysteries of the game!  Instead of solving a boring old murder mystery (sarcasm here: I loved my murder mysteries), you are doing research, asking questions, running tests, and trying correctly to diagnose a patient!  

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There’s only a limited number of mysteries per box (see the envelopes above), but if you ever wanted to play a medical mystery and diagnose like Gregory House, this is the game for you!

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I love my murder mysteries (remember: Suspects made the #1 spot on my Top 10 Solo Games of 2023), and this was a great spin on that genre!  See our review here to see if it’s something you may like!

7. Everdell: Duo

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I wasn’t expecting to like Everdell: Duo as much as a I did!  My first playthroughs were a bit “clunky”, as the game has some fiddly bits and documentation issues you have to get through.  But once you “get” how the game works, it’s quite fun! (I also never played the original Everdell)

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To play solo, you have to man both the tortoise and the hare as they build their respective cities!  See above!  There’s a lot of thought about when you share, when you place workers, when you buy, and when you draw cards!  You are looking for the combos to help both the tortoise and the hare!  It might “seem” like both the hare and tortoise are playing multiplayer solitaire games, but as the game opens up to you, there’s more collaboration between the two than you might think!  

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That delicious (solo) collaboration plus the beautiful components and the cute vibe of the game put this on my solo list!  I am just as surprised as you are that this made my solo list!  My only concern (which is why it’s at #7) is that can be at the whim of the card draws, but most of the time there are so many ways to pivot around that! See our review here to see if this might be something you like!

6. Rise of the Unfolders: Tidal Blades 2

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I didn’t know a lot about the original Tidal Blades when I backed this, but Tidal Blades 2 looked like a fun little cooperative dungeon crawler.  Holy Cow! I was blown away about how good the gameplay were and how great the components were!

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As silly as it sounds, they did such a great correlating the colors, giving bases for the monsters, and generally making the cards very readable!

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But the coup de grace was the card system where you could choose a card, a row or a column, activating everything there!  This was such a unique and different combat system, it really made this game stand out.  The game is better with more people, but I had such fun playing through (most) of the campaign solo!

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See our review of Rise of the Unfolders: Tidal Blades 2 to see if this game might be of interest to you!

5. Robinson Crusoe: Collector’s Edition (primer)

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This is an odd duck of an entry; the Collector’s Edition of Robinson Crusoe arrived this years (3 years late, which made a lot of people angry) and had some amazing minis and components … for a worker placement game that probably doesn’t need them!

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See above for one of the Sundrop worker placement tokens!!  Did I really need this?  Nah! But did I love it? Ya!

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In the end, the reason this made the list (besides how stupidly nice it looks) was because of the Introductory Campaign Scenario Book!  I love Robinson Crusoe, but I hadn’t played it in 5 years! The Introductory Campaign gave me an excuse to enjoy a nice 5-Game campaign in the world of Robinson Crusoe!  Over about a month, I’d play a scenario on a weekend and just have a good old time in this world.   Good times!  It reminded why I like Robinson Crusoe so much!
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Check out our review of the Collector’s Edition of Robinson Crusoe to see if this might be something you might like! 

4. Marvel United: Campaign Deck.  Dark Phoenix Saga

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The Campaign Decks (see above) came with Season 3 of Marvel United: Multiverse.  These decks takes all your Marvel United content (and I mean ALL of it) and gives you some “stories” or campaigns to run through.

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The Dark Phoenix Saga is a campaign centered on the X-Men from issues #131-137 back in the Byrne/Austin/Claremont days. This campaign takes you through a story, lasting 5 battles (or more) as the X-Men fight the Hellfire club, others, and (spoiler!) deal with Jean Grey turning into Dark Phoenix.

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This was a heart-breaking, soul-wrenching campaign as I played through one of my favorite Marvel X-Men stories!  I can’t share too much, but it was a great solo experience over a number of days.

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See our review of the Campaign Decks to see if this might be something you might like!  Some spoilers included, but they should be well marked!

3. Aeon’s End: The Descent

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This one was a late comer and almost didn’t make our list! It came in late late November, just before Thanksgiving!  I ended up playing cooperatively with my friends and had a grand old time, but the solo experience was truly phenomenal!

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First of all, Aeon’s End: The Descent has true solo play (which makes it a lot easier to jump into)!  And all the new Mages and ideas it adds to the system were … surprisingly fresh! Even after 8 years, this standalone expansion breathed new life into the Aeon’s End system!

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But, at the end of the day, it was the new module called Friends and Foes that made this stand out so much!  This new module adds new ways of winning and losing with some interesting ideas, but what it does best for me was mitigate the problems with Variable Turn Order!  

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Playing through the four Chapters of this narrative campaign was a thrill!  The story was pretty good (once you got into it), and the new ideas generated throughout were fantastic.  I played a different mage in every chapter and just had a ball figuring out how to play each new mage!  Sure, you can play this campaign with many people, but I really enjoyed unravelling this story as a solo play.  See our review here of Aeon’s End: The Descent to see if this might be something you enjoy!

2. Sammu-Ramat

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Any other year, this probably would have been my #1 game of the year!  I went back and forth a number of times, so this could easily be my #1!  Sammu-Ramat is basically a cooperative euro-puzzle game; it immerses the players into Queen Sammu-ramat’s rule of Assyria in 9th century BC, as guided by her advisors.

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It’s kind of a war game, as you fend off invaders, but it’s also a euro game gathering-resources games, but it’s also a logistics puzzle as you try to balance keeping the kingdom defended and fed!

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You can play either a one-shot (which is a great way to jump in), but it really shines as a 5-game campaign where you leave the game state as set-up for the next game!   This game was such a great surprise!  I adored playing it solo, especially through a campaign (although it needs a little house-ruling).   I really wish it could have made my #1 spot because it was so good. See out review of Sammu-Ramat here to see if this is something you might like!

1. Set A Watch: Doomed Run

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This game has no right to be the #1 spot; this is a giant campaign game in the Set A Watch Universe.   First of all, of the Full 7 Game Campaign games I played, I ended up playing two of them cooperatively!  So, that means I only played 5 of the games solo! 

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And to play the campaign, you must have ALL The Set A Watch Content! And I mean all!! (Including the Outriders deck)!  This means: Set A Watch, Set A Watch: Swords of the Coins, and Set A Watch: Forsaken Isles!!!  See how it takes up one half of my table just to separate the different games above?

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And Set A Watch also has the solo problem that “you must play 4 characters”, so that’s not ideal either: see above as I try to operate 4 characters!

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Despite all that, this game spent 11 days taking over my table, and I had a ball playing through it mostly solo!  Once you know Set A Watch, especially solo, it’s such a fun game!  I know, this really has no right even being my favorite solo game of 2024, but I had so much fun playing it (mostly) solo, it has to be #1.  See our review here to see if Set A Watch: Doomed Run might be something you enjoy!

Top 10 Anticipated Cooperative Board and Card Games of 2025!

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As we look forward, we also look back! It’s fun to look ahead at the cooperative games coming up in 2025!!! We’ve been looking ahead since 2021 (see our Top 10 Anticipated Cooperative Games of 2021), but it’s always interesting to see the state of games from those previous years. Believe it or not, we still are waiting some games from 2021! Let’s take a look at some backlog!

2021:

  • Onimaru: There have been some pictures of pallets of boxes from the Warehouse, but we still haven’t see this yet. Maybe we’ll see this, maybe we won’t. I don’t know. It’s been since 2019 when this all this started (6+ years!!). As of now, this is the only outstanding game from our 2021 list.
  • Freedom Five: After being the #2 entry on our Top 10 Anticipated Cooperative Games of 2021, Freedom Five finally arrived … and it was very disappointing. Basically, we found it too random and too long, plus there were some production issues, so we ended up selling it. See our review here to see more details.

2022:

  • Arydia: The Paths We Dare Tread:  It’s been a while for this, but we did see a copy arrive at the Dice Tower, so we know that this is imminent.  Based on everything from the Kickstarter, we should see this in early 2025. UPDATE: It arrived! December 30th, 2024!  It’s a big mama! Look for a review coming soon!
  • Rat Queens To The Slaughter:  There’s been some drama here as the original creator took the game back from the people who have failed to deliver!  It’s unclear what happens next, but the creator wants to take charge of this himself  …  which is great, but it’s still really unclear when we’ll see this!
  • Union City Alliance:  Huzzah!  Union City Alliance finally arrived!  And it was good!   We liked it so much it made our Top 10 Cooperative Games of 2024!  See our review here of Union City Alliance to see if you might like it!

2023:

  • Dark Quarter: Promised Oct 2023.  It is frustrating we haven’t seen this yet, but there has been lots of activity on the Kickstarter threads, so we believe we will see this early 2025.  This is the only game still undelivered from our 2023 list.
  • Hacktivity: This delivered in June 2024 this year! And it was pretty good.  It didn’t make any Top 10 lists this year, but I still liked it.   See our review here of Hacktivity to see if you might like this!
  • Set A Watch: Forsaken Isles + Doomed Run:  This delivered this year in about April 2024, and we absolutely loved both the Forsaken Isles (standalone game: see our review here) and Doomed Run (campaign game: see our review here)!  Forsaken Isles made our Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of the 2024, and Doomed Run made the #1 spot as our favorite solo game from 2024! See our Top 10 Solo Games of 2024!

2024:

  • Cyberpunk Unfolds: This arrived in late summer 2024.  It was ok but it was a little disappointing. See our review here for more details.
  • Defenders of the Wild: This arrived August 2024, on time.  There was a lot to like in this game, but it just didn’t land for me or any of my groups.  Take a look at our review here!
  • Santorini Deluxe and Co-op expanion: Promised delivery May 2024.  Still haven’t seen too much activity.  Hopefully it will arrive in 2025. 
  • Weirdwood Manor: This delivered in June 2024 and was generally very well received by my game groups! See our review here to see if this might be something you might like!
  • Flock Together: This delivered in July 2024.  My game groups tended to like this lighter co-op game.  It made the #8 spot on our Top 10 Cooperative Games of 2024!  Check out our review here.
  • Luddite: Promised delivery December 2024.  There has been progress, but we probably won’t see this until 2025.
  • Once Upon A Line: The Butterfly’s Breath: Promised delivery May 2024. They are still doing a lot of work (per the Kickstarter updates), but it’s not done yet, even from a development perspective, let alone manufacturing.  We may see this at the end of 2025, but we suspect we won’t see it until 2026.
  • Leviathan Wilds: This arrived in April 2024 and really took my game groups by storm! We loved it (see our review here), and it made the #3 spot on our Top 10 Cooperative Games of 2024!
  • Marvel X-Men Dice Throne + Co-op Missions! This promised delivery in Aug 2024.  We still don’t have it.  It looks like some people might get it before the end of 2024, but most people will be getting this in early 2025.
  • Marvel United: Multiverse: Season 3 of Marvel United arrived in late July 2024, and it brought so much delicious content!  It made our heads explode!  Read about the great Expansion Absorption Explosion here! We loved the base game Marvel United: Multiverse, we enjoyed the The Galactus expansion, we really dug the Inhumans expansion, and we loved the Campaigns!  We even made our own campaign for Project Pegasus!  Everything that came here peppers our Top 10 Cooperative Games of 2024, our Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of 2024, and our Top 10 Solo Games of 2024!

All right!  Let’s head into our 2025 games!

10. Floe + Monsters Unleased (CO-OP Expansion)

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Platform: Kickstarter   Floe
Promised Delivery: June 2025
Summary: FLOE is an adventure-strategy game where players embark on heroic quests across an icy landscape. You’ll discover long-lost secrets on uncharted icebergs, sail the seas to find adventure and sunken treasure and delve into perilous caves to find precious crystals and battle fearsome monsters. Despite the dangers ahead, you won’t be alone in your travels. Always at your side, your loyal familiar may help gather resources or jump into the fray to turn the tide of battle. During their travels, heroes will also gain helpful allies, powerful abilities, and rare items. In time, heroes may also build shrines across the map, ensuring their legacy will be long remembered. However, always beware of the cold. Venturing into the icy wasteland is perilous: almost everything heroes do outside the safety of the village will cost them warmth. From time to time, they will need to return to the village to warm up, improve their homestead, purchase upgrades, and prepare for their next big adventure. Will you be the boldest explorer of them all?

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So, the base game looks amazing!  But this game isn’t a co-op by default, which has us a little worried. But with the Monsters Unleased expansion, this will be co-op!  This is #10 on our list because its unclear how good the co-op will be!  Given the quality of everything else, we expect great things!

9. Fable Fury

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Platform: Kickstarter Fable Fury
Promised Delivery: Oct 2025
Summary: As unlikely heroes, you must explore unknown lands, fight unconventional enemies, dodge silly traps, and collect monster runes hidden within ancient shrines scattered across the realms. Once you have collected the 3 runes, unlock the portal to face the monstrous threat!

Choose your heroes and set out as a team to find the runes hidden in Shrines across three realms. Grab your coins, stock up on items at the Gift Shop, and jump into your first realm.

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The tag line of this game is Ridiculous strategic cooperative, rogue-like dungeon crawler: The art is very cute, and the game seems to have a sense of humor.  We had such a good time with Slay The Spire this last year that maybe this will scratch the same itch!  We are very much looking forward to this!  I love the art! And the sense of humor!

8. Horror On The Orient Express

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Platform: Gamefound Horror On The Orient Express
Promised Delivery:  August 2025
Summary: Horror on the Orient Express: The Board Game lures you into the luxurious Orient Express in the 1920s, taking you on a dangerous train ride into the realm of the Dreamlands. Everything is against you, from monsters attacking the train to murderous cults hiding among the passengers. Worst of all, an eldritch, blood-thirsty vampire hunting down everything that moves. Can you solve the dark secrets of the Orient Express before time runs out?

In this cooperative game, you and the other investigators try to survive on the doomed train. To win, you must hunt out the cultists to stop them from performing a hideous ritual and ensure the train reaches its destination. Each of you controls a character who can develop new skills, gather items, talk to the passengers, discover clues, and, ultimately, decide the train’s fate. You may even learn a spell or two!

Horror on the Orient Express: The Board Game brings the award-winning Call of Cthulhu horror and mystery TTRPG into the board gaming world. Special rules, ongoing character development, and awesome play pieces provide a challenging and exciting gaming experience. Your journey on the Orient Express will be something to remember!

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This games looks gorgeous and lures me back into the Horror/Cthulu mythos by being a little bit of a mystery too!  Cthulu and a mystery?  And a train?  What more could you want!?  And, let’s be honest, this looks gorgeous on the table!

7. Aetherspire

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Platform: Kickstarter Aetherspire
Promised Delivery: Jan 2025
Summary: The realm of Elementis, once a harmonious balance of earth, air, fire, and water, is now under siege. Elemental Aetherfiends have dispatched waves of invaders to drain our aethercore, the realm’s lifeblood, causing chaos to reign. You and your companions must build powerful elemental spires to lure away and defeat these invaders. As each spire grows stronger, it will unleash a devastating resurgence against the Aetherfiends. Can you restore balance before it’s too late?

Aetherspire is a cooperative 3D tile placement and tower defense game for 1-4 players. Build elemental spires and defend the realm in this stunning 3D strategy game!

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A 3-D Tile placement games and tower defense game?  Sign me up!  And I really like how it looks! I am excited to see how this comes to the table!

6. One-Hit Heroes

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Platform: Kickstarter One-Hit Heroes
Promised Delivery:  March 2025
Summary: Pick a hero and fight for your life! One-Hit Heroes is a co-operative boss rush game where your team must defeat the boss without getting hit even once. The more bosses you defeat, the more your Armory improves as you unlock more card variety each time you play an Episode.

Each boss has a custom deck of moves to try and land hits on your team, but each of you have a unique hero deck with your own tools for blocking, dodging and damaging the boss.

Defeat bosses to be rewarded with card packs that you can tear open and draft from. Each card pack will let you power up and specialize your hero further for the rest of the Episode. But in order to defeat the final boss of each Episode, you’ll need more than just a refined deck – you’ll need to play your cards carefully and work as a team to survive long enough to win.

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This is a solo or co-op boss battler; it’s a card game about fighting, but avoid getting hit … as you only have one hit point!  How do avoid all the damage but still manage to win?  Rahdo really raved about this, and I too am excited for it!

5. Invincible: The Card Game

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Platform: Kickstarter Invincible: The Card Game
Promised Delivery: Jan 2025
Summary: Invincible: The Card Game puts you in the role of young superheroes as they struggle to become the new Guardians of the Globe. Working together as a team, each player gets to control an iconic character from the Invincible comic universe as you battle to protect Earth from escalating encounters with the series’ many supervillains.

In each battle, you start with a character-specific deck of cards and a unique special ability, then it’s up to you to build up your deck, charge your power, and choose your strategy wisely. Your enemy won’t be taking it easy on you, unleashing hordes of minions to take you down, launching attacks to destroy the city around you, and forcing you to adapt to their unique special abilities. How hard could it be? Well, all you have to do is stay alive, protect Earth, and defeat the universe’s most powerful villains.

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We loved Invincible: The Hero-Building game (see review here) and we love the Astro Knights games (see reviews here and here), so adding Invincible IP to the Astro Knights system seems like a good match!  Astro Knights has the comicy feel and seems like a natural fit.  It was somewhat surprising this Kickstarter didn’t do better: this only may made $111K, which seems small for a larger IP like Invincible.  Still, we look forward to a cooperative deck-builder with Invincible!

4. Unstoppable

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Platform: Kickstarter Unstoppable
Promised Delivery: February 2025
Summary: On the city-planet of Ceres II, every alleyway invites a quick and quiet death. In the lush forests of Virenos, a single misstep could land you in the belly of a beast. The harsh wasteland of Mithras holds both grave danger and a great treasure for those who search its stacks of discarded rubbish. Amidst this chaos, you find yourself thriving, learning, and growing — a child of rank, touched by fate — but a new danger shadows the future of all three worlds. Gather your allies and sharpen your skills, for the darkest days are yet to come.

Unstoppable is a solo or co-operative roguelike, momentum deck-building game. Use card crafting and deck building wisely in the face of unlimited threats, maintaining action and card-draw momentum to become unstoppable!

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This looks like such an interesting idea: a cooperative card-crafting game!  It’s cooperative mode is limited to 2 people, so perhaps this will be best solo, but it looks really nice!  I know some people actually backed out of the kickstarter (I am looking at you, Mike H.) because it was fairly expensive for what you got, but I was fascinated by this game and its premise,  so I stayed in.  Hopefully it will be good!

3. DCeased: A Zombicide Game

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Platform: Kickstarter DCeased: A Zombicide Game
Promised Delivery: April 2025
Summary: DCeased – A Zombicide Game is a cooperative game were 1 to 6 players control the last uninfected Super Heroes facing off against Zombie Heroes and the zombie hordes controlled by the game itself.

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DCeased: A Zombicide Game is the DC Universe’s answer to Marvel Zombies: Heroes’ Resistance and X-Men: Heroes’ Resistance.  See our review of the Marvel version of those here and here!  But basically, we really liked those games!  So, we are very excited to be able play the DC Universe version of the same game!  Let’s be clear: you are playing the DC Heroes fighting off the Zombie hordes!  Some versions of Marvel Zombies actually have the zombified heroes fighting the good guys—that’s not what this is.   Or at least, that’s not what I am looking forward to.

2. LA-1 

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Platform: Kickstarter LA-1
Promised Delivery: Aug 2025
Summary: Most detective work done in the city of LA-1 takes place under the perpetual dark clouds that still linger from the bombs. Even so, you plan to work together to gather clues, interrogate suspects, and go on stakeouts in a world that is divided by class and dominated by status. Use your skills to solve the case before the all-consuming darkness closes in forever.

In the story-driven, co-operative adventure game LA-1, you take on the role of detectives working for Mace & Doyle Investigations who are helping one another to resolve cases in the post-apocalyptic city that was once Los Angeles. Each case can be played individually or as part of a campaign. Because of the multiple cards that can send investigations in different directions, it’s possible to play each case more than one time, having different situations and outcomes each time. But cases must be solved before the Darkness closes in on all the investigators.

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Here’s another Richard Lanius game that has me very excited!   I love my cooperative detective games (see our Top 10 Cooperative Detective Games), and this post-apocalyptic detective game sounds really interesting! It’s story-driven and promises some really cool stuff.  I also typically love Richard Lanius games (despite being so disappointed by Freedom Five), so I am super excited for this!

1. DC Super Heroes United

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Platform: Gamefound DC Super Heroes United
Promised Delivery: Aug 2025
Summary: The greatest Heroes in the DC universe unite to thwart the Villains’ plans in this fast-paced, family-friendly cooperative game with amazing figures!

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This is the DC version of Marvel United that we’ve come to love so much! We already know that we love this system so much, and it will be so much fun to delve into the DC Universe! And the crazy thing will be when we play with Spider-Man and Super-Man! Batman and Daredevil! Crossovers galore! CMON has a very good track record for getting the Marvel United stuff to us, so we think it’s likely we will see this in Aug 2025!

Top 10 Cooperative Board and Card Game Expansions of 2024

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Welcome to the end of 2024!  There were some great games that came out, but also some great expansions that really contributed to the world of cooperative games!  As usual, we qualify our expansions are one of three types:

  1. Stand-Alone Expansion: Some games you thought might be on the Top 10 Cooperative Board and Card Games of 2024 might have just ended up on this list because they are stand-alone games that can be played without a base game, but at the end of the day they also expand a base game!
  2. Makes The Game Cooperative: Some expansions take a competitive base game and make the game fully cooperative with the expansion! We saw a number of these type of expansions on the Top 10 Games That Can Be Played Fully Cooperatively!
  3. More Content: Some expansions just add more content (more cards, etc.) to the base cooperative game!

As of last year, we also add the new characterization: Does It Require Another Expansion?  We continue adding this characterization, but note that this requirement was not quite as pervasive as it was last year!

If there were some games you thought missing from this list, be sure to check out Top 10 Cooperative Games of 2024 and our Top 10 Solo Games of 2024 to see if it made one of those lists instead!

Honorable Mention:  Comic Hunters Cooperative Expansion
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Expansion Type: Makes The Game Cooperative
Solo Mode: Comic Hunters already had a solo mode, but this can be played as a multi-handed solo mode as well
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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Comic Hunters is a game I adore from this last year! See our review here! There is a good solo mode included with this drafting game, but there is no cooperative mode!  I like the idea of cooperative drafting games, but the only other cooperative drafting games I know of are Flourish and Sidekick Saga!  Why couldn’t there be a cooperative mode for Comic Hunters?

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With a little bit of perspicacity and imagination, I went ahead and developed my own cooperative rules for Comic Hunters and put them up on the web for free so others can try it!  See a link here for Cooperative Rules for Comic Hunters!  This is basically and free print-and-play cooperative expansion for Comic Hunters!

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It’s a little bit of a cheat to put this as one of my favorite Cooperative Expansions of 2024 (since I developed it), but I spent so much time playing this solo and cooperatively with my friends (as I honed the rules), this needed to at least get an Honorable Mention.  See the rules here to see if you might enjoy this.

10. Marvel United: War of Kings

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Expansion Type: More Content
Solo Mode: Yes, any of the Marvel United solo modes
Requires Another Expansion?  Not really, just any base Marvel United game

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Marvel United: Season 3 Multiverse has pretty much torn through all of our Top 10 lists for 2024.  The War of Kings was special to me because I ended up devouring the entire expansion!  I played all the characters multiple times, all the heroes multiple times, and really enjoyed a lot of the ideas here!  And I think Lockjaw (see above) may be the best introductory character for when you play with a new player!  Who doesn’t love a dog?

IMG_6828 I freely admit that this expansion appealed to me because of my love of Comic Books, The Inhumans, George Perez, and John Byrne!  However, even when I predisposed to like something, it still has to be good (I am looking at you Freedom Five) …

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After playing through this all, I fell in love with the Inhumans all over again (and even watched the Marvel show … sigh).  Overall, this was a great experience!  There’s so much new and great content for Marvel United here!   See our review of War of Kings: Marvel United to see if this is something you might like!

9. Thunderstone Quest: Raging Seas and Ancient Adversaries

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Expansion Type: More Content
Solo Mode: Yes (with Barricades Expansion)
Requires Another Expansion?  Yes, The Barricades Mode Expansion is required to play the game solo or cooperatively

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Nathan and Caroline have become my Thunderstone Quest buddies! See me and Nathan above! We ended up playing through both of these expansions this year!

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The Raging Seas expansion (see above) has some great ideas with Pirates and adds the new Corsair!   The idea of the Voyage has become ingrained in a neat new way!  

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The Ancient Adversaries adds the new Totems deck (see above) to replace most Treasure, and the game plays very differently with this new expansion and its totems!

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If it weren’t for Nathan, I am not sure these would have gotten played.  But, we had a great time! I think I may have gotten to the point where I have “enough” Thunderstone Quest expansions, but even still, I really did enjoy these two expansions!

8. Townsfolk Tussle: Foul Neighbors

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Expansion Type: More Content
Solo Mode: Two-handed
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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I didn’t think Townfolk Tussle needed more content, but it’s nice to have! One of the purposes of an expansion is to breathe new life into a game, and that’s what Foul Neighbors did for us! Me and friends thought this game was silly and fun!  See below as Sam I and I play this ridiculous game with this ridiculous expansion!

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This expansion just adds more content: 2 new Townsfolk (heroes), 8 new Ruffians, a few new rules, cards, and tiles!!  Nothing brain-bending!!  This silly, boss-battler game was surprisingly good when we first reviewed it here, and this new expansion reminded us just how silly and fun this is!

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My favorite moment from playing Foul Neighbors was blowing up the outhouse to take down the final Ruffian!  In a game full of silly cards and fun (but slightly creepy) art, it seemed an apt way to end a game!  (My second favorite moment was driving the jalopy over the Ruffian!)!  Foul Neighbors is a fun expansion that reminds us how much we like original game of Townsfolk Tussle!  It also has some of my favorite minis!  See below! They are cute and creepy and cool, all at the same time!

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7. Detective: City of Angels: Saints and Sinners

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Expansion Type: More Content
Solo Mode: Yes
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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This is just plain up, more content for the great detective game Detective: City of Angels! And we need more content for this system, since each case is a “one-and-done”, meaning you probably can’t replay it again! So, they fact that they are still coming out with content for this system is great! And all of the new cases felt up to the same level of writing as the original!

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We were even able to introduce my friend Sara to this system!  And we had a great time playing! See above!

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After all this time, I still feel like Detective: City of Angels is a great detective game that doesn’t get enough love!  There are so many expansions for it which keep extending the life of the game for me!  Take a look at our review here to see if this is something you might like!

6. Marvel Champions: Age of Apocalypse

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Expansion Type: More Content
Solo Mode: Yes
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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If Nathan is my Thunderstone Quest buddy, then Joe is my Marvel Champions buddy!  The people at Fantasy Flight keeps plugging away and generating new content for Marvel Champions!

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My friend Joe and I played a few games, and although he was skeptical of playing Bishop and his discard abilities, Joe ended up really like how he worked!

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For me, the reason this expansion makes this Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of 2024 is because it finally added Magik to the Marvel Champions universe!  Her character and deck are so interesting, and very thematic to her abilities. 

5. Marvel Zombies: X-Men Resistance

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Expansion Type: Stand-Alone Expansion
Solo Mode: Yes
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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The whole Marvel Zombies: Resistance games surprised me! I didn’t expect to like these zombie battling games as much as I did!  I guess I shouldn’t be THAT surprise since I love my Cooperative Superhero games (see our Top 10 Cooperative Superhero games), but I don’t necessarily love Zombie games!

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But having a chance to play the X-Men on missions for killing zombies was so much more fun than I expected!  My friends and I had a grand time in the X-Men universe!

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See our review here to see if you an your friends want to be X-Men killing Zombies!

4. Astro Knights: Eternity

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Expansion Type: Stand-Alone Expansion
Solo Mode: Yes
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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I liked Astro Knights from about a year ago (see our review here of the original Astro Knights), but I didn’t love it.  One of my complaints was that it really needed some more content to keep it fresh.

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Although it’s fantastic that this deck-building boss-battler now has more content, it was the story that really sold me on this expansion!  I played through the whole adventure with me and friends, and we loved all the new content and the Firefly-esque story that unravelled!

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For a while, I thought this would be my #1 Expansion!  It made the top of my list at RichieCon 2024 (see that list here), but this year was really strong for expansions.  See our review of Astro Knights: Eternity to see if this is something you might like!  We really enjoyed this!

3. Set A Watch: Forsaken Isles

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Expansion Type: Stand-Alone Expansion
Solo Mode: Yes (but you must play 4 characters: it’s not as bad as it sounds, especially once you get into it)
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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Like all the Set A Watch games (see our review of the original Set A Watch, and our review of Set A Watch: Swords of the Coin), this is a really fun monster battler as players play four heroes trying to get back home! Every night, they camp and one person has to watch the fire while the others go and fight the monsters in the night!

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There’s a whole new set of monsters, a whole new set of heroes (with whole new powers), and a whole new set of gear!  This game is easy to teach and plays pretty quickly!  And you can play it either standalone or combine with other Set A Watch sets!

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There’s some new mechanisms in the system (Doom), but it’s doesn’t really change the complexity of the game.  Every time I play any of the Set A Watch games, I have such a fun time!  This standalone expansion really just made me love Set A Watch that much more! See our review here to see if this is something you might like!

2. Marvel United: Fantastic Four: The Coming of Galactus

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Expansion Type: More Content
Solo Mode: Yes, any of the Marvel United solo modes
Requires Another Expansion?  No (but you might want the Fantastic Four expansion)

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So, for a long time, I thought this would be my #1 Expansion of 2024!  The Galactus model was so cool!  The Heralds of Galactus added a new style of play!  See below!

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In the end, there were just a few niggling details that kept it from #1; I loved it, but my friends didn’t like it as much as me.  See our review here to see more details of this.

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But in the end, it was such an epic game of fighting heralds and Galactus, that this game had to make my Top 10 Cooperative Expansions this year.

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See above the epic story told by the battle with Galactus!!

1. Aeon’s End: The Descent

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Expansion Type: Stand-Alone Expansion
Solo Mode: Yes, and it’s a true solo mode!
Requires Another Expansion?  No

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I am just as surprised as you that this expansion was so good!  I like the Aeon’s End system (see our Top 10 Cooperative Deck-Building Games), but this new expansion breathed new life into this game!  Playing mages cooperatively fighting big bad monsters (in a cooperative deck-builder) had so many new turns!

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What really made this hit the number one spot was the addition of the Friends and Foes module!  This module mitigates a problem I have with Aeon’s End Variable Turn Order (see our Discussion of Variable Turn Order and How To Mitigate Its Randomness), but also adds some really new and interesting ways to play the game!  What’s even better is that you can use this module in ANY of your Aeon’s End games! It’s a module!

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And what put Aeon’s End: The Descent over the top to #1 was the story in the campaign!  We liked how much the story elevated Astro Knights: Eternity (back at #4), and the story here coupled with the Friends and Foes module AND coupled with all the new mages and cards made this rocket to the top of my Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of 2024!  Check our our review here to see if this is something you might like! My friend Becca (who doesn’t like cooperative games that muchh) also really enjoyed it! High Praise indeed!

Top 10 Cooperative Board And Card Games of 2024!

Wow! What a great year 2024 was for cooperative games! As we put this list together, it felt like any of the games here could have been the #1 game because there were were all great!

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Some of the games you might expect to see here might make it on a different list!  We will have our Top 10 Solo Games of 2024, our Top 10 Cooperative Expansions of 2024, and our Top 10 Party Games of 2024!  Check these lists for more great games!  Let’s head into our list!  This is the best of the best for 2024!  It’s so great that cooperative games have really flourished!  Now I can play with my friends!

Honorable Mention: Ultimatch

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Plays Solo:  Yes (true solo)
Player Count: 1 to 5
Ages: 10+
Length: 20 minutes

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I am so surprised this little cooperative card game didn’t do better!  It’s colorful and easy to play! I don’t see many people talking about it, but my friends and I had a great time playing this!

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If you are looking for a cooperative game to take out instead of UNO, this seems like a game could fit in anywhere!  A light cooperative card game that anyone can play?  Sign me up!

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This has to make an Honorable Mention because it is such an approachable and fun little cooperative game!  See our review here to see if you might like Ultimatch!!

10. Slay The Spire: The Board Game

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Plays Solo:  Yes (has true solo play, but it’s better cooperative)
Player Count: 1 to 4
Ages: 12+
Length: 60-90 minutes per Act

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As someone who has never played the original video game, this was a huge surprise!  If you like the video game, I think you’ll like this!  And if you didn’t like the video game … you might still like this!! This is a surprisingly good game with surprisingly good components!  It’s a cooperative adventure deck-building game as players navigate dungeons and fight bad guys … just like the video game! 

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This game worked so well in so many contexts!  It was probably one of the most played games at RichieCon 2024 this year, as I saw it getting played so many times! See above. It also worked with my friends who have played the original video game Slay The Spire, and for my friends who HAVEN’T played Slay The Spire!

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This had to make our top 10 list of the year because it was so good! It really is a great cooperative game, as it embraces Player Selected Turn Order and Simultaneous Play at the same time!  The only reason it’s at number 10 is just that’s it sometimes harder to get to the table if you already have a game in progress (as cards are stored/flipped and saved in the box).  See our review here of Slay The Spire: The Board Game to see if this is something you might enjoy!

9. Union City Alliance: Heroes Unite!

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Plays Solo:  No (but you can play two characters)
Player Count: 2 to 4
Ages: 14+
Length: 75-150 minutes

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This was #1 on our Top 10 Anticipated Cooperative Games of 2022, and it finally delivered this year!  Of course I was excited when it came in, but I was wary!  Luckily, it was very good!

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This is a cooperative deck-building game (a lot of these this year) where players are Super Heroes with special powers and have special cards tailored to their deck! If you like Marvel Legendary, a cooperative deck-builder with Marvel Super Heroes, this might be right up your alley! Union City Alliance is also much more thematic than Marvel Legendary as players are actually Super Heroes moving around a map and fighting bad guys!

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The only reason this is a little lower is because it doesn’t have official rules for playing solo (but it seems to work with the solo player operating two heroes), and because it is a little more complicated!  This game drips with so much theme that it has to pay a little cost of complexity for that theme!  Take a look at our review of Union City Alliance to see if you night enjoy this more than Marvel Legendary! I knowI did!

8. Flock Together

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Plays Solo:  Yes (true solo)
Player Count: 1 to 5
Ages: 10+
Length: 25 minutes per player

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This is a gorgeous and very cute game with art by Andrew Bosley. Flock Together is a cooperative Boss-Battler, as players have to battle 3 minor bosses on the way to the final confrontation with the big Boss!

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This was on my Top 10 Anticipated Cooperative Games of 2024, and boy was it great!  This seemed to hit home for so many people!  Flock Together a light cooperative game and it is so easy to get to the table!  The art and chicken puns in this game just evoke such joy!

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This was another one of the most played games at RichieCon 2024 (see above) as I saw it getting played multiple times!   Because this game is so easy to get to the table and evokes such joy and humor, this had to make my Top Cooperative Games of 2024!  See our review of Flock Together to see if this might be something you enjoy!

7. Hissy Fit! 

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Plays Solo:  Yes (true solo)
Player Count: 1 to 4
Ages: 8+
Length: 20 minutes 

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Wait, a game about taking cats to the Vet made the #7 position?  That’s right!  This super cute little cooperative game was a surprising hit!  It’s a cooperative game you can take just about anywhere, it’s easy to teach and play, and everyone just responds so well to it!

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I haven’t had a bad play of this yet!  I have played with my gamer friends, my non-gamer friends, my niece, my best friend, and so many groups and it has been a hit every time!  This is a great little cooperative game with a follow-like mechanism that keeps everyone involved the whole time!

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In the end, the super cute art will bring in people (see above), but the simple cooperative gameplay (with the involving follow mechanism) and short games of 20 minutes will enchant just about everyone!  Take a look at our review of Hissy Fit here and see if you want to take the cat to the Vet!

6. Endeavor Deep Sea

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Plays Solo:  Yes (true solo)
Player Count: 1 to 5
Ages: 14+
Length: upto 30 minutes per player 

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So, I have never played the original Endeavor, but this follow-on (called Endeavor Deep Sea) worker placement game had both a solo and cooperative mode, so I took a chance on it, and it was very very good!  A cooperative worker placement game is such a neat thing when it actually works!

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Although I liked the game solo and cooperatively, the reason this is higher on the list is that this was a hit for everyone who played it cooperatively!   Each player feels like they have so much choice on their turn, so agency is present and relevant, but the discussions for how to achieve the cooperative goals really do elevate the game!  It’s a cooperative game where the turns are multiplayer solitaire (which gives each player agency), but still instills a sense of cooperation in the goals!

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This was a very thinky and engaging solo and cooperative worker placement game that looks really great on the table!  Take a look at our review of Endeavor Deep Sea to see if this is for you and your group!

5. Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders

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Plays Solo:  Yes (but you have to play two characters)
Player Count: 1 to 4
Ages: 14+
Length: 60-90 minutes

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This is a fantastic year for board and card games! In many other years, this would have easily been my #1 game of the year, but there are so many good games this year!  This is a cooperative boss-battler dungeon crawl campaign game where players play unique and interesting characters in this world of Tidal Blades!

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This game is just gorgeous and took up my table for weeks as I played through the campaign both solo and cooperatively!   The components are so good and, this sounds silly, but so easy to read and understand the icons and colors!  They did such a fantastic job!

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The best recommendation you can give a campaign game is that your friends want to keep playing it!  I have gone through most of the campaign solo, and I am enjoying playing cooperatively with my friends when I can!  See above!

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The way players choose a card and then activate all the abilities in the row or column of choice is such a great mechanism!   I hope we see this mechanism again in future games! Tidal Blades 2: The Rise of the Unfolders has so many great things (and fixes to Gloomhaven) that I wish I could give this the #1 position, but I liked the next few games just a little better!  See our review of Tidal Blades 2: The Rise of the Unfolders here to see if you might like this and argue that it should be #1!

4. Invincible: The Hero-Building Game

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Plays Solo:  Yes (but you have to play two characters)
Player Count: 1 to 4
Ages: 13+
Length: 45-90 minutes

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Invincible: The Hero Building Game is a cooperative bag-building game set in the Invincible universe.  You may have read the original comic book or seen the TV show, but even if you haven’t, you might still really enjoy this bag-building/push-your-luck game!  I really enjoyed that no cube is bad on its own, but if you ever draw 5 black cubes, a hero can crash (which is still recoverable).  The black cubes are actually good (they are wild) up until you get 5 of them!  

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There is also a campaign, where each scenario can be just played as a one-shot as well!  

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Cooperatively, my friends (despite never having seen/read Invincible) still had a good time playing!  Sam even mentioned Invincible in his top 10 list at RichieCon 2024 !  I freely admit that the SuperHero nature of this game contributed to me really liking it, but the game is very very good!  See our review of Invincible: The Hero-Building Game to see if you might enjoy it!

3. Leviathan Wilds

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Plays Solo:  Yes (there’s an official true solo mode, but just play two characters: it’s easier)
Player Count: 1 to 4
Ages: 10+
Length: 60 minutes

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Leviathan Wilds took my gaming groups by storm!  This is a game I championed, as it was #3 on my Top 10 Anticipated Cooperative Games of 2024, and boy did it deliver!  It seems most reviewers picked up on how good it was!  

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This is basically Shadow of The Colossus, the cooperative board game! But, instead of “fighting” a creature by climbing all over him, players work together to heal a creature (by getting rid of crystal growths)!

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This game works so well because it’s easy to get to the table and has some really unique features!  Each player gets to choose a Climber and Class (each with its own deck) and meld them to create a unique deck and personality!  The cards are multi-use, and your deck represents your grip! It’s such an interesting and gorgeous game!  See below!

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My friend Becca (who doesn’t like cooperative games normally) said she really liked this!  And most of my friends also liked it!  It was hit just about everywhere I went!  Take a look at our review of Leviathan Wilds to see if this is something you may like!

2. Sammu-Ramat

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Plays Solo:  Yes (there’s a couple of ways, either the solo player operates 2 advisors or 3)
Player Count: 1 to 5
Ages: 14+
Length: 60-90 minutes

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You haven’t probably heard of this game; it had a very small Gamefound presence, but in the end, it probably should have been game of the year.  This game is fantastic: it’s a cooperative war-game with euro-type resource gathering mechanisms!  And it’s cooperative and solo!  The theme is that players are advisors to Sammu-Ramat, a leader from 811-820 BC known for her wisdom! 

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In the end, though, this is a puzzle game about how to keep the kingdom prosperous, while still enduring the warlike invaders! How do you handle crisis? What resources do you collect?  how do you move about the kingdom to do the most good?  It’s such a great and thinky puzzle with almost no randomness to the game (from a few events)!  

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My friends and I had such a good time playing through this puzzle, but I think I enjoyed the campaign mode best, where you play 5 games back to back using the previous game state as set-up for the next!  So interesting and thinky!

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I loved this game and strongly suggest you check it out, especially if you like thinky puzzle games!  See our review of Sammu-Ramat to see if this might be something you like!  If this were any of other year, this would have been my #1, but one other game took almost all my time this year …

1. Marvel United Multiverse/Season 3

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Plays Solo:  Yes (there’s many ways, but I prefer playing two heroes)
Player Count: 1 to 4 (sometimes 5, depending on the mode)
Ages: 14+
Length: 60-90 minutes

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This is kind of a cheat, as Marvel United: Multiverse standalone game comes with Season 3 of Marvel United Multiverse! See above!

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Marvel United: Multiverse is the base game that includes heroes from the Multiverse (Loki) and What If? (Captain Carter) and other lesser know heroes and villains.

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One of the best new things in the Marvel United: Multiverse game is the Equipment cards!  Some of the heroes in the game get some really interesting and  choices if equipped!  I was pleasantly surprised how much I liked the new equipment and its effects on gameplay.  See our review here to see if Marvel United: Multiverse might be for you!

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Even though Marvel United: Multiverse is out favorite of the Marvel United base games, it’s all the content from Season 3 that made this rise to the top!  We spent weeks lovingly going through so much of Season 3 Multiverse!  

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We liked Marvel United: Multiverse so much, we used the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S location from that box to make our own campaign!

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The Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S campaign, using “mostly” Season 3 and Multiverse components took over our lives for weeks as well! See our custom print-and-play campaign of the Project PEGASUS story!

Marvel United has become my favorite game of all time, and Season 3 pretty much cemented it i place! That’s why Marvel United: Multiverse (and Season 3) has to make the #1 spot on our cooperative games of 2024!