The number of board games being released was down in the Summer of 2025, one reason why retailers and distributors were bemoaning the absence of major hits. As a result, the market for board games was flat to down overall in hobby game stores during the summer months (May-August), according to retailers and distributors we interviewed, with the trend continuing into early fall.
The decline in the number of releases was primarily tariff-related, with some titles releasing later than planned and others put on hold in the hopes that tariffs stabilize at a lower level. “There just hasn’t been a game that has caught fire that has the buzz where people are hearing about it outside of our industry,” Bryan Winter of Madison, Wisconsin game store chain I’m Board observed. “I’m looking through all the new stuff and there’s hasn’t been a game that is making people go, ‘Ooh, yes, this is the big game that we all want.'”
While fewer releases lowers the odds of a hit, it also makes it easier for the games that are released to stand out, so we heard that it wasn’t all bad from both distributors and retailers. “It does feel like there’s less board games coming out, but I think that might be a good thing,” Steve Anderson of Virginia and Maryland chain Third Eye Comics, Games and Hobbies told us. “There was a lot of stuff coming out and if you’re a store that tries to go full line, there’s a lot of noise. Before you know it, that can almost be detrimental for you: because there’s so much choice, it almost waters down your surefire winners.”
Delays and cancellations weren’t the only tariff impact affecting the market. Price increases are common, although publishers are doing what they can to keep them at modest levels, including absorbing some of the cost increases and trying to find less expensive components to cut material costs. “I think everyone’s trying to do their bit to absorb some of the impact of the tariffs,” a distributor told us. “Publishing takes some, distribution is eating a little bit.”
Another distributor noted that some publishers are now offering two versions of their games. “Companies that are Kickstarting their projects will have two different versions,” they said. “You’ll have a retail version that uses cardboard and a deluxe edition that uses plastic minis, we’ve seen that quite a bit. They’re trying to bring the cost of the game down.”
Despite the complaints about a lack of hits, there were some newer games on the top board games chart for summer, including The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship from Z-Man Games (currently hard to find) and Vantage, from Stonemaier Games.
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Source: ICv2
