The 17th Annual Golden Geek Awards hosted by BoardGameGeek have finally reached their conclusion, with hundreds of hopefuls and dozens of winners. This year’s edition of the event distinguished a number of brilliant games across 13 game categories, and one category for best podcast and digital implementation of board game design each.
The upshot is that Splendor Duel is once again voted as the best 2-player game of the year, followed by the runner-ups Wingspan Asia and Undaunted Stalingrad. Turing Machine, a close personal of ours by designers Fabien Gridel and Yoann Levet and publisher Scorpion Masqué won in Best Solo Game and ended up a runner-up in Innovative.
Blood on the Clocktower by The Pandemonium Institute, a massive game for 5-20 players, ended up nominated across five categories, but only snatched a prize in the Party Game category where it was one of the runner-ups.
Then there is Heat: Pedal to the Metal, a game that not only won multiple nominations, but also managed to place itself in the top three spots in fittingly three categories.
And so, this Days of Wonder gem designed by Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen ended up as the runner-up in Innovative, the winner in Medium GOTY and the winner in Thematic, leaving this year’s Golden Geek Awards with two titles under its belt.
Another personal favorite of ours, Wonderland’s War by Druid City Games and designer trio Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, and Ian Moss ended up as the runner-up in Medium GOTY, Thematic Game, and Artwork Presentation. Well deserved if you ask us.
Another noteworthy entry was Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition by Hobby Japan which won in Innovative and Light GOTY. Flamecraft by Cardboard Alchemy won in Artwork Presentation and ended up as runner-up in Medium GOTY.
In Party Game, we noticed that one of the runner-ups and the winner were game based on betting, including Ready Set Bet by Alderac Entertainment and Long Shot by Perplext. Resist! by Salt and Pepper Games and one of our absolute favorites was a runner-up in the Solo Game and Wargame categories, so strong showing, nevertheless.
Dire Wolf Digital almost single-handedly conquered the Expansion category with Dune Imperium – Rise of Ix winning the category and Dune: Imperium – Immortality ending up as one of the runner-ups.
Everdell by Dire Wolf Digital also won the Best Board Game App category, and This Game Is Broken won the title in Best Podcast.
This year’s awards were fun and full of surprise, and while we could have seen a few more titles making the runner-up slots, we feel the process was fair and somewhat properly reflected the achievements of designers and publishers.
2-Player Game
Winner: Splendor Duel (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Wingspan Asia (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Undaunted: Stalingrad (Buy on Amazon US)
Artwork Presentation
Winner: Flamecraft (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Everdell: The Complete Collection (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Wonderland’s War (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Cooperative Game
Winner: Return to Dark Tower (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: ISS Vanguard (Buy on Amazon US)
Expansion
Winner: Dune: Imperium – Rise of Ix (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Wingspan Asia (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Dune: Imperium – Immortality (Buy on Amazon US)
Innovative
Winner: Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Turing Machine (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Heat: Pedal to the Metal (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Light GOTY
Winner: Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Splendor Duel (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Long Shot: The Dice Game (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Medium GOTY
Winner: Heat: Pedal to the Metal (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Wonderland’s War (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Flamecraft (Buy on Amazon US)
Heavy GOTY
Winner: Carnegie (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Endless Winter: Paleoamericans (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: John Company: Second Edition (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Party Game
Winner: Ready Set Bet (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Long Shot: The Dice Game (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Blood on the Clocktower (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Print Play
Winner: Aquamarine (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Woodcraft: Roll and Write (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: A Wayfarer’s Tale (Buy on Amazon US)
Solo Game
Winner: Turing Machine (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Resist! (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Nemo’s War: The Ultimate Edition (Buy on Amazon US)
Thematic Game
Winner: Heat: Pedal to the Metal (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Wonderland’s War (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Runner-up: John Company: Second Edition (Currently unavailable on Amazon US)
Wargame
Winner: Undaunted: Stalingrad (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Resist! (Buy on Amazon US)
Runner-up: Votes for Women (Buy on Amazon US)
Best Podcast
Winner: This Game Is Broken
Runner-up: Beyond Solitaire
Runner-up: One Stop Co-Op Shop
Best Board Game App
Winner: Everdell
Runner-up: Hero Realms
Runner-up: Roll Player