A few weeks in the past we introduced our nominees for our twelfth Annual Board Recreation Awards. As at all times, it was tough even selecting which video games to appoint. Since then, we’ve put our heads collectively, examined the video games, and provide you with a consensus.
Immediately, we’re excited to announce the winners of our 2024 Board Recreation Awards. As typical, the voting was troublesome, and a few classes have been extraordinarily tight. However our editorial workers (with enter from our readers) have made their picks. So, with out additional ado, listed below are the winners of our twelfth Annual Board Recreation Quest Awards. Congratulations to all of the winners and nominees.
Greatest Cooperative Recreation
Slay the Spire: The Board Recreation
Designers: Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, Casey Yano
Competition Video games
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It nearly seems like dishonest for Slay the Spire to be pretty much as good as it’s. It’s a board recreation primarily based on a digital card recreation that was implausible in its personal proper. However what may have been an affordable licensed tie-in ended up being a superb recreation that not solely stayed true to its roots but additionally managed to one-up it by including in cooperative play, which made all of the distinction. You don’t need to be a Slay the Spire fan to take pleasure in this recreation, however if you’re, it’s a near-perfect adaptation.
Runner Up: The Gang
Greatest Tactical/Fight Recreation
Star Trek: Into The Unknown – Federation vs. Dominion Core Set
Designer: Max Brooke, Michael Gernes
Wizkids Video games
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In a yr that had some high quality competitors within the realm of miniatures video games, Star Trek got here out on high with considered one of its latest entries. With “miniatures” of a scale and high quality not seen in earlier Star Trek video games, Into the Unknown pits the Federation in opposition to the Dominion with episodic primarily based misisons and goals. In true Star Trek style, fight just isn’t at all times the very best resolution, and exploration or diplomacy could also be the very best paths to victory. There are myriad choices for captains, crew, and upgrades, which outline the actions your ships can carry out. The principles are dense however make for an fascinating and thematic recreation when you’ve discovered them.
Runner Up: Primal: The Awakening
Most Progressive Recreation
Seaside
Designer: Bryan Burgoyne
Randolph
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With the elements of Seaside being a canvas bag and a handful of picket tiles, it has an ideal tactile really feel. Nevertheless it’s not simply the good bits that make this one work, the gameplay has an addictive press-your-luck loop that can have you ever drawing tiles making an attempt to make units for factors. It’s easy, accessible, and fairly entertaining. And writer Pandasaurus Video games introduced all of it collectively by making the all of the elements waterproof. I’ve performed this recreation on my gaming desk, whereas out with buddies, and even on the seaside with my children. General, it’s an ideal expertise. It’s good to have the ability to recreation just about anyplace with out having to fret about destroying your elements.
Runner Up: The Gang
Greatest Recreation Growth
Maintain the Heroes Out!: Boss Battles
Designer: Luís Brueh
Brueh Video games
A perennial favourite round BGQ HQ is Maintain the Heroes Out. This cooperative recreation has gamers taking over the function of monsters making an attempt to guard their dungeon from invading heroes. The brand new Boss Battles growth not solely provides a marketing campaign that permits you to unlock monsters and elements as you play but additionally provides a boss-battling section to the gameplay. All in all, it’s a superb growth for an already stellar recreation.
Runner Up: Unmatched: Slings and Arrows
Greatest Informal Recreation
Let’s Go to Japan
Designers: Josh Wooden
AEG
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Backstory: Josh Wooden and his girlfriend had a visit to Japan deliberate for April 2020. Evidently, that journey didn’t occur. As a substitute, Josh pivoted and developed a tremendous drafting recreation primarily based on planning a visit to Japan, and Let’s Go! to Japan was born. One to 4 gamers (5 with a Kickstarter Version) set up a six-day journey to Japan by drafting tarot-sized playing cards that embody your regular factors and scoring alternatives, in addition to lovely artwork and a proof of the exercise. The replay worth is unbelievable as a result of variety of distinctive playing cards and the scoring system of getting the final exercise of every day decide the way you rating that day. Followers of drafting video games ought to give Lets Go! To Japan a whirl!
Runner Up: Harmonies
Greatest Technique/Euro Recreation
SETI: Seek for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
Designer: Tomáš Holek
Czech Video games Version
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New designer Tomáš Holek burst onto the scene in 2024 with three video games: Tea Backyard, Galileo Galilei, and our Euro recreation of the yr, SETI: Seek for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. One to 4 gamers discover house, trying to find the titular Extraterrestrial Intelligence. What units this recreation aside from different Euro video games is the mix of distinctive, multi-use playing cards, a board that rotates across the solar, a good financial system, and 5 alien races (solely two of that are used every recreation) that add totally different scoring alternatives within the mid to late recreation. For those who like Euro video games, it is a no-brainer to at the least strive, if not purchase!
Runner Up: The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Center-earth
Greatest Card Recreation
Flip 7
Designer: Eric Olsen
The Op Video games
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One among our shock hits from Gen Con 2024, Flip 7 took the BGQ staff by storm. It’s an off-the-cuff card recreation the place gamers will press-their-luck making an attempt to attain factors with out busting. The easy gameplay of “would you like one other card” is elevated by the inclusion of a handful of particular playing cards that add to the choice house of the sport. Flip 7 is gentle, accessible, and could be loved by nearly anybody!
Runner Up: The Gang
Greatest Recreation from a Small Writer
Primal: The Awakening
Designers: Tommaso Mondadori, Alberto Parisi
Reggie Video games
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The second recreation from writer Reggie Video games was a behemoth. It may have been a catastrophe: a crowdfunded recreation with big minis and 4 expansions that funded earlier than the pandemic however was delivered late after the pandemic. Fortunately for avid gamers, Reggie Video games was in a position to ship their recreation with out having to compromise their imaginative and prescient. Primal: the Awakening is a cooperative boss battler for one to 4 gamers. Past superb manufacturing values (take a look at these minis), the card-driven combos, cooperative alternatives, and distinctive boss AI mechanics cemented this recreation in lots of high ten of 2024 lists. This is a wonderful boss battler that out Monster Hunters, even Monster Hunter!
Runner Up: Forges of Ravenshire
Greatest Household/Children Recreation
Star Realms Academy
Designer: Robert Dougherty, Darwin Kastle
Wacky Wizard Video games
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The deckbuilding style has been round since 2008 with the discharge of Dominion. Since then, there was no scarcity of deck-building video games to check out. Some of the fashionable of these is Star Realms. And 2024 introduced us Star Realms Academy, Wacky Wizard Video games’ try and take their tried-and-true formulation and make it accessible to the youthful technology. And it succeeded in spades. Eradicating any want for studying, the sport teaches younger gamers the fundamentals of the deck-building style, but nonetheless has sufficient occurring to maintain issues fascinating for older avid gamers. This one was a win for households.
Runner Up: Little Alchemists
Greatest Reprint/ Reimplementation
Heroscape: Grasp Set – Age of Annihilation
Designers: Matt Hyra, Dan Blanchett, Sarah Rowan
Renegade Video games
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With 2004’s launch of Heroscape from Hasbro, avid gamers had entry to a lightweight skirmish recreation with not solely an accessible ruleset however a tremendous desk presence. Since then, there have been no shortages of cries from avid gamers for Hasbro to convey again this beloved system. Their want was lastly granted in 2024 as Rengadege Video games Studios launched the Heroscape: Grasp Set – Age of Annihilation. Not solely is that this recreation backward-compatible with all pre-existing Heroscape content material, nevertheless it accommodates a wealth of recent figures to make use of. And with the choice for pre-painted and unpainted units, there’s something right here for each gamer’s choice.
Runner Up: Firefly: The Recreation – tenth Anniversary Collector’s Version
Recreation of the Yr
Leviathan Wilds
Designer: Justin Kemppainen
Moon Crab Video games
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The primary providing from new writer Moon Crab Video games ended up being a tremendous recreation. Leviathan Wilds duties gamers with working collectively to cease a rampaging monster. Nevertheless, this isn’t your common boss battler. As a substitute, you might be climbers who transfer across the beast, making an attempt to destroy the crystals which might be making the leviathan go loopy. You’ll must handle your grip, smash crystals, and work collectively to avoid wasting these large beasts from what’s afflicting them. It’s a contemporary tackle a style that each works rather well and is a ton of enjoyable to play!
Runner Up: Slay the Spire: The Board Recreation
Word: Per award guidelines, as a result of it gained Recreation of the Yr, Leviathan Wilds was faraway from consideration from different award classes.
