What’s the best board game of 2009?
With hundreds of new board and card games coming out each year, how can one be crowned as the “Best Game of the Year”?
Good question.
No matter what the topic is, we’re always trying to determine “the best” – best movie, best tv show, best restaurant, best ski resort, etc. And like with everything else, everyone has their opinion. So it’s no surprise that when it comes to the hundreds of games released in 2009, there’s going to be hundreds of opinions.
So you also shouldn’t be surprised to know that there are groups that have awards for board games and card games. And in a similar manner to movie and tv awards, the voting comes from those that are heavily involved in the industry.
Perhaps the most well-known international game award in the game industry is the Spiel des Jahres. On Wikipedia it states that a Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500-3000 copies to around 10,000; and the winner can usually expect to sell 300,000 to 500,000 copies. But the downside to the Spiel des Jahres is that it narrows the list to just one game as THE winner and a number of finalists.
If you’re reading this on our website, then you’re already aware that we’ve got our opinion as well. We’ve been posting our video reviews of board games and card games that we love to play as a family for about 6 months now. And even though we’ve posted reviews for 45 games so far, there are still plenty of games on our shelves that we love to play that we haven’t filmed reviews for yet. And there’s also plenty more coming out all the time that we’re anxious to play.
Only 1?
We think the toughest part of choosing a “best game of the year” is that there are so many different types of games that it really depends on what you’re after – a 2 player head-to-head game, a party game, a fast-paced light game, a deep strategy game, and the list goes on and on. So selecting just 1 best game, won’t cut it.
The latest game awards announcement is from The Dice Tower. The Dice Tower has just posted the nominations for The Dice Tower Gaming Awards for 2009. We like The Dice Tower Awards because they don’t just limit the pool of games to only 1 overall Best Game of the Year. Instead, games of the year awards are grouped by category. So you can get a better idea of what you might like based on the category you’re interested in.
The Dice Tower Gaming Awards categories are:
- Best Game of the Year
- Best Family Game (category we love)
- Best Game Designer
- Best Game Reprint
- Best Production Values
- Best Small Publisher
- Best Party Game
- Best Game Expansion
- Most Innovative Game
- Best Game Artwork
- Best War Games
Check out the board games that made The Dice Tower Gaming Awards nominations list for best games of 2009.
Another reason we like The Dice Tower Gaming Awards is that we’re part of the panel of judges this year. And what that means for us now that the nominations are released is that we’ve got a number of games we need to start playing before final voting.
Board games that made the nominations list that we’ve already done reviews for are:
For those that haven’t heard of The Dice Tower – this is a great resource for game reviews. We mentioned The Dice Tower a few weeks ago among the list of game podcasts that we enjoy. But The Dice Tower is a lot more than that. For starters, the host Tom Vasel has probably done the most board game video reviews of anyone on the planet. So if you’re looking for a source for reviews from someone who has played most everything – check it out.
If you’re interested in other game awards, check these out:
BoardGameGeek Awards
Spiel des Jahres
GAMES Magazine
Mensa Mind Games
