I love listening/watching the videos by Tea and Games. Her enthusiasm for board games is so genuine and her joy is infectious. So when she posted her mid year Tabletop Challenge video, I was interested in playing along. Then when Kovray posted their video, I knew I had to get in on this action.

The midyear challenge has been initiated for the past 3 years by Rolling Reggie on his social media channels, so if you want to see what other creators have gotten in on this challenge, be sure to give Rolling Reggie a follow! Without further ado, let’s do this!

What is your favourite game so far this year?

Slay the Spire is the one that springs to mind. Now granted, I’ve played the living hell out of the video game, and I even played the TTS mod when STS was on crowdfunding. But actually sitting down and playing a 4 player game was probably the most fun I’ve had all year.

What is your most played game?

Technically, Solar Storm has been my most played game, but that’s just from sheer tenacity of my Board Game Arena group bashing our heads against the wall of the cooperative challenge. My most played game on the table so far in 2025 has been The Gang.

For those who haven’t played The Gang yet, it’s cooperative Poker. You deal out cards, Texas Hold’em style, and between each card reveal, you silently take chips to determine who has the best hand. When the final card is revealed, all players reveal their hands. If you managed to sort yourselves properly, you win!

It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s surprisingly engaging, and has been a hit with everyone I’ve introduced it to. I think I’m the least enthuastic amongst my friends about it, but even I still have a great time when The Gang hits the table.

What was your biggest surprise?

I think Bomb Busters was the biggest surprise. After reading the rulebook and playing the first introductory game, I was sure it was going to be Minesweeper, but boring. A baby game for babies, the options were either going to be obtuse, or obvious.

Well if it’s recent Spiel des Jahres win hadn’t convinced me, actually sitting down and playing the game turned me into a fan. I loved the experience, and I can’t wait to keep playing through the 60+ missions that come in the box.

What game’s production/art has impressed you the most?

I think most recently Vladamir Suchy’s Shipyard surprised me with its sheer amount of cardboard engineering, from assembling a crane to hold all the tiles, to stickering parts of the cardboard sprue to the player board to simulate a dual layered experience.

Beyond that, Re;Act: The Arts of War had gorgeous anime artwork and stunning acrylic standees for it’s grid based tactical duel game that left me totally charmed.

What has been your most reliable introductory board game?

Cockroach Poker has been a huge hit with me this year, and I’ve been successful in getting my aunt and cousin to sit down and enjoy a game. It’s so simple to deal out the whole deck of cards, explain the concept of lying, and then just letting the drama unfold.

What game do you want to get off of your Shelf of Shame in the second half of the year?

I have two that I’ve been been eyeing for a while now. Tragedy Looper by BakaFire is a 1 vs many scenario based deduction game that looks to be unique and exciting, but I’m just haven’t been in the mood to essentially GM a game for my friends. The other one is Argent: The Consortium by Level 99 Games. This one is a competitive worker placement game, and the only thing holding me back from this one is its sheer complexity. At a weight of 3.77, it’s generally more than I’m willing to commit to on a Wednesday night. Perhaps when I host my annual birthday board game day I’ll break the seal on both of these games.

Which game from 10+ years ago did you discover this year?

Mountain Goats is the one that comes to mind, thanks to the new edition by AllPlay, but if we want to talk about OLD GAMES, then in Janurary I was introduced to Evo. This was a charming little dinosaur evolution game. In Evo, you spend rounds evolving a dinosaur species, roaming your tribe through the ecosystems to content with global warming and cooling. The art is whimsical and charming in the 2001 edition, and I felt like it held up surprisingly well for being published around 24 years ago.

Which anticipated releases are you most excited about for the second half of the year?

As someone who doesn’t look forward very much, this is a hard question to answer. I’m intrigued by Recall, simply to see what the designers of Revive (another one of my most played games this year) have cooked up this time. Burgle Bros. 3 is somewhere on the horizon, and I implicitly trust Tim Fowers to put out great games. Vantage by Jamey Stegmier is currently delivering, and I feel the deep pangs of regret for not pre-ordering it months ago.

Bonus: What’s your personal favourite video that you’ve posted to your channel?

It’s not board game related, but I’ve been most proud of the work I put into my Final Fantasy Project, where I play through all the single player mainline Final Fantasy games. I’m almost finished playing through Final Fantasy VII, which is the first time I’ve ever even made it out of Midgar before. It’s been a fascinating journey, playing video games from 1987, and seeing how the series has evolved over each of its entries.

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