Easy to play, fast to set up, and with amazing production quality, especially the minis. But I have become a fan of CMON’s Cthulhu: Death May Die for that quick horror fix.

Thanks to the pandemic, I’ve probably spent more time this last year re-reading favorite RPG supplements - Traveller, Dungeons & Dragons, Runequest, Call of Cthulhu etc - rather than playing anything tabletop. Here’s what we found.ĭan Abnett Author ( Gaunt’s Ghosts, the Eisenhorn trilogy) and co-writer of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Image: Fatshark That’s why Polygon asked more than 20 writers, designers, presenters, actors, and personalities from around the world of tabletop gaming to tell us which games helped to make their year a little brighter. Your dusty hallway closet can make room for some real treasures, too - especially if you take the time to curate it once in a while. I found myself dusting off old favorites to share them with the family for the very first time. Meanwhile, Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, and Foundry VTT facilitated the important work of keeping campaigns rolling into the new year.īut unlike the majority of modern video games, board games and tabletop RPGs have unusually long lives. Platforms like Tabletop Simulator, Board Game Arena, and other online services continued to allow fans to get together. Independent creators of tabletop RPGs (TTRPGs) ended up in the best position, with platforms like itch.io and DriveThruRPG letting them reach their audience in decent numbers. Even the convention circuit is springing back to life in safer ways, with events like PAX Unplugged requiring proof of vaccination and masking at all times.ĭigital distribution was also a big part of 2021. The result was a decent flow of customers for local game stores, many of which have managed to bounce back after months of being locked down. Smaller board games that might otherwise have been overlooked got a boost, with higher-profile titles pushed back into 2022. In-person gaming did pick up a bit this year. But that’s not to say it’s been slim pickings - not by a long shot. Games that were highly anticipated in January simply failed to show up with backers or on store shelves by the end of the year. Just as COVID restrictions were relaxed in many communities, the global supply chain broke down. It’s been another strange year for fans of tabletop games.

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