List of Game of the Year awards (board games)

Game of the Year (abbreviated GotY) is a title awarded by various magazines, websites, and shows to a deserving game. Many publications award a single "Game of the Year" to a single title that they feel represents the pinnacle of gaming achievement that year.

Organizations

Organizations and publications who award board Game of the Years include:

• Games (magazine)
• Golden Geek Award
• Spiel des Jahres
  • Kennerspiel des Jahres
  • Kinderspiel des Jahres
• Deutscher Spiele Preis
• As d'Or / Golden Ace
• Mensa

Awards

Games magazine

The winners of the Games (magazine) Game of the Year are chosen by Games editors:^[1]

Year	Game of the Year	Designer(s)	Publisher
2014	Garden Dice/The Card Expansion	Doug Bass	Meridae Games
2013	Trajan	Stefan Feld	Ammonit Spiele
2012	Tikal II: The Lost Temple	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Asmodée Editions
2011	Jump Gate	Matt Worden	Matt Worden Games
2010	Small World	Philippe Keyaerts	Days of Wonder
2009	Tzaar	Kris Burm	Rio Grande Games
2008	Pillars of the Earth	Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler	Mayfair Games
2007[2]	Vegas Showdown	Henry Stern	Avalon Hill
2006[3]	Australia	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Rio Grande Games
2005[4]	BuyWord	Sid Sackson	Face2Face Games
2004[5]	New England	Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum	Überplay
2003[6]	DVONN	Kris Burm	Rio Grande
2002	Evo	Philippe Keyaerts	Eurogames-Descartes USA
2001	Aladdin's Dragons	Richard Breese	Rio Grande
2000[7]	Torres	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Rio Grande
1999[8]	Fossil	Klaus Palesch	Rio Grande
1998[8]	Quoridor	Mirko Marchesi	Great American Trading Co.
1997[9]	25 Words or Less		Winning Moves
1995[10]	Sharp Shooters		Milton Bradley
1994[10]	Myst	Robyn Miller and Rand Miller	Broderbund
1993[10]	Inklings		Mattel
1992[10]	Pipeline		Playco Hawaii
1991[10]	Trumpet		International Games

Golden Geek Award

The BoardGameGeek Golden Geek Award was originally presented at the BGG.CON event in November, but is currently announced annually in March. The winners of the Golden Geek are selected by the nomination and voting of the user community of BoardGameGeek.com website.

Year	Winner	Designer(s)	Publisher
2015	Pandemic Legacy	Matt Leacock, Rob Daviau	Z-Man Games
2014	Splendor	Marc André	Space Cowboys
2013	Terra Mystica	Helge Ostertag, Jens Drögemüller	Feuerland Spiele
2012	Eclipse	Touko Tahkokallio	Lautapelit.fi
2011	Dominant Species	Chad Jensen	GMT Games
2010	Hansa Teutonica	Andreas Steding	Argentum Verlag
2009	Dominion	Donald X. Vaccarino	Rio Grande Games
2008	Agricola	Uwe Rosenberg	Lookout Games
2007	Shogun	Dirk Henn	Queen Games
2006	Caylus	William Attia	Ẏstari Games

Spiel des Jahres

These are winners of Spiel des Jahres, the German board game award.

Year	Winner	Designer	Publisher
2015	Colt Express	Christophe Raimbault	Ludonaute
2014	Camel Up	Steffen Bogen	Eggertspiele
2013	Hanabi	Antoine Bauza	Asmodée Éditions
2012	Kingdom Builder	Donald X. Vaccarino	Queen Games
2011	Qwirkle	Susan McKinley Ross	Mindware
2010	Dixit	Jean-Louis Roubira	Libellud
2009	Dominion	Donald X. Vaccarino	Rio Grande Games
2008	Keltis	Reiner Knizia	Kosmos
2007	Zooloretto	Michael Schacht	Abacus Spiele
2006	Thurn and Taxis	Andreas Seyfarth and Karen Seyfarth	Hans im Glück
2005	Niagara	Thomas Liesching	Zoch Verlag
2004	Ticket to Ride	Alan R. Moon	Days of Wonder
2003	Alhambra	Dirk Henn	Queen Games
2002	Villa Paletti	Bill Payne	Zoch Verlag
2001	Carcassonne	Klaus-Jürgen Wrede	Hans im Glück
2000	Torres	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Ravensburger
1999	Tikal	Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling	Ravensburger
1998	Elfenland	Alan R. Moon	Amigo Spiele
1997	Mississippi Queen	Werner Hodel	Goldsieber
1996	El Grande	Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich	Hans im Glück
1995	The Settlers of Catan	Klaus Teuber	Kosmos
1994	Manhattan	Andreas Seyfarth	Hans im Glück
1993	Call My Bluff	Richard Borg	F.X. Schmid
1992	Um Reifenbreite	Rob Bontenbal	Jumbo
1991	Drunter und Drüber	Klaus Teuber	Hans im Glück
1990	Hoity Toity	Klaus Teuber	F.X. Schmid
1989	Café International	Rudi Hoffmann	Mattel
1988	Barbarossa	Klaus Teuber	Altenburger und Stralsunder
1987	Auf Achse	Wolfgang Kramer	F.X. Schmid
1986	Top Secret Spies	Wolfgang Kramer	Ravensburger
1985	Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective	Raymond Edwards, Suzanne Goldberg and Gary Grady	Kosmos
1984	Railway Rivals	David Watts	Schmidt Spiele
1983	Scotland Yard	Werner Schlegel, Dorothy Garrels, Fritz Ifland, Manfred Burggraf, Werner Scheerer and Wolf Hoermann	Ravensburger
1982	Enchanted Forest	Alex Randolph and Michel Matschoss	Ravensburger
1981	Focus	Sid Sackson	Parker
1980	Rummikub	Ephraim Hertzano	Intelli
1979	Hare and Tortoise	David Parlett	Ravensburger

Kennerspiel des Jahres

These are winners of Kennerspiel des Jahres, a part of the German Spiel des Jahres board game award.

Year	Winner	Designer(s)	Publisher
2014	Istanbul	Rüdiger Dorn	Pegasus Spiele
2013	Legends of Andor	Michael Menzel	Fantasy Flight Games
2012	Village	Inka Brand and Markus Brand	Pegasus Spiele
2011	7 Wonders	Antoine Bauza	Repos Production

Kinderspiel des Jahres

The Kinderspiel des Jahres is awarded every year to the best children's game by a jury of German game critics. This award is to children's games what the Spiel des Jahres is to family games.

2001 was the first year that the Kinderspiel des Jahres was officially awarded. Prior to that year, it was the Sonderpreis "Kinderspiel" (Special Prize for Best Children's Game). Since the intent behind both awards is the same, it is customary to refer to the 1989 - 2000 Sonderpreis winners as having won the Kinderspiel des Jahres.

Year	Winner	Designer(s)	Publisher
2014	Geister, Geister, Schatzsuchmeister!	Brian Yu	--
2013	Der verzauberte Turm	Inka Brand & Markus Brand	--
2012	Schnappt Hubi!	Steffen Bogen	--
2011	Da ist der Wurm drin	Carmen Kleinert	--
2010	Diego Drachenzahn	Manfred Ludwig	--
2009	Das magische Labyrinth	Dirk Baumann	--
2008	Wer war's?	Reiner Knizia	--
2007	Beppo der Bock	Klaus Zoch & Peter Schackert	--
2006	Der schwarze Pirat	Guido Hoffmann	--
2005	Das Kleine Gespenst	Kai Haferkamp	--
2004	Spooky Stairs	Michelle Schanen	--
2003	Viva Topo!	Manfred Ludwig	--
2002	Maskenball der Käfer	Peter-Paul Joopen	--
2001	Klondike	Stefanie Rohner and Christian Wolf	--
2000	Arbos	Martin Arnold and Armin Müller	--
1999	Kayanak	Peter-Paul Joopen	--
1998	Chicken Cha Cha Cha	Klaus Zoch	--
1997	Leinen los!	Alex Randolph	--
1996	Vier zu mir!	Heike Baum	--
1995	Karambolage	Heinz Meister	--
1994	Loopin' Louie	Carol Wiseley	--
1993	Ringel-Rangel	Geni Wyss	--
1992	Galloping Pigs	Heinz Meister	--
1991	Piraten-Abenteuer	Wolfgang Kramer	--
1990	My Haunted Castle	Virginia Charves	--
1989	Gute Freunde	Alex Randolph	--

Deutscher Spiele Preis

The Deutscher Spielepreis (German for German Game Prize) is an important award for boardgames. It was started in 1990 by the German magazine "Die Pöppel-Revue", which collects votes from the industry's stores, magazines, professionals and game clubs. The results are announced every October at the Spiel game fair in Essen, Germany. The Essen Feather is awarded at the same ceremony.

Year	Winner	Designer(s)	Publisher
2014	Russian Railroads	Helmut Ohley, Leonhard "Lonny" Orgler	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
2013	Terra Mystica	Jens Drögemüller, Helge Ostertag	Feuerland Spiele
2012	Village	Inka Brand, Markus Brand	Pegasus Spiele
2011	7 Wonders	Antoine Bauza	Repos Production
2010	Fresco	Marcel Süßelbeck, Marco Ruskowski, Wolfgang Panning	Queen Games
2009	Dominion	Donald X. Vaccarino	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
2008	Agricola	Uwe Rosenberg	Lookout Games
2007	The Pillars of the Earth	Michael Rieneck, Stefan Stadler	Kosmos
2006	Caylus	William Attia	Ystari Games
2005	Louis XIV	Rüdiger Dorn	Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH
2004	Saint Petersburg	Bernd Brunnhofer	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
2003	Amun Re	Reiner Knizia	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
2002	Puerto Rico	Andreas Seyfarth	Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH
2001	Carcassonne	Klaus-Jürgen Wrede	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
2000	Taj Mahal	Reiner Knizia	alea
1999	Tikal	Michael Kiesling, Wolfgang Kramer	Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH
1998	Tigris & Euphrates	Reiner Knizia	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
1997	Löwenherz	Klaus Teuber	Goldsieber Spiele
1996	El Grande	Richard Ulrich, Wolfgang Kramer	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
1995	The Settlers of Catan	Klaus Teuber	Franckh
1994	Take 6!	Wolfgang Kramer	AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH
1993	Modern Art	Reiner Knizia	Hans im Glück Verlags-GmbH
1992	Flying Dutchman	Klaus Teuber	Parker Brothers
1991	Master Labyrinth	Max J. Kobbert	Ravensburger Spieleverlag GmbH
1990	Hoity Toity	Klaus Teuber	F.X. Schmid

Mensa Select

These are winners of Mensa Select Award, for the five best board games of the year submitted to Mensa Mind Games

Year	Winner	Designer(s)	Publisher
2014	Euphoria	Jamie Stegmaier	Stonemaier Games
2014	Gravwell: Escape from the 9th Dimension	Corey Young	Cryptozoic Entertainment
2014	Pyramix	Tim Roediger	Gamewright
2014	Qwixx	Steffen Benndorf	Gamewright
2014	The Duke	Jeremy Holcomb	Catalyst Game Labs
2013	Forbidden Desert	Matt Leacock	Gamewright
2013	Ghooost!	Richard Garfield	Iello
2013	Kerflip	Damon Tabb	Creative Foundry Games
2013	Kulami	Andreas Kuhnekath	Foxmind Games
2013	Suburbia	Ted Alspach	Bezier Games
2012	Coerceo	Erik Gortzen	Coerceo Company
2012	Iota	Gene Mackles	Iota
2012	Mine Shift	John Forte, Jr	Mindware
2012	Snake Oil	Jeff Ochs	Snake Oil, LLC
2012	Tetris Link	(Uncredited)	TechnoSource
2011	Instructures	Jane Mathews	Jane's Games
2011	Pastiche	Sean D MacDonald	Gryphon Games
2011	Pirate vs Pirate	Max Winter Osterhaus	Out of the Box
2011	Stomple	Greg Zima	GaZima Games
2011	Uncle Chestnut's Table Gype	Paul E Nowak and Christopher Nowak	Eternal Revolution
2010	Anomia	Andrew Innes	Anomia Press
2010	Dizios	Nicholas Cravotta	MindWare
2010	Forbidden Island	Matt Leacock	Gamewright
2010	Word on the Street	Jack Degnan	Out of the Box
2010	Yikerz!	(Uncredited)	Wiggles 3D Incorporated
2009	Cornerstone	Matt Mette	Good Company Games
2009	Dominion	Donald X Vaccarino	Rio Grande Games
2009	Marrakesh	Dominique Ehrhard	Fundex
2009	Stratum	Jose' L Navas	Family Games America, Inc
2009	Tic-Tac-Ku	Mark Asperheim and Cris Van Oosterum	Mad Cave Bird Games
2008	AmuseAmaze	Ethan Goffman	HL Games
2008	Eye Know	Paul Berton and George Sinclair	Wiggles 3D Inc
2008	Jumbulaya	Julie Archer and Karl Archer	Platypus Games
2008	Pixel	Ariel Laden	Educational Insights
2008	Tiki Topple	Keith Meyers	Gamewright
2007	Gemlok	Donald Meyer	Pywacket Games
2007	Gheos	Rene' Wiersma	Z-Man Games
2007	Hit or Miss	Garrett J Donner, Brian S Spence, and Michael S Steer	Gamewright
2007	Qwirkle	Susan McKinley Ross	MindWare
2007	Skullduggery	K Allegra Vernon	Outset Media Games
2006	Deflexion (aka Khet)	Luke Hooper, Michael Larson, and Del Segura	Deflexion
2006	Hive	John Yianni	Smart Zone Games
2006	Keesdrow	Donald Meyer	Pywacket
2006	Pentago	Tomas Floden	Mindtwister USA
2006	Wits & Wagers	Dominic Crapuchettes	North Star Games
2005	DaVinci's Challenge	Paul Micarelli	Briarpatch
2005	Ingenious	Reiner Knizia	Fantasy Flight Games
2005	Loot	Reiner Knizia	Gamewright
2005	Niagara	Thomas Liesching	Rio Grande Games
2005	Zendo	Kory Heath	Looney Labs
2004	10 Days in Africa/USA	Alan Moon and Aaron Weissblum	Out of the Box
2004	Basari	Reinhard Staupe	Out of the Box
2004	The Bridges of Shangri-La	Leo Colovini	Uberplay Entertainment
2004	Rumis	Stefan Kogl	Educational Insights
2004	Yinsh	Kris Burm	Rio Grande Games
2003	Blokus	Bernard Tavitian	Educational Insights
2003	Cityscape	Sjaak Griffioen	Out of the Box
2003	Fire & Ice	Jens-Peter Schliemann	Out of the Box
2003	Octiles	Dale Walton	Out of the Box
2003	Transamerica	Franz-Benno Delonge	Rio Grande Games
2002	Curses!	Brian Tinsman	Play All Day Games
2002	Dvonn	Kris Burm	Rio Grande Games
2002	The Legend of Landlock	Edith Schlichting	Gamewright
2002	Muggins!	(Uncredited)	Muggins Math
2002	Smart Mouth	Theo Coster, Ora Coster, and Theora Design	Binary Arts
2001	Brainstrain	DJ Calhoun	Chuckle Games Company
2001	Dao	Jeff Pickering and Ben VanBuskirk	Playdao.com
2001	Metro	Dirk Henn	Queen Games
2001	Shapes Up!	(Uncredited)	Educational Insights
2001	The Poll Game	Eric Martin and Jeff Snow	Thepollgame, LLC
2000	3 Stones	Andy Daniel	Enginuity Games
2000	Finish Lines	Joan Moravick	Games For All Reasons
2000	Imaginiff	Jack Lawson and Andrew Lawson	Buffalo Games
2000	Time's Up!	Peter Sarrett	R&R Games
2000	Zertz	Kris Burm	Schmidt International/Rio Grande Games
1999	Apples to Apples	Matthew Kirby	Out of the Box
1999	Bollox (Boku)	Rob Nelson	Cadaco
1999	Doubles Wild	Andy Daniel	Enginuity Games
1999	Fluxx	Andrew Looney	Looney Labs
1999	Quiddler	Marsha Falco	Set Enterprises
1998	Avalam	Philippe Deweys	Great American Trading Company
1998	Cube Checkers	Gillespie and Rolling	DCP Limited
1998	Kram	Mark Blazczyk	Du Botting Originals
1998	Spy Alley	William Stephenson	Spy Alley Partners
1998	Wadjet	Dee Pomerleau	Timbuk II
1997	Hattrick!	Björn Holmér	US Games Systems
1997	Quoridor	Mirko Marchesi	Great American Trading Company
1997	Rush Hour	Nob Yoshigahara	Think Fun (Binary Arts)
1997	Sagarian	Jason Yearout	Sagarian
1997	Stops	Don Kimball	Stops
1996	Pirateer	Scott Peterson	Mendocino Game Company
1996	Quadwrangle	Maureen Hiron	Great American Trading Company
1996	Rat-a-Tat Cat	Ann and Monty Stambler	Gamewright
1996	Take 6	Wolfgang Kramer	US Games Systems
1996	Touche'	Wayne Bobette	Wayne Bobette Enterprises
1995	Continuo	Maureen Hiron	US Games Systems
1995	Duo	Maureen Hiron	US Games Systems
1995	Quixo	Thierry Chapeau	Great American Trading Company
1995	The Great Dalmuti	Richard Garfield	Wizards of the Coast
1995	Word Spin Scramble		Geospace Products Co, Inc
1994	Char	Frank Bechter	Bechter Productions, Inc.
1994	Chung Toi	W. Reginald Chung	House of Chung Enterprises
1994	Down Fall		Western Publishing, Inc.
1994	Magic, The Gathering	Richard Garfield	Wizards of the Coast
1994	Pyraos (aka Pylos)	David G. Royffe	Great American Trading Co.
1993	Farook	Stewart M. Lamle	Amuse, Inc..
1993	Inklings		Mattel
1993	Overturn	Ron and Pat Dubren	Pressman
1993	Quadrature	Mark Steere	Mark Steere Games
1993	Quarto!	Blaise Muller	Gigamic
1992	Kinesis	Adam Byer	Cherry Street Games
1992	Q4		Abalone Games Corp
1992	Terrace	Anton Dresden	Siler/Siler Ventures
1992	Traverse	Michael Kuby, John Miller	Educational Insights
1992	Why Not?	Herman Erikson	Our Game Company
1991	Clue: The Great Museum Caper	John Labelle, Thomas and Dave Rabideau	Parker Brothers
1991	Lapis		Pango, Inc
1991	Master Labyrinth	Max J. Kobbert	International Playthings
1991	Pyramis	Murray J. Gould, James R. Longacre	Abalone Games Corp
1991	Set	Marsha J. Falco	Set Enterprises
1990	Abalone	Michael Lalet, Laurent Levi	Abalone Games Corp
1990	Scattergories		Milton Bradley
1990	Taboo	Brian Hersch	Milton Bradley
1990	Tribond	Ed Muccini, Tim Walsh, Dave Yearick	Big Fun A Go-Go
1990	Trivial Pursuit, Genus Edition	Scott Abbot, Chris Haney	Parker Brothers

As d'Or / Golden Ace

These are winners of As d'Or Award, for the best board games of the year submitted at the Cannes International Game Festival

Year	Category	Winner	Designer(s)	Publisher
2015	As d'Or Jeu de l'année	Colt Express	Christophe Raimbault	Ludonaute
2015	As d'Or Jeu de l'année Grand Prix	Five Tribes	Bruno Cathala	Days of Wonder
2015	As d'Or Jeu de l'année Enfant	La Chasse aux Gigamons	Karim Aouidad, Johann Roussel	Elemon Games
2015	As d'Or Jeu de l'année Prix du Jury	Loony Quest	Laurent Escoffier, David Franck	Libellud
To be continued

References

1. "Games Magazine". Gamesmagazine-online.com. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
2. "2007 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 30 (226) (GAMES Publications). December 2006. pp. 35–49.
3. "2006 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 29 (216) (GAMES Publications). December 2005. pp. 35–47.
4. "2005 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 28 (206) (GAMES Publications). December 2004. pp. 33–48.
5. "2004 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 27 (196) (GAMES Publications). December 2003. pp. 35–48.
6. "2003 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 26 (186) (GAMES Publications). December 2002. pp. 33–64.
7. "2000 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 23 (157) (GAMES Publications). December 1999. pp. 31–46.
8. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Games_100 Games 100
9. "1997 Buyer's Guide To Games". Games 20 (136) (GAMES Publications). December 1996. pp. 31–44.
10. "Games 100". Boardgamegeek.com. Retrieved 31 July 2012.