Stuff We Loved: What are the industry’s favourite toy and game launches of 2024?

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…

Dominique Roy, VP of Advanced & Industrial Design, Make It Real
My pick is XOX Kweenies by Moose Toys. There was a time I was a bit into vinyl figures, so my choice is this stunning series of figs from the Dolls & Collectibles team at Moose. It checks all the things that make for good design in those categories… The styling and level of detail are just insane. It’s loaded with humour and each one of them show off tons of personality. The whole collection is a sort of a sampler of decoration processes and effects used in our industry: flocking, glitter, pearlescent, pad print, painting, plating… My favourite? I love them all, but The Kween of Pickles is really from another planet!

Randy Klimpert, VP of Design, Games, Puzzles, Plush & Outdoor, Spin Master
I’m going for the LEGO Orchid from their Botanical collection. I’ve always been a huge fan of LEGO, and I’m a sucker for the flowers of their recent Botanical collection. Beautifully designed and artfully ironic – who wouldn’t want to recreate the sublime subtlety of nature with plastic bricks?  We bought this set for our oldest son who’s working on his PhD in botany – studying the phylogenetics of orchids, coincidentally.  He already had it, of course, so now he’s got two.

Tony Serebriany, Vice President, Inventor Relations, The Op Games
2024 was another year of so many great game releases, however there are two card games that we are getting to the table at home quite a bit… The first is Cabanga from AMIGO. I got to play it for the first time last April, though didn’t get a chance to buy until its release in June. This is a relatively simple card shedding game, which has players discarding cards to four different stack sets that have a number spread. You want to keep that spread to a minimum to avoid getting a ‘Cabanga’ – numbers that fall within the spread.

The next game – Duck & Cover from Captain Games – I came across at Spiel in Essen this past October. With the artist expansion, this game can play up to seven – and it’s a race to minimise your Duck tableau and score as few points as possible. There’s a simple puzzle as you ‘Duck’ or ‘Cover’ your Ducks to outwit your opponents, while hoping the whole table doesn’t ‘Quack’ and need to pass! Each player’s Duckies are different as well, making choosing player ‘colour’ even more personal – and with room for new sets in the future!

David Snow, Owner, The Fantastic Factory
I would choose Fat Brain’s PlayTab – invented by Making Things Studio and Phase Two. To transform a baby mat/play centre into individual tabs that can be taken out – or connected when not travelling – is really very cool. The colours used and design style is very nice. It’s a great invention that should be around, and celebrated, forever.

Kasper Lapp, Board Game Designer
There’s a well-known folk game that goes by many names… One of them being “I’m going on a trip and I’m bringing…” I’ve seen countless attempts to turn it into a board game – and I’ve made a few myself… But I’m done trying because I believe the definitive version has finally been created: Things in Rings, published by Allplay.

The brilliant twist of the game is that instead of a single rule, there are three – each corresponding to a circle in a Venn diagram. One player knows the rules and places objects in the diagram according to where they belong. If an object fits two rules but not the third, it goes in the overlap of two circles, and so on. On your turn, you’ll try to place an object in the right spot. At first, you’ll have no clue what’s going on, but slowly it starts to click. And when you finally figure it out, you’ll exclaim: “Of course! It’s so obvious!”

Alex Reynolds, Head of R&D and Licensing, Casdon
My top toy for this year has to be Moose’s TileTown. I’m so impressed. The idea of taking this well-known play pattern and turning it into a themed brand is great. The execution of the pre-school styled tiles and characters is also super-cute and perfect for the target age. The non-licensed TileTown sets are great, but with the addition of the brands they’ve chosen, I feel they’ve aced this whole range. I can see TileTown being a staple brand in this category for many years to come. It’s a very well thought out product with a great play pattern – and awesome end results. Great job team Moose!

Massimo Zeppetelli, Director of Inventor Relations, Growth and Marketing, Oink Games
My pick is Flip 7 by The Op. It was love at first sight when I was introduced to this game at Gen Con and I now own three copies of the game! I always have a deck wherever I go and play it every week. It’s quickly become one of my all-time favourite games.

Flip 7 nails the push-your-luck genre – I always wanting to flip one more card! Plus, the lack of theme is a good thing – with the satisfying design of lining up the cards, with the semi circles creating a whole between two cards. I can’t wait for The Op to release licensed editions – it lends itself perfectly to this!

Luc Hudson, Co-Owner & Creative Director, Triclops Studio
I’m going for Popmart’s Pino Jelly ‘In Your Life’ series. Popmart’s range of collectible figures continue to impress – and this series is particularly ticking both the hand and eye-candy boxes. Each character has a translucent head and trapped inside is a filling which references a previously mundane aspect of daily life, from coffee to cat biscuits. I scored the saltshaker and it really feels like a high quality piece of art – which is just as well because the pose means that the character is not really playable, unless you have lost a maraca?

PopMart, Kenji and MiniSo shops are becoming more abundant on the high street, so the influence and flair of kawaii style is only set to grow in the mainstream. Already products like XOX Kweenie and LOL are filtering the styling cues into more widely available products.

Rob Ames, Co-Owner & Creative Director, Triclops Studio
My Christmas number one – or rather ‘Top Toy’ of 2024 has to be the gross-out Terror Fried line… Oh, wait! OK then, in second place are MGA’s recent ball-packaged, L.O.L Surprise releases. Yes, the brand has been around for a while – and at different scales – but the latest wave of fun, small dolls really injects playfulness into the brand.

Hair Beads Tots is probably my fave. It comes with over 60 beads to make a creative hairstyle simply by wetting the hair strands, placing the beads over the top, and then giving them a spray of water to stick ’em together! The All-Star Sports Gymnastic line –which reuses the ball packaging as a balance beam – and the DIY Candy Maker assortment – a neat follow-up to their colourful Haribo collab – are ‘sweet’ additions too. They allow kids to mold, make and eat real edible gummies. Great job! They push design and play patterns to stretch the brand, freshening up an already popular IP.

Dougal Grimes, Founder, EightyTwo LLC
For toys, I’ve loved Buffalo’s Hello Blink Sticker Maker. It’s an ultra easy-to-use, no-ink thermal sticker printer. The app is super straightforward. Within minutes of unboxing you can upload your designs and photos to print out. Because of the sleek design and its portable nature, I’d say it’s been the perfect Christmas gift for kids – but I’ve also been using it non-stop.

For games, my favourite this year was Flip 7 by The Op and inventor Eric Olsen. I’ll shout out to the ultra-compact version – still in the beautiful foil packaging – given out at Gen Con, which lives in my bag permanently. Being a twist on blackjack, it’s one of those great party games with instant familiarity and the ability to explain as you play one round. The balance of the speed of the game and the action cards makes it a fun rollercoaster of a game – as well as a great gateway game for a game night or to play with friends for hours.

Pete Cartlidge, Partner, Fuse
I’m going for Make It Real’s Mini Pottery Studio. It’s rare to find a craft/activity toy which is an easy ‘get’ from the package – and then straightforward to do when out of the box. This delivers on promise, play and end results. It’s also a very nice bit of industrial design and impressively non-messy for real clay. The mini objects you craft are neatly on trend and it’s great fun for all ages. The Fuse team all had a play at Make It Real’s Nuremberg showroom and we all loved it. Congrats to Dom and the whole team at Make It Real!

Inna Yankelvich, Product Design Lead, IDEO
My pick is LinXo from Make it Real. A great idea often combines the familiar with an exciting new twist, and LinXo does just that! This innovative toy is perfect for anyone who loves hands-on, creative activities – especially young creators aged six and up. Linxo introduces a fresh, easy-to-use system for building fun designs, while embracing the familiar charm of beaded jewellery and characters we all know and love. Remember the iconic beaded lizard keychains?

What really sets LinXo apart is the snapping action of the beads. It’s not only satisfying but also irresistibly fidgety – making the creation process both engaging and addictive. Whether it’s crafting colourful creatures or personalised jewellery, LinXo is sure to inspire hours of creativity and play!

Ellie Dix, Game Designer, The Dark Imp
I really love the game Spotlight from Horrible Guild. I came across it at Spiel in Essen. All players are simultaneously searching in their own picture to try and count the number of times a certain character appears. The twist is that you can only see a small circle of the whole picture at any one time – the section in the spotlight. The way the spotlight has been achieved is genius! The picture is printed on see-through acetate with a black card behind, dimming the whole picture. You have a piece of card with a white circle on the end which – when poked behind the picture, but in front of the black card – creates a lit-up spotlight, revealing that part of the image.

The game is fast, fun and very tense. It’s like a frantic Where’s Wally. Each player locks in the number of times they think the character appears in the whole picture – getting as close to the number as possible. But they must be careful not to over-estimate or they will bust. Sometimes you see an idea that you really wish you’d come up with yourself – this is one of those.

Darren Lee Philipson, Toy & Content Development Architect, design_lead_play_
My pick for would be the Playforever line of sleek heirloom toy vehicles. I love the overall design aesthetic of this line. They look beautiful as a display piece on a shelf, but they also have superior ‘rolling action’ due to their robust rubber wheels. They are really good fun to play with as push along vehicles. Playforever’s new introduction this year is the UFO, which is obviously their spin on the Lamborghini Countach and it looks perfect… A great adaptation!

John Bell, VP of Design – Games, Buffalo & Gamewright
My first choice is Flip 7 – the perfect appetiser game that you can literally open up and play. It brings the traditional spirit of classic parlour games to a contemporary table and it’s super easy to teach! A great amuse bouche for an evening of gaming. I’d also go for Power Hungry Pets. Our family has enjoyed this Love Letter adaptation and its subtle design edits that make it family friendly, whimsical, and engaging. Love Letter is quite simply exquisite, and this fine-tuned adaptation fits the Exploding Kittens bill perfectly.

I’ve also spent some time going backwards and rediscovering classics and introducing them to a new audience this year. With that in mind, I’d recommend Lords of Waterdeep and Dice Miner – a niche classic! Then as far as toys, the NeeDoh cube is so satisfying and impossible to put down. I dare you!

Boaz Coster, Partner, Theora Concept
My first pick is Goliath’s Power Saber. A multi-generation’s dream that came true – and possibly the most wished for toy ever… Goliath’s first self-retracting light and sound saber. Hundreds of thousands of happy kids will wave and play with it this Christmas and for years to come.

I’d also choose SpinBrick. This is a Kickstarter project for an almost endless chargeable electronic Gyro spinner that comes with a kit of bricks – LEGO compatible – to allow for building and changing the spinner’s design and shape.

Sam Unsicker, Partner, BMT
My choice has got to be UNO Show ’em NO MERCY! My son actually brought this one to my attention after playing it with some of his friends in college. He brought it home and it was instantly our new family favourite! We are a VERY competitive family when we play games and this one totally intensifies that for us. We enjoy the fact that you can pile on each other and end up with more cards than you can hold in your hands – then a few plays later be back down to UNO!

This masterpiece was designed by Nick Hayes at Mattel – which, as a professional designer – I shouldn’t be happy that they do such a great job in house! – but I have to give him major props for this wonderful game! We’ve had many memorable times with this game already and I am certain that there are many more to come!

Will Sakran, Principal Engineer & Designer, Metre Ideas & Design
Spirograph Shrink Charms is one of those “Why didn’t I think of that!?” or “How come nobody thought of this sooner!?” kind of items. I personally love both Spirograph and Shrinky Dinks, so to see them put together into this fun activity kit makes me really happy!

Whitney Kimmerling, Chief Creative Officer, Hootenanny Games
Our kids were instant fans of Bigfoot vs. Yeti: Splat Attack by Dave Yearick and The Good Game Company. It takes such a fun theme with a tactile challenge that kids – and adults – love. Who doesn’t want to launch snowballs and mud patties on catapults? It’s so simple, silly and fast. This game comes out of our game cabinet again and again – and even Alex and I find ourselves duelling it out once our kids are done!

David Laskowski, Senior Manager, Inventor Relations & Extenal Innovation, Hasbro
My choice is the Hot Wheels City Ultimate Hauler. Listen… I’m a simple man. I like cars and I like dinos. But most of all, I like creative people who are smart enough to smash those two things together into my favourite toy this year. Props to our friends at Fuse for making a multifaceted toy that combines all things boys love. The aesthetic is badass, and the play action is equally as badass. Storage is boring, but EATING the cars to store them is so smart and fun. It has everything a boy wants. I got one for my sons for Christmas, but really, I got it for me to play with! Cheers to Fuse and Mattel on this one!

Matt Nuccio, President, Design Edge
I’m seriously impressed by how the JMP and Sky Castle Toys teamed up and brought Sticki Rolls to market. It’s like they took the concept of “brilliant” and turned it into a product! Sticki Rolls are holographic mini stickers that you can pull, tear, and share – it’s like they found a way to make stickers even more fun and addictive! Not only is it a genius invention, but the marketing campaign behind it was great. The combination of a fantastic product and an equally amazing marketing approach is what dreams are made of. They’ve got my admiration, and I think they’ll have everyone’s attention!

Westley Ciaramella, Partner, Catapult Concepts
I enjoyed playing Moose Games’ Big Spot n’ Bop game. Familiar ‘find it’ gameplay, printed on a bop bag for up-and-frantic fun with my six-year-old daughter Lily.

Ed Naujokas, Game Designer, Big Potato Games
There were some really cool games that came out this year, but the biggest highlight for me had to be the Wilmot’s Warehouse board game. Firstly, it just looks amazing and the quality of the components is top notch. Then, when you crack it open and dive into the game itself, it’s just so different to anything I’ve played before… I always find with memory games, people either love them or hate them, but this is a memory game for everyone. The way the game gets the players to interpret abstract shapes and then make stories out of them is so unique and loads of fun – without having the usual pressure of storytelling games to tell a ‘good’ story. Plus, there’s the amazing magic trick at the end of the game when you can remember where all the different tiles are – you feel super clever!

Carine Rosalia, Toy & Game Inventor, Lunch Square Studio
I love Fat Brain Toys’ PlayTab – a mix and match toddler activity board invented by Making Things’ Fi Murray and Phase Two. It’s both on-trend and timeless, as well as functional and elegant, in its simple design. The modular aspect means that parents can add and swap activity tabs without having to buy a new toy. It grows with the child to develop their curiosity and fine motor skills. Brilliant!

Sticki Rolls by Sky Castle also wins a top spot for me. The wearable sticker beads stride the fidget, craft and accessory categories and have become a viral sensation, with customers redecorating anything and everything with the cute stickers. I love the characters and the fact that the stickers don’t leave a residue so there is no guilt covering a surface with stickers! Sticki Rolls seems to be in high demand in stores and is only going to grow bigger.

Lee Allentuck, Founder, The Plan A Group
My pick is Oh My Pigeons! from Ravensburger. What’s not to love about a game that’s equal parts cute, chaotic and clever? Oh My Pigeons nails the balance between silliness and skill, making it perfect for family nights or parties. The artwork is adorable – each pigeon has so much personality – and the gameplay is intuitive yet delightfully challenging. It’s social, funny and gets everyone involved – whether you’re skillfully lining up a move or laughing at someone else’s tactical misstep. Ravensburger has delivered a fresh, fun and flocking fabulous game. Definitely one for the “play again” pile!

Joanna Paul, Founder & CEO, Moodles
I love a wearable sticker bracelet called Sticki Rolls. Each bracelet, known as a Sticki Band, holds multiple rolls of holographic mini stickers that kids can easily pull, tear, and share these stickers with friends. I love toys that encourage social interaction. I can also imagine an adult version of this for fun social outings.

Scott Brady, Game Design
I’d put forward Flip 7 by The Op. This is a game I played as a prototype, and while similar to others in the genre, this implementation felt perfect. I even commented at the time to Tony Serebriany that it was a game I wish I’d made myself because I knew it was special – and would sell a lot of copies! It’s one of those games you can teach by just playing the first round. A tiny bit of “gotcha” mixed with a ton of “push your luck” makes Flip 7 a no-brainer for this honour.

I would add a second nomination for River of Gold by Office Dog. It’s a semi-typical orange box euro-style game, but is so easy to teach that it’ll be embraced by non-gamers. Yet, it still has the decision space to please even the most hardcore gamer. It’s my current favourite to use to introduce players to the world of hobby games.

Matt Fantastic, Creative Director, Forever Stoked Creative
My top pick is Wrath of Fire Mountain by Eric M Lang, Phil Walker-Harding and Gamewright. Eric is an absolute legend, with some of the most all time classic heavy/hobby games in his body of work, but lately he’s been showing us all that he can crush it with lighter fare as well. Wrath of Fire Mountain is the culmination of that creative journey and a distillation of all the heavy strategy Eric is known for into a super accessible 45-minute game that I can play with my mom. We played it four or five times in a row when I first opened it – and it’s already become a regular part of the core rotation. One of my favourite games in the last decade, let alone the last year!

I also loved the Dungeons & Dragons x LEGO minifig release. I had high hopes after the amazing big set they did, and these absolutely delivered. Also, with D&D, I’d be remiss if I didn’t call out the new 2024 core book releases. I’ve been playing since AD&D and these feel like a wonderful refinement that takes everything I’ve loved since the Eighties, incorporating the last decade of design into 5e to make what is already my favourite set of D&D core rules.

Alex Murty, Head of Global Distribution & Licensing, Joking Hazard
It’s the holiday season and so it’s the time of year when my friends and family ask me for game recommendations… This year I’ve been telling them all to buy DroPolter. DroPolter is a dexterity game where everybody holds a bunch of small items in their hand, a card is flipped and everyone has to drop the items on the card… But only those items – or you have to pick them up and start again… The first person to do so and grab the ghost from the middle of the table wins a small gold bell. These small bells get added to your hand making it harder to drop the correct items when the next card is flipped. First person to 5 bells wins!

This is a very simple, silly and fun game to play, the art style is classically and brilliantly Oink, and the small box means that it’s a perfect travel size. I bought this game at Essen in October and it’s been our go-to family game ever since, including a few rounds – beer and games – at the pub last Friday!

Birgitte Bülow, CEO, Bezzerwizzer Studio & Dotted Games
Forest Shuffle is an easy standout for me this year. While it first hit shelves in late 2023, its counter app dropped this year, giving the game a clever digital boost that enhances the experience – so I’m counting it! What makes Forest Shuffle truly shine is its blend of gameplay and design. I love the nature theme and the satisfying way your forest emerges as you play, starting from just one tree. But what is really cool is the game’s eco-conscious design. Produced entirely with FSC-certified materials and zero plastic, it showcases how eco-friendly design can be integrated beautifully without compromising quality or experience.

Simon Russell, Senior Game Developer, Ridley’s Games
I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Faraway, a wonderfully creative take on trick-taking card games by Johannes Goupy and Corentin Lebrat. The scoring in reverse order is fascinating – it forces players to think differently about every move, creating a unique layer of strategy that I haven’t seen in other games. Combined with Maxime Morin’s beautiful, immersive artwork, it keeps every game feeling fresh and exciting. As a designer, I find it inspiring how Faraway manages to innovate within a familiar format, proving that even traditional mechanics can surprise us when approached with creativity. It’s become a staple at my game nights – even though I rarely win…

Stephen Wilson, Game Inventor
This year, McDonald’s, DreamWorks, and Mattel joined forces to bring a range of UNO games to families across the UK. The result was something truly special. By including UNO with Happy Meals and offering it for just £1.99 during Easter, they introduced the classic card game to thousands of kids – many discovering the joy of tabletop gaming for the very first time. As a parent, I’ve kept a copy in my bag ever since, always ready to share a quick game with my kids whenever we have a moment to spare.

Benoit Forget, Head of Studio, Space Cow
My First Pick is Age of Sigmar, the Spearhead version. I love miniature games and have been addicted to Games Workshop for years. I really like Age of Sigmar, but the games are often too long and I often forget a lot of effects during the game… The fourth version of Age of Sigmar, released in July, features a new game format called Spearhead, which is just right for me at this point in my life: fast, easy to pick up, tense games right to the end. In short, a great achievement by Games Workshop that will appeal not only to Age of Sigmar regulars looking for shorter formats, but also to newcomers.

My second pick is Link City. This game is an amazing mix between a party game and a city-building game… And it works! It’s a cooperative game with restricted and asymmetrical communication, to which tile placement is added. A surprising cocktail! A game that should appeal to all kinds of audiences.

Mike Lancaster, President & Founder, Dyce Games
The game KLASK has been a massive hit at my place with the kids (aged 9 and 7). It didn’t get launched this year, but it was our first time playing. It’s an awesome game – we got the two-player version and also the four player one. A huge hit! Countless hours of playing.

Curt Covert, Owner, Smirk & Dagger Games
My first pick is Harmonies by Libellud, a wonderfully welcoming strategy game with beautifully illustrated, evocative animal habitats and the cute animals that inhabit them. The game is both intuitive and strategically engaging and challenging as you try to create the habitats listed on the cards on your board to attract the animals – harmoniously – to your world. Enchanting and fun.

My second pick is Pandasaurus’ Faraway. In this card game, you are taking a journey across a mysterious continent, represented by numbered cards. Players draft cards each turn and add one to their tableau as they journey across an eight-card path. But the ingenious and challenging twist of this engine building card game is that you build your engine left to right – and then activate the combos and rewards in reverse! It takes skill, focus and a little luck to build the end of your game at the beginning – and hope all you put after rolls right into a win! Portable, fun and unique!

Pat Marino, Director of Hobby Games, The Op
I’ve played a ton of new boardgames this year and Heat: Pedal to the Metal Heavy Rain Expansion has been a real standout for me. The base game of Heat already included several tracks and modules to keep the game fresh and exciting. The new Heavy Rain expansion was the perfect addition to what has quickly become one of my all time favorite games. Heavy Rain offers two new tracks, new cards to increase the variety in the base game and just a few new rules to add new challenges to the game. What I love is that it added exciting twists for experienced players without putting the new content out of reach for people learning the game for the first time. In my opinion, Heavy Rain is a must have for any Heat fan, and the base game is a fantastic addition to any game collection!

Richard North, President, Wow! Stuff
Wow! This year is hard year to choose a new launch that’s really rocked. We’re all forbidden for mentioning our own toys or games so I’m being very conscious not to go Too Far. I have to say that now I’m chairing a party card games business and climbing the Social Ladder of our industry, Big Potato have nailed it yet again with Chicken Vs Hot Dog and Herd Mentality. These games are No. 1 and No. 2 in the ‘All Games and Toys’ category on Amazon! That’s not a Stitch up either, their social media and marketing is the best.

Dave Poulter, Managing Director, MV Sports
My favourite toy launch of the year is the RealFX Disney Stitch Puppetronic by Wow! Stuff. This toy is a masterpiece in animatronic innovation, bringing Disney’s beloved Stitch to life with incredible realism. Stitch’s expressive face and interactive features make him feel like he’s leapt straight out of Lilo & Stitch. The ability to control his movements and expressions with hand gestures or via the controller gives kids – and grown-up fans – a magical and immersive play experience.

What sets this toy apart is its balance of advanced technology and pure fun. It’s not just a toy; it’s a character that captures hearts and sparks joy. The attention to detail and seamless interaction creates an unforgettable experience, making it a standout launch this year.

Julien Sharp, Country Manager, Asmodee US
That Sound Game has been a smash hit this year, delivering non-stop laughs and unforgettable moments for friends and families alike. It’s all about connection, joy, and pure energy – exactly what every game night needs. Whether you’re playing with your best friends, kids, or grandparents, this game guarantees the table will be lit with energy and packed with laugh-out-loud moments!

Scott Rogers, Game Designer
My pick is this awesome Disney Parks/D23 exclusive Star Speeder 3000. It comes with REX figure… Twice! One to open and pilot the ship and one to keep carded – they really know their audience! Plus, it comes with R2-D2 to help fly the ship. The Star Speeder 3000 is HUGE and it fits 25 3 3/4″ inch figures! And if that weren’t enough, it plays the ENTIRE movie from the Disney park attraction!! Absolutely amazing! This is the jewel of my collection… If I only had the room to display it!

Bill Ward, Designer, TopShelf Design
My choice for this year is Flat 2 Fast by Luki Labs. This toy is a simple, yet brilliant blend of creativity and engineering. It begins as flat designs that transform into aerodynamic vehicles, ready to race, jump or crash. The way it brings flat shapes to life as functional, high-speed toys is both innovative and exciting, offering kids an engaging way to explore motion and design… But it’s the play pattern of this toy that’s really exciting. It reminds me of my all-time favourite – the Evel Knievel Stunt Cycle – in that it offered open-ended play that gave never ending fun. With Flat 2 Fast, there’s always a new stunt or a new crash scenario to think up and try out! Luki Labs has created a truly inspiring toy that combines excitement, discovery, and hands-on play in a unique and memorable way.

Jason Exum, VP of Brands & Partnerships, Dyce Games
My favourite toy of the year is the Marvel Legends Death’s Head action figure from Hasbro, yes? (Death’s Head has an iconic idiosyncratic speech pattern – he frequently ends his statements with an inquisitive “Yes?”).

I have been wanting a 6″ scale version of this guy for what feels like an eternity, and this one delivers in spades with fantastic sculpting, plenty of articulation, iconic accessories and the coolest ‘chef’s kiss’ packaging which pays homage to a vintage 1991 trading card. Death’s Head originally appeared as a character in the UK-exclusive Transformers comics from the 1980s before moving into the Doctor Who universe for a minute – and then finally settling into the Marvel Universe. I love it when obscure characters get this much love – especially when it happens to be a character I’m obsessed with!

But if we’re talking about indie toy companies, then my toy of the year is undoubtedly the ROBOSKULL MKII from SKELETRON. This is a recreation/update/reimagining of the cult classic Roboskull vehicle released by legendary UK toy company Palitoy back in 1984. This new Roboskull toy is gorgeous andcan accommodate either 1:18 or 1:12 scale action figures. It’s simply a joy to behold and just begs you to pick it up and swoosh it around the room making “pew pew” sounds!

The team at SKELETRON launched this project back in October 2021 with a successful Kickstarter and have been hard at work on it ever since, involving backers in the process all along the way. The final product just started shipping to backers in late November, and the consensus among the collector community is that it is an instant classic. This thing is practically too cool to exist, but note that while the quality is off-the-charts, the price is squarely aimed at adult collectors.

As far as my game of the year – it’s Flip 7 from The Op. As a quick and easy game that you can break out anywhere and play with literally anyone, Flip 7 has fast become a go-to. It’s perfect for gaming conventions, before/between/after heavier games on game night, or for getting a crowd going at the local pub. That feeling of excitement and anticipation each round as everyone clenches while a new card is flipped… Delightful! I love press-your-luck games and this one is upper-echelon for sure. I guarantee other people you ask will include Flip 7 on their list too!

Or for something a little deeper, my pick is Harvest from Keymaster Games. Harvest features a charming, cozy, ‘cottagecore’ aesthetic with a tight, fast-playing medium-weight worker placement farming sim under the hood. It just ticks all the boxes and is my favourite worker placement game. The light, breezy, anthropomorphic animal vibe really gives it a much broader appeal than the standard stuffier themes of other worker placement games. This is a Keymaster game, so the fact that the components are all lovely and high-quality goes without saying… But I’ll say it anyway!

Finally, my favourite TTRPG Accessory of 2024 was the Big Box of Dungeon Doors from Loke Battle Mats. It’s exactly what it says on the tin – a big ‘ol box that’s chock full of 40 unique doors. They’re presented as clear plastic acrylic standees featuring detailed full-colour double-sided artwork by fantasy artist James Hayball. Need a ‘Vault Door’? How about a ‘Secret Bookshelf Door’? Or a ‘Mimic Door’? Maybe a ‘Portal to Another Dimension’? They’re all here, and many more. These are a perfect way to add instant ‘production value’ to any fantasy RPG session without having to spend time painting. These are also great for dungeon crawler board games like Descent and the all-time classic HeroQuest.

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