Stuff We Loved: What are the industry’s favourite toy and game launches of 2025?

We asked figures in the industry for their favourite toy and game launches of the year. The only caveat… They couldn’t choose a product they were involved in!

Here’s what they said…

Naomi Brugnatelli, Inventor Relations Manager, Games, Hasbro
The item that stands out for me this year is Fugglers! I really enjoyed reading about how the creator, Louise McGettrick, stumbled upon the concept after online gift shopping for her husband. I think Louise and I have a similar sense of humour, because I find these little creatures to be hilarious! Each Fuggler has its own unique personality – and just the right amount of cuteness and unexpected weirdness with its crooked teeth and funny expressions. My daughters have both added these little creatures to their Christmas lists this year and I will happily be purchasing a few – and maybe one for myself!

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Westley Ciaramella, Partner, Catapult Concepts
Hasbro’s Spider-Man Venom Versus Liquid Shifter! This action figure uses the classic disappearing milk bottle trick in a clever new way! Red Spider-Man dramatically becomes black Venom – cool!

Vered Bahat & Heftzi Zion-Mozes, Toy Inventors, 2 Much Fun
We have two picks! The first is Make It Real’s Swift Clicks Heishi Bracelet Maker. It takes the frustration out of working with small Heishi beads – and the mess of rolling beads everywhere – and turns it into a fun, addictive process. The whole system is cleverly designed and compact, making the simple action of clicking and creating the bracelets highly satisfying and truly fidgety fun.

Our second pick is Flipty from Fat Brain Toys. It’s incredibly difficult to innovate in the early baby/toddler space, but Flipty manages to do just that. It’s simple, clever and offers a unique, surprising motion that immediately sparks curiosity. We want to reach our hand into the screen and play with it ourselves!

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Adam Carson, Director of Product Innovation, Fat Brain Toys
I came across the Throwpedo by Getmovin’ Family Games at the ASTRA show over the summer. It’s super intuitive to throw with a really fun effect. I thought it was a great innovation for an outdoor throwing toy. I ordered two as soon as I got home and made sure we purchased some inventory to share with our customer base!

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Rich Mazel, Chief Innovation Officer & Biz Dev, All4Fun Toys
Tapple Mini was really well executed. The timing mechanism, the cards store conveniently in the main housing and the pop letters all combine for a great execution. It’s perfect for travel or even just to save space at home. Well done to The Op Games!

Tony Serebriany, VP of Inventor Relations, The Op Games
I have two picks! The first is Burst from Lost Boy Entertainment. I met these guys in Essen this year and knew of them because of their runaway hit Piles. That said, I got a copy of Burst and every time I bring it to the table, players keep asking to play it again and again! The concept is simple – don’t be the one to make the total of the line go over 21 – but the play and choices are deceptively clever. You burst the line, no points for you and everyone else scores the points held in hand.

My second pick is another clever card game, this time from Danielle Reynolds and Pandasaurus – Tricky Kids. This game was pitched to us and although we ended up passing on the item, I think the hook is really clever. Each player gets an allotment of 21 points to assign to their hand of seven cards for this must-follow trick-taking game with a twist… You literally write the values on your own dry erase cards each round, making every hand a new puzzle.

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Dominique Roy, VP of Advanced & Industrial Design, Make It Real
For me, it’s Gui Gui from Moose. Slime, as we know it nowadays, has been there for more than a decade and everyone has proposed their version of it. In that context, coming up with something new is very difficult. Gui Gui really is a fresh take on a – let’s agree – sometimes overly exploited play pattern. Once again, the Moose design team gave great attention to detail. The container, the surface finishes and even the play sheet are beautifully reminiscent of beauty products, from which it gets its inspiration.

Bill Ward, Toy Designer, TopShelf Design
One of the toy launches that stood out to me this year was Kutie Kups, created by Jazwares. It sits in a familiar category, but the execution feels unusually deliberate. A single, physical action defines the experience. You place the pod, press down and the pay-off follows. It’s simple, tactile, and satisfying – the kind of interaction that feels familiar without ever calling attention to itself.

The strength of Kutie Kups is restraint. One well-chosen mechanic does the work, with no added tech or unnecessary layers. It understands its audience, its price point and its role on shelf. Sometimes the smartest products aren’t the ones that do more, but the ones that take a behaviour we already know, translates it cleanly into play, and stops there.

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Rob Ames, Co-Founder & Creative Director, Triclops Studio
In all honesty, I think 2025 has been a bit of a damp squib regarding decent releases. There are lots of reasons why, and as a result, it’s tricky to pick one toy or game that has truly tickled my pickle this year. I’m a fan of what ZURU Toys continues to do and their remixed Fugglers execution, plus sales strategy, has been mightily impressive.

However, I’m going to plum for the awesome Playmobil Haunted Ruins playset. Playmobil should get waaaay more love – their approach to theming, detailing and learning-through-play is, in my humble opinion, far better than 90% of their competitors. And their product balance of licensed Kidult releases vs genuine kid-themed toys to fire imaginations speaks volumes.

Like Frankenstein clocking the Bride of Frankenstein for the first time, it was instant attraction when I saw the Haunted Ruins set in my local Smyths Superstore. I mean, come on, the castle includes Dracula and his coffin, a shackled ‘crypt’ zombie, a bunch of spiders, rats, bats ‘n bones… And some poor random dude who’s about to succumb to a grizzly end! What kid/ageing toy designer could resist such eerie goodness!? Great job, Playmobil. Keep flying that monster flag – there’s not enough of it on the shelf today.

Stephen Wilson, Game Inventor
I’ve been a long-time fan of the IQ range of puzzles from Smart Toys and Games, and this year I loved the IQ Bubbles Logic Game. It doesn’t reinvent the formula much compared to previous versions, but it looks fantastic and has single-handedly saved multiple days out and holidays for us this year.

For me, it’s a satisfying brain-scratching puzzle. For my three sons, though, it’s become a brilliantly versatile, tactile little toy that can be taken and enjoyed anywhere. The biggest testament? Despite all three boys regularly fighting over whose turn it is, we’ve somehow managed to keep every single piece together. That alone deserves recognition.

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Pat Marino, Director of Hobby Games, The Op Games
The best part of my job is getting to play a few hundred new board games each year, and the clear standouts for 2025 were Hot Streak and Magical Athlete from CMYK games.

Hot Streak is a comical game about betting on racing mascots. The production quality is through the roof with four large painted mascot figures and a racetrack that literally unrolls from the side of the box. What I love is that Hot Streak leans into the humour of the game, starting with the way the rules are presented and carrying through to short story beats that describe your future life based on how much money you win. Hot Streak offers a great blend of strategy, take-that and chaos. Every time I introduce the game to new players, they immediately want to play again!

Magical Athlete is also a racing game that takes a roll and move game from 2003 and updates it with development from Richard Garfield. At first glance, Magical Athlete seems all to simple. Each turn you roll a six-sided die and move your character ahead that many spaces on the track. The first player to reach the end of the track wins. But, the real surprise is the 36 unique characters, all with game breaking abilities!

At the start of the game, players will draft a team of four of these racers, and enter each one into one of the four races that make up a game. The special powers, combined with the chain reactions between player powers, makes for an exciting and chaotic race with more strategy than you might first perceive. Each character also has a nice, chunky, wooden piece with full colour art on both sides to give the game an elevated table presence.

If you’re looking for great gateway games that can draw newer gamers to your table, Hot Streak and Magical Athlete are a great place to start!

Matt Fantastic, Creative Director, Forever Stoked Creative
CMYK continues their own hot streak of putting out some of the absolute best work in tabletop games each year with their 2025 release of Hot Streak and a new updated edition of Magical Athlete. They’re both racing games and both amazing.

I love the original Magical Athlete and it’s something we still we’ve played regularly since Z-Man first did an English edition 15 years ago. So it was a very pleasant surprise to see it not only come back into print with delightful new art, but also that Richard Garfield got brought in to turn it up to 11.

You’d think I wouldn’t need another racing game this year, and from the same publisher no less, but turns out I did because Hot Streak also totally rules. The production is insane with great figures and a rolling racetrack, but the gameplay is even better.

If you like yelling, cheering, talking trash and just having fun, these are both must buys. And if you are a dummy like me, they’re great to lose money betting on with your similarly dummy friends!

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Joe Barron, Game Designer & Owner, Gray Matters Games
I love I’m Kind of a Big Dill created by Grant Lyon and Adam Bain, and published by Left Justified Studio. The game has players use their imagination to over exaggerate in the most fun way. Tons of laughs and the betting mechanic keeps it strategic and interesting. The game is even better playing against Grant while he’s in a pickle suit!

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Alex Reynolds, Global Head of Research, Development & Licensing, Casdon
My pick is the LEGO Speed Champions Formula 1 race car range. The breadth of this range is amazing, with all 10 teams available for consumers to choose from – or collect them all! Not only that, but the detail LEGO have gone into is incredible. There are obviously common parts, but each car is slightly different and mimics the unique features of each team’s real F1 cars from the 2025 race season. The bespoke shapes as well as the graphic detail show how amazing the team are at replicating real-life details into the smaller models. Also, when your Instagram feed is constantly showing different 3D prints of how to store the full collection, you know it will drive collectability and more sales! Well done to the LEGO design team!

Serena Fadlun, Game Inventor
My favourite game this year was Pili Pili by ATM Gaming. It’s a trick-taking card game where you have to predict how many tricks you’ll take. It’s in the same family as traditional prediction-based trick-taking games like Oh Hell, but with a fresh approach. You have mission cards that change the rules each round, so the game is unpredictable and always interesting – and you have to keep adapting your strategy. It’s so easy to learn but the missions make it very replayable and dynamic. It’s always surprising and fun!

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Danielle Reynolds, Designer & Content Creators, DMR Creative Group
My recommendation is Take Time published by Libellud. I’m a huge fan of cooperative puzzle games and this one did a fantastic job of being approachable to new players. They did an amazing job of creating 40 increasingly challenging tests that players need to use limited communication to solve. Players can talk before receiving their cards about what their strategy might look like. Once you receive your cards, you’ll have to trust that the other players will carry out the pre-planned strategy to the best of their ability. All you’ll know at that point is what the back of other player’s cards are. The idea of the game is that you and the other players need to play 12 of 24 cards facedown around a Clock, following specific rules for each test. How they did the limited communication helped remove the ‘quarterbacking’ issue many co-op games have. The product design is stunning with easy-to-understand graphic design and beautiful illustrations with specialty ink on the cards to give a metallic shine. I highly recommend this game to cooperative limited communication players and people who love puzzles!

Andrea Grassi, Product Manager Toys, Chicco
My pick has to be HeroQuest: First Light. HeroQuest was the game that made me dream as a kid. Together with Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf, it introduced me to the magic of fantasy and storytelling. I still have my original copy, worn out from years of play.

What makes First Light so smart is its positioning: by reducing the component load, it lowers the barrier to entry and makes the experience less intimidating for newcomers. It also adds fresh content that re-engages long-time fans who might not have invested in a full-price reissue of something they already owned. It’s a clever way to refresh a classic, expand the audience and create a natural path toward upselling expansions.

Personally, I can’t wait to play it with my son and I already know I’ll end up collecting all the add-ons – with the perfect excuse of playing together! For me, it’s a great example of how a heritage brand can be successfully refreshed while staying true to its soul.

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Pete Cartlidge, Director, Fuse
I think we’ll all be glad to consign 2025 to the bin what with all the travails and headaches caused by the tariffs. There was much optimism at the start of the year, especially with a first full year of movie launches after all the Covid related delays and the writers’ strike. Indeed, the return of summer blockbusters brought hype and new product launches in spades in the summer.

Overall, though, breakthrough items were harder to spot, but as always persistence and sheer hard work saw some significant launches. I love Primal Hatch by Spin Master. Taking that hatching play pattern to the world of blockbuster dinosaurs was a smart move, and the product experience is incredible. Kudos to Ben Dermer’s team at Spin – it delivers on all aspects of what a hot toy should do.

In the dolls space, cosmetics became a firm fixture in the toy aisle and Gui Gui from Moose has established itself as a premier brand quickly. Stylish and with a luxury feel, it’s a significant launch and looks here to stay. Very smart from the folks at Moose.

The Nee Doh brand continues to resonate with fans old and young – and fills a real need (sorry) for tactile and sensory play without feeling overly prescribed and niche. I’ve stuffed a bunch in to all my family’s stockings! Elsewhere, Flip 7 is quickly becoming an instant classic. Having cleaned up at Mojo’s Play Creators Awards in the summer, I couldn’t be happier for Tony and his team.

But if I had to pick one item – and I do – it would be the Cool Maker Stack’ d’Heishi Bracelet Studio from Spin Master. We know its creator well – Cheeky Donkey’s Sabrina Gareau – and it’s great to see such a passionate, hard-working inventor get just rewards for one of their creations. These items are complex to develop, so she and the team at Spin deserve enormous credit. It’s one of those rare maker sets – a fashion activity studio that’s simple to use and delivers great end results. It also looks inviting and is intuitive – it’s very satisfying when you remove your hand with the completed bracelet securely fasted and ready to dazzle.

Hadi Barkat, CEO & Founder, Helvetiq
I’ve been impressed by the recent run from Catch Up Games. They seem on a hot streak, delivering titles that are well-designed and successful at retail. Castle Combo has become a favourite in my family. I know, it’s not so new… This goes to show that publishers aren’t the fastest to play new games! Ha!

In addition, I really like what Gigamic has done by launching a line that brings together both new titles such as Dékal and Line It, while also repackaging established evergreens like Yogi and 6 qui prend. It’s a smart way to introduce fresh games under a familiar visual language, while simultaneously giving long-lasting classics renewed shelf appeal. This kind of clear, structured approach shows how thoughtful editorial and branding decisions can support both innovation and longevity in a catalogue.

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Katia Li-Ran & Gigi Shachal, Toy Inventors
As inventors, we have a soft spot for Arts & Crafts, so the Swift Clicks Heishi Bracelet Maker by Make It Real immediately caught our eye. It ticks every box. The core interaction of clicking the buttons to thread the beads is satisfyingly fidgety and fun. Beyond that, the mechanism solves a real friction point: it turns the tedious task of threading Heishi beads by hand into a delight. The talented R&D team at Make It Real has done it again, huge kudos!

Another standout for us is the Make & Bake Pies playset by Melissa & Doug, invented by Heftzi Zion-Mozes and Vered Bahat. This is pretend play at its finest, capturing the joy of baking with real elegance. We were particularly impressed by the smart material design, which allows the ‘crust’ to be moulded into tins and then rolled flat again for reuse. This is simply brilliant. It translates a classic kitchen activity into a perfect play experience.

Kelli Schmitz, Innovation & Sourcing Director, Social Playtype, Asmodee
I loved seeing Drizzle by teenager Persy Acrement at People of Play in Chicago. It’s a sweet and delightful family game with an ambitious inventor! I love what Persy has done with the game and her maturity in promoting it; from selling it into local stores to national TV interviews and award speeches – she won Young Innovator of the Year at the TAGIES! As the mother of a daughter about her age, it’s impressive!

I was blown away by Kosmos’s CATAN Connect world record event at SPIEL Essen this October. It was a highlight of my year sitting with 1,170 CATAN players all playing the same game at the same time. The Kosmos event team did a fantastic job!

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Jason Exum, VP of Brands & Partnerships, Dyce Games
In games, I’d go for Thunder Road Vendetta: Carnival of Chaos from Restoration Games. OK, technically this one is an expansion as you need to own the Thunder Road Vendetta base game, but Carnival of Chaos adds a chaotic and fantastically fun-filled new way to play the game. It that completely changes the dynamic and makes it feel like a new game. Instead of one long stretch of road, players now compete in a circular arena… Think vehicular gladiatorial combat! Smash your opponents into concrete columns, pick up powerful weapons, get accolades from the crowd and try to win the favour of Turbo Tina, the patron of the Carnival! Best of all, it adds a new set of vehicles and accompanying playing pieces, so you can play the base game with five players!

In toys, I’d go for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles x Godzilla action figures from Playmates. We live in an era of ubiquitous brand crossovers and collabs, so nothing should surprise me… But these did! An absolutely bonkers idea for a crossover, and I am totally here for it. TMNT and Godzilla are two of my all-time favourite properties, so I feel like I’m being pandered to directly with these guys. But these aren’t some high-end – and high-priced – collector statues for Kidults… They are awesome, weird and very playable toys that are extremely affordable. The only downsides are that they are currently exclusive to Target, making it hard for some fans to get them – and they only released three of the four Turtles in the initial wave. If anyone from Playmates is reading this – we want Donnie as Jet Jaguar! Fingers crossed for a Wave 2 and a wider release. COWABUNGA, Party Dudes!

Darren Lee Phillipson, Toy & Content Development Architect, design_lead_play_
I’m absolutely loving the new Rubick’s WOWCUBE entertainment system. The integration of the LCD tech and gameplay is really unique and I’m extremely impressed with how they were able to bring something completely new and innovative to a product that is now 50 years old. The idea to mix the concept of a video game controller with the tactile quality of a Rubick’s cube is a brilliant.

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Danny Kishon, MD, All in 1 Products
I may be coming a bit late to the party, but Moose’s Fart Blaster so amused me at Toy Fair that I bought one for my partner’s 11-year-old and much fun was had by all. He even occasionally got to play with it. I remember the original fart blaster with a balloon sack you pulled back and this was an ingenious, very visual, update.

It was also great to see Jelly Blocks from Goliath doing so well. In a market dominated by everything LEGO, it takes balls to have a go at blocks, even with a great idea like this. We need innovation and bravery in this business.

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David Snow, Factory Founder, The Fantastic Factory
I think my most loved thing from 2025 were toilet roll bundle deals on TikTok. If you need a toilet roll, I have 3,660 rolls available. In terms of toys and games, I’ve just found Character Option’ Stuntman Stu, it reminded me of my childhood, jumping my Evel Knievel Stunt Bike over my Matchbox car collection.

Scott Brady, Game Designer
I would go for Dungeon Crawler Carl Adventurer’s Pin Loot Box: Floors 1-3. I just recently began reading the series upon recommendations from a number of people in the game industry. Foam Brain Games released these at Gen Con and immediately sold out. I wasn’t able to pick any up, but do have them on my Christmas wish list. It’s been fun seeing the pins and then discovering the references in the book! Of course, my favourite – “Time to pay the Daddy Tax” – is one of the ‘rares’, so I may have to find other collectors to get that one! And I won’t even dare chase the Legendary Rainbow Parallels! I’m sure these will be super popular and am looking forward to additional series!

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Birgitte Bülow, Head of Studio & CEO, Bezzerwizzer Studio & Dotted Games
Exploding Kittens: The Board Game has been one of this year’s most delightful surprises. It’s fun, family-friendly and somehow gets everyone around the table instantly invested. But the real show stealer is the board itself – shout out to the minds behind! The flipping game board keeps the game feeling alive and full of possibility. I love how one simple flip transforms the whole experience, shifting the pace, and pulling everyone right back to the edge of their seats. It’s a warm, chaotic-in-the-best-way, laughter-filled gem.

Rob Trounce, Trade Marketing Manager, Zatu Games
I adored Molly House from Werhlegig Games. A collaborative project between Jo Kelly and Cole Werhle, the game explores queer society in 1700s London in one of the most evocative and unusual tabletop experiences I’ve ever played.

Players take the role of members of the queer community when such identities were criminalised, hosting festivities and growing their presence. Such activities attracted the ire of the Society for the Reformation of Manners, who sought to crush anything they deemed deviant.

A molly house was a place where LGBTQ+ people could congregate and celebrate being themselves. The game tells the true story of the molly houses, at times to brutal and emotionally devastating effect. Its highlight is a festivity system in which players cooperatively create poker hands from their available cards – the bigger the festivity, the more joy it creates for the community… But also the more infamy it spreads among conservative members of society. The more the community flourishes, the greater players risk being exposed and losing everything – including their lives.

Rarely does emergent storytelling reach such heights in board game and Molly House succeeds in shining a light on a lesser-known part of history. It’s an astounding achievement, and a showcase of what the medium can be.

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Inna Yankelovich, Toy Designer & Inventor, IDEO
My pick for this year is the Barbie & Play-Doh Designer Dolls! I love how this mash-up brings two iconic brands together in a way that feels both innovative and fresh. This creative set combines the timeless, tactile joy of Play-Doh with Barbie’s fashion-forward world, inviting kids to design and craft their own outfits, accessories and hairstyles directly on the doll. What really impressed me are the innovative extruders Play-Doh created for this line. Watching outfits magically form as the dough is pressed through the tools feels both surprising and satisfying! This toy is a great example of a tactile experience with texture, shape and personal style, all while keeping creativity and delightful results at the forefront. It proves that when classic brands collaborate thoughtfully, the outcome can be truly special.

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