As we creep towards the festive season and the end of the year, I’m looking over my 2025 gaming spreadsheet. It’s looking in fine fettle at the moment – with 96 sessions logged, I’m on track to meet my 100-session target for the year; which I’m pleased with, especially as I had most of January off. I’ve tracked my games since 2020, and it’s a great way to look at patterns of play – and also to remember the times at the table! So, as I fiddle with COUNTIFs and Filters, I’m digging into the stats a bit – including the 37 new games that I played or ran in 2025.

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But first, the rest of the data. I GMed 58% of the sessions this year – I’m at my best with a 50/50 mix, and I think everyone who’s serious about the hobby should do both as much as they can – including forever GMs who never get to play! GMing at Longcon will account for some of that overshoot, as well as more recordings for Unconventional GMs where it’s (usually) me or Gaz GMing.

Similarly, 48% of my game sessions were face to face. Given that I feel like I do most of my gaming online, this surprised me – although checking back it’s actually lower than 2024’s 56% – I did go to two Kraken conventions in that year though, compared to none in 2025 (this will be rectified in 2026!). 

But what I really want to talk about is the NEW GAMES that I played in 2025 – games that I got to the table for the first time, and any highlights that I have. Note that these aren’t all actually new games – it includes MERP-adjacent crunchtastic Run Out The Guns and the less crunchy (but more confusing) Fading Suns. I’ve been generous with what new to me means to cover editions, too – so D&D 2024, Starfinder 2e, and Star Trek Adventures 2e all get in on that merit. I’m not sure if there’s huge differences in tone from these new editions – they felt broadly similar to the previous ones – but as I was running them, I’m counting them as I had to prep the new system.

Strange New Galaxies

I certainly didn’t do it deliberately, but every game that I played or ran at North Star 2025 was new to me! North Start is one of the much-vaulted Garricons, this time science fiction themed – all games must be sci fi – and it was a great time. I ran Project Galileo (a Trohpy Dark hack of scientists exploring a dangerous base) and Triangle Agency (which deserves its own post, really – surrealist corporate anomaly-hunting that plays exceptionally well). 

I played three games new to me as well. Dune 2D20 (although the GM had wisely liberally hack it together with Star Trek Adventures to provide a much more understandable – and coherent – system. I played a Bene Geserrit which gave ample opportunities for roleplay and action. I also signed up for Fading Suns, a game where I can’t quite place whether the system or the setting were more baroque – it was fun, I guess, although I was never quite sure what was going on. I also played Storm Furies, a game I’ve been curious about for ages – an Agon hack to play fighter pilots – I was much more at home in that!

The thing is, even with Fading Suns, which I don’t think I’ll play again – I’ve played it now! New games offer new perspectives and new experiences, and let you explore the full gamut of the hobby – conventions are great for this.

Hacking the OSR

I’m generally not excited by OSR or OSR-adjacent games; I just think gameplay has gotten better, and we shouldn’t believe the seductive lies of nostalgia. Similarly, if I’m going to be killed from a 2hp strike from a goblin, I’ll only accept it in a DCC Funnel. But thanks to Unconventional GMs, I seem to have run quite a few OSR-adjacent games – and not all of them on channel.

I still don’t really vibe with what I’d call the “OSR as expected” play style – frequent character death, player skill not character skill, and PCs with 3 hit points. But with a few tweaks I’ve had fun with these games. There’s more to follow about how to make *Borg games more to my tastes, but I still think that games like Into the Odd and Stay Frosty have hidden depths – there’s more to their design than meets the eye. There’s a follow up blog post here, I think – but I’d add that if you’re outside the OSR sphere and wondering about it – some of the adventures and modules really are excellent. (whispers) even if you play them with a more modern system.

I’ve played a bunch more indie games as well, but again I’ll hit that at a later date – and that’s not too unusual for me. Being more active in the Open Hearth community has helped with this – if you want to get some interesting games, their Shared Hearth events are a good way in to see if the play culture suits you.

What’s to come in 2026? Well, there’s another blog post to tell you that coming…

What new games have you played in 2025? Or are there one’s you’re determined to get to play in 2025? Let me know in the comments!