Top 20 'World-Altering' Legacy Board Games to Watch Unfold for Campaign-Driven Players in 2025 - Goh Ling Yong
Welcome, fellow tabletop adventurers! There's a special kind of magic that happens when a board game stops being just a box of components and starts becoming a living, breathing story. This is the world of legacy and campaign games—where your decisions matter, the board permanently changes, and the box itself becomes a unique chronicle of your group's epic journey. The "one-and-done" nature of these games isn't a drawback; it's the entire point. It creates stakes, tension, and memories that last long after the final chapter is closed.
The legacy genre, kickstarted into the mainstream by Risk Legacy and perfected by Pandemic Legacy, has exploded in creativity. Designers are no longer just asking you to play a game; they're inviting you to co-author a saga. You’ll be tearing up cards, applying stickers to the board, unlocking sealed boxes, and watching the world evolve (or devolve) based on your choices. It's the closest thing we have to living inside a fantasy novel or a sci-fi epic, all from the comfort of your dining room table.
As we look toward 2025, the horizon is packed with thrilling new releases, highly anticipated sequels, and evergreen classics that will be finding their way to new tables. Whether you're a seasoned campaign veteran or just looking to dip your toes into these immersive waters, this is the year to commit to a story. As a long-time fan and analyst of tabletop trends, I, Goh Ling Yong, have curated this list of 20 world-altering games that should be on every campaign player's radar. Get your gaming group ready—your next great adventure awaits.
1. Gloomhaven: Second Edition
The undisputed titan of campaign games is getting a massive overhaul. Gloomhaven: Second Edition isn't just a reprint; it's a complete reimagining of the game that redefined what a dungeon-crawler could be. With rebalanced characters, streamlined rules, a completely rewritten scenario book, and gorgeous new art, this is the definitive way to experience the dark fantasy world of Gloomhaven.
For returning players, the changes are substantial enough to make it feel like a brand new adventure. For newcomers, this is the perfect, polished entry point into a masterpiece of tactical card combat and branching narratives. The core loop remains: you'll choose a scenario, play your hand of cards to defeat monsters and achieve objectives, and then return to town to level up, buy gear, and watch the world map expand with new opportunities and threats.
Pro Tip: Don't be intimidated by the box size. The new rulebooks and onboarding process are designed to be much more approachable. Find a dedicated group of 2-3 other players and commit to playing once every week or two. The story momentum is what makes this game truly special.
2. Frosthaven
If you can't wait for Gloomhaven's second edition, its critically acclaimed successor, Frosthaven, is already here and will still be a colossal presence in 2025. Set in a harsh, frozen outpost, this game takes everything Gloomhaven did and adds layers of complexity and consequence. You're not just adventurers for hire; you're protectors of a fledgling settlement.
Frosthaven introduces a deep outpost-building system where you'll use resources from your adventures to construct new buildings, which in turn unlock new items, abilities, and story paths. It also adds a seasonal event system, crafting, and alchemy, making the world feel incredibly dynamic and alive. The combat is just as tight and tactical as its predecessor, but the narrative stakes feel even higher.
Example of Legacy: After a successful scenario, you might find a rare herb. You can use it to craft a potion, or you can give it to the town alchemist to help her research a cure for a plague affecting the outpost. Your choice will have lasting consequences on the town's prosperity and your future options.
3. Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
Even years after its release, Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 remains the gold standard for legacy games and the perfect entry point. It takes the familiar, cooperative puzzle of classic Pandemic and weaves it into a thrilling, year-long campaign that feels like a blockbuster movie. You and your team of medical experts will race across the globe to fight four increasingly terrifying diseases.
The brilliance is in how the game evolves. Cities will fall into chaos, characters will gain scars (or worse), and the rules themselves will change as you open sealed packets and apply new stickers to the board. No two campaigns will ever be the same. Its story is filled with shocking twists and genuinely emotional moments that will have your group talking for weeks.
Pro Tip: Go in as blind as possible. The joy of this game is the discovery and the "oh my gosh" moments when you unlock something new. Resist the urge to Google spoilers!
4. Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies
A sequel to the beloved Sleeping Gods, Distant Skies once again casts you and your friends as the crew of the Manticore, lost in a strange and wondrous world. This is a game of exploration and storytelling above all else. You'll navigate a vast atlas of maps, encountering bizarre creatures, forgotten gods, and mysterious civilizations.
Distant Skies refines the systems of the original, introducing a new seasonal story structure and a more dynamic action system. The core appeal remains: it's a "choose your own adventure" book in board game form, with a deep, branching narrative and a beautiful, watercolor art style. It's less about tactical combat and more about making choices and seeing where the story takes you.
Example of Legacy: You might discover a hidden cove on the map. You can mark it with a special sticker, giving you a new port to visit that provides unique resources or story quests every time you return.
5. The Witcher: Path of Destiny
One of the most anticipated releases heading into 2025, Path of Destiny aims to bring the morally grey world of The Witcher to your tabletop in a story-driven, legacy-style format. Players will take on the roles of famous characters from the universe, like Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer, and play through iconic stories from the books and games.
This isn't just a retelling; your choices will permanently alter the narrative, leading to different outcomes and character developments. The game promises deep character progression, impactful choices, and a world that reacts to your actions. It combines card-driven mechanics with a branching storybook, aiming to capture the feel of a Witcher tale where no choice is easy and every outcome has consequences.
Pro Tip: This will likely be a narrative-heavy game. It's best played with a group that loves the source material and is willing to invest time in reading and immersing themselves in the world-building.
6. ISS Vanguard
For the sci-fi fans, ISS Vanguard is an epic cooperative campaign of deep space exploration. You are the crew of the first human vessel capable of interstellar travel, sent to investigate a mysterious signal at the edge of the galaxy. The game is split into two distinct phases: the Ship Phase and the Planetary Exploration Phase.
During planetary exploration, you'll use a gorgeous log book with "point and click" style entries to investigate alien worlds, manage your lander's systems, and face unknown dangers. Back on the ship, you'll manage your crew, research new technologies, and decide which star system to visit next. The writing is top-notch, and the sense of discovery is unparalleled.
Example of Legacy: You might discover a unique alien fungus on a planet. Back on the ship, you can choose to research it in the Medbay, potentially unlocking a powerful new crew buff, or jettison it for being too dangerous. Your choice is permanent.
7. Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (2nd Edition)
Oathsworn masterfully blends two distinct game experiences into one incredible package. Each chapter begins with a story phase, where you explore a city, interact with characters, and make decisions using a storybook and a city map. These choices determine the conditions you'll face in the second phase: an epic, boss-battling combat encounter.
The combat is fast, tactical, and uses a clever "White Box" system where you draw and play ability cards. The legacy elements come from your character's progression, the evolving story, and the "Armory" box, a physical box of drawers filled with new item cards you unlock as the campaign progresses. The 2nd Edition, widely available in 2025, polishes the rules and components, making it even better.
Pro Tip: The miniatures in this game are some of the best in the industry. While not required, taking the time to paint the main bosses can make those epic encounters even more memorable.
8. The King's Dilemma
This is not a game about fighting monsters; it's a game about politics, power, and consequence. In The King's Dilemma, players represent the noble houses advising the King of Ankist. In each round, a new "dilemma card" is drawn, presenting a problem the kingdom must solve. You'll debate, bribe, and vote to push the outcome in a direction that benefits your house.
Your decisions have real, permanent impact. You'll sign stickers with your house name and place them on the board, literally leaving your mark on history. The narrative evolves over generations, with major story branches creating a unique history for your specific kingdom. It’s a game of negotiation and long-term scheming that can and will test friendships.
Example of Legacy: The council might vote to invest in a new mine. This adds a "Prosperity" sticker to a region but might also lead to a future dilemma card about a miners' rebellion, forcing you to deal with the consequences of your earlier choice.
9. Arydia: The Paths We Tread
From the designer of Xia: Legends of a Drift System, Arydia is a highly anticipated open-world fantasy campaign game. It promises a vibrant, "living" world that you can explore freely. Instead of a linear scenario book, the game uses a system of tokens and interactions on the map that dynamically generate quests and encounters.
The game focuses heavily on character progression, with a unique system of ability progression that feels more like a video game RPG. The world itself is the main character, changing and reacting to the players' actions over time. It's an ambitious project that aims to deliver a true sandbox experience in a box, perfect for groups who crave freedom.
Pro Tip: Given its open-world nature, it's wise to keep a campaign journal. Note down rumors you hear, locations of interest, and quests you've put on the back burner. This will help you keep track of your goals in its sprawling world.
10. Clank! Legacy: Acquisitions Incorporated
If you find most fantasy campaigns a bit too serious, Clank! Legacy is the perfect antidote. It takes the fun "deck-building adventure" mechanics of the original Clank! and wraps them in a hilarious, D&D-themed campaign created in partnership with Penny Arcade. You are new interns for the fantasy adventuring franchise, Acquisitions Incorporated, and your job is to loot dungeons and... file paperwork.
The game is filled with humor, memorable characters, and genuinely surprising legacy moments. You'll be applying stickers, adding new cards to the game, and even drawing your own "art" on the game board. It's lighthearted but has a surprisingly engaging story and a satisfying sense of progression.
Example of Legacy: Early in the game, you'll get to choose a franchise location for your Acquisitions Inc. branch. You'll place a sticker on the main map, and this becomes your permanent home base, offering unique benefits for the rest of the campaign.
11. My City
Not every legacy game needs to be a 100-hour epic. My City, from the legendary designer Reiner Knizia, is a competitive legacy polyomino (Tetris-like) puzzle game. Over the course of 24 short "episodes," players will develop a single patch of land from a simple settlement into a thriving industrial city.
Each episode introduces a new rule or scoring objective, added via stickers to your personal player board. It’s simple to learn, fast to play (each episode is about 20-30 minutes), and incredibly addictive. It’s the perfect legacy game for families or groups who want a campaign experience without a massive time commitment. Plus, the board is double-sided, so you can play an "eternal" version after the campaign is over.
Pro Tip: Don't get discouraged if you have a bad game. The campaign has built-in catch-up mechanisms that often give players who are behind a small advantage in the next episode, keeping things competitive.
12. Charterstone
In Charterstone, you are citizens building a new village for the Forever King. This is a worker-placement game at its core, but every action you take has the potential to permanently change the board. When you build a new building, you physically place a sticker from a massive sheet onto the game board, covering an empty space.
That building is now a new action space that any player can use for the rest of the campaign. The game features hundreds of unique cards that are unlocked from a massive "index" box as you progress, ensuring that your village will be completely different from anyone else's. It's a charming and constructive legacy experience, focused more on building up than tearing down.
Example of Legacy: You might be the first player to build the "Bakery." You get to name the building (and its cat), and for the rest of the game, players visiting your bakery will be giving you resources.
13. Aeon Trespass: Odyssey
This is a game for players who want a truly massive, challenging, and mature campaign. Set in a dark, Greek-mythology-inspired world, Aeon Trespass is an epic of survival and discovery. You control the crew of a massive ship, the Argo, exploring a dangerous and hostile world.
The game is famous for its "philosophical horror" themes and its brutal, multi-stage boss battles against colossal Primordials. The combat is deeply strategic, and the narrative is vast, with over 200 hours of content. This is not for the faint of heart; it's a gritty, complex, and deeply rewarding experience for a dedicated group. For those seeking a deep and challenging game, this is a title I, Goh Ling Yong, personally recommend keeping an eye on.
Pro Tip: The game is punishing. Don't get too attached to any single Argonaut. Embrace the theme of survival and understand that loss is a part of the story.
14. Vampire: The Masquerade – CHAPTERS
Bringing the iconic RPG to the board game format, CHAPTERS is a story-driven campaign set in the World of Darkness. It features a mature, branching narrative where your choices as a newly-sired vampire in Montreal will have a profound impact on the city's vampiric politics and your own humanity.
The game uses innovative dialogue and investigation mechanics, alongside tactical combat, to create a deeply immersive experience. Legacy elements include unlocking new abilities, changing your relationship with various factions, and permanently altering the state of the city map based on your successes and failures. It's a must-play for fans of the source material or anyone looking for a rich, character-driven story.
Example of Legacy: Failing a mission to stop a rival clan's influence might result in placing their "Control" sticker in a city district, locking you out of certain quests and resources in that area for future chapters.
15. The 7th Citadel
From the creators of The 7th Continent, this is another massive, cooperative exploration and survival game. You are a "threatened adventurer" who has been captured by a mysterious force and must now explore a dark fantasy world to find a way to lift your curse.
The game uses the innovative "card-crafting" system and a map built from hundreds of terrain cards. Every action, from climbing a cliff to convincing a character, involves drawing cards from your action deck and trying to get a certain number of successes. The world is huge and full of secrets, offering hundreds of hours of potential gameplay as you uncover its mysteries.
Pro Tip: Resource management is key. Your action deck is also your life force. Every card you play brings you closer to exhaustion. Knowing when to push your luck and when to rest is the core skill of the game.
16. Destinies
Destinies is a competitive, story-driven game of adventure and, well, destiny. It uses a companion app to handle the storytelling and events, freeing players up to focus on exploration and character development. Each player has a secret destiny they are trying to fulfill.
The game uses a slick "scan and play" system with its app, where you scan QR codes on character and item cards to trigger interactions. The world feels dynamic, as the app remembers your choices and other characters will react to things you've done. It’s a great blend of classic board game mechanics and modern technology.
Example of Legacy: You might choose to help a town guard early in the game. Later, when you're in trouble, the app might trigger an event where that same guard shows up to return the favor, an option that wouldn't have been available otherwise.
17. Roll Player Adventures
For those who love creating characters, Roll Player Adventures is a dream come true. This is a cooperative, narrative-driven campaign where you import the characters you created in the board game Roll Player. Your character's stats, skills, and backstory directly influence the story and your options in the game's many skill checks.
The story is told through a series of beautifully illustrated storybooks, offering branching paths and meaningful choices. Skill checks are resolved by manipulating and rolling your pool of dice, making your character's build feel incredibly important. It brilliantly connects the mechanical fun of character creation to a compelling narrative journey.
Pro Tip: Even if you haven't played Roll Player, the game comes with pre-generated characters. But the experience is much richer if you take the time to create your own hero first.
18. Dead Reckoning
A swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, Dead Reckoning is a "4X" (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, eXterminate) game with a unique card-crafting system and a legacy campaign. You are the captain of a pirate crew, sailing the Caribbean, upgrading your ship, and battling for supremacy.
The core innovation is the "Saga" system. The base game comes with the first of several planned sagas, which are story content packs that introduce legacy elements, new mechanics, and a branching narrative to the sandbox game. This allows the world to evolve and change while still providing a highly replayable core experience.
Example of Legacy: Completing a saga objective might reward you with a sticker that permanently upgrades an island on the board, making it produce a rare luxury good for all future games.
19. Pandemic Legacy: Season 0
The prequel to the groundbreaking Season 1, Season 0 is a Cold War spy thriller. Instead of fighting diseases, you are CIA agents in 1962, tasked with investigating a mysterious Soviet bioweapon. The game introduces new mechanics like creating aliases, assembling teams of agents, and dealing with enemy spies on the board.
It’s a fantastic twist on the Pandemic formula, with a story full of intrigue, paranoia, and tough choices. The legacy components are just as clever and surprising as in the other seasons, and it tells a complete, satisfying story that sets the stage for the rest of the trilogy. You do not need to have played the other seasons to enjoy this one.
Pro Tip: Pay close attention to the narrative text. There are subtle clues and bits of world-building that are not only fascinating but can also hint at future objectives and dangers.
20. Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon (2nd Edition)
Tainted Grail is a dark, story-rich survival and exploration game steeped in Arthurian legend and Celtic mythology. You play as unlikely heroes on a quest to save Avalon from the encroaching, mysterious Wyrdness. The game is known for its incredible writing and mature, morally ambiguous choices.
The 2nd Edition, which will be the primary version available in 2025, overhauls the original's sometimes-punishing rules to create a smoother, more accessible experience without sacrificing the challenge or atmosphere. With a massive storybook and a unique diplomatic/combat encounter system, this is one of the deepest narrative dives you can take in a board game.
Example of Legacy: Your character has stats like "Empathy" and "Aggression." Making compassionate choices might raise your Empathy, unlocking different dialogue options in the future, while aggressive actions might open up other, more violent paths. This forges a unique personality for your hero over the course of the campaign.
Your Next Great Story Awaits
The world of legacy and campaign board games is richer and more diverse than ever before. From epic 100-hour dungeon crawls to quick, puzzle-like city builders, there is a world-altering experience waiting for every type of player. These games are more than just a way to pass an evening; they are engines for creating shared memories and collaborative stories that your gaming group will talk about for years.
The beauty of these games lies in their permanence. That sticker you placed, that card you tore up, that character who fell in battle—it all happened, and it all mattered. So gather your friends, clear off the table, and pick your next adventure. The golden age of campaign gaming is here.
Now I turn it over to you. Which of these legacy games are you most excited to get to the table in 2025? Are there any hidden gems I missed? Share your thoughts and top picks in the comments below!
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
Stay updated with the latest posts and insights by following on your favorite platform!