2024 was one of the better years for board games in recent memory, with nearly a dozen new and recent releases hitting our top list (of all time) in the recent Top 100 rundown. For that reason, it was harder than ever to choose the best games for this year’s categories, but we did it!
Here are the nominees, along with the Listeners’ Choice selections for the best board games of 2024.
The nominees are:
Best Digital Implementation
Mindbug, Clank!, Cascadia, Ark Nova
Listener’s Choice – Mindbug
Best Family Game
Little Alchemists, Harmonies, Cities, Rebel Princess, Nekojima
Listener’s Choice – Harmonies
Best Strategy Game
Slay the Spire: The Board Game, Arcs, Andromeda’s Edge, SETI, Unconscious Mind, Windmill Valley
Listener’s Choice – SETI
Best Overlooked Gem
Windmill Valley, Sankore: The Pride of Mansa Musa, Creature Caravan, Defenders of the Wild
Listener’s Choices – Wondrous Creatures, Railways of the Lost Atlas, Castle Combo, Forges of Ravenshire, Cubes of Europe
Best Crowdfunding Campaign
Luthier, Galactic Cruise, HUANG, Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere RPG, World Order
Listener’s Choice – Luthier
Best Cooperative Game
Slay the Spire: the Board Game, The Gang, Marvel United: Multiverse, Bomb Busters
Listener’s Choice – The Gang
Best 2.0 Release
Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth, Endeavor Deep Sea, Wyrmspan, Andromeda’s Edge
Listener’s Choice – The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth
Best Solo Game
I, Napoleon, Slay the Spire, Harmonies, Paperback: 10th Anniversary Edition, Rome: Fate of an Empire
Listener’s Choice – Slay the Spire
Best Expansion
Gaia Project: The Lost Fleet, Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory—Crisis Control, Arcs: The Blighted Reach, Obsession: Characters Expansion, Barcelona: Passeig de Gracia, Unconscious Mind: Nightmares, War of the Ring: The Card Game – Fire and Swords
Listener’s Choice – Gaia Project: The Lost Fleet
Game of the Year
Arcs, Slay the Spire: The Board Game, The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-Earth, SETI, Star Wars: Unlimited, Dune War for Arrakis, Andromeda’s Edge, Sankore: The Pride of Mansa Musa, Unconscious Mind
Listener’s Choice – SETI: The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Life
Game of the Year:
Listen to the full Awards Ceremony on Episode 508 of the podcast here or view the winners below:
Best Digital Implementation: Cascadia (Direwolf Digital)
Best Family Game: Cities (Devir)
Best Strategy Game: SETI (CGE)
Best Overlooked Gem: Windmill Valley (Board&Dice)
Best Kickstarter: Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere RPG (Brotherwise Games)
Best Cooperative Game: Slay the Spire (Contention Games)
Best 2.0 Release: Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle Earth (Repos Production)
Best Solo Game: I, Napoleon (GMT Games)
Best Expansion: Unconscious Mind: Nightmares (Fantasia Games)
Game of the Year: Andromeda’s Edge (Cardboard Alchemy
