Best Board Games 2013 – Nominees are in!

Articles Board Games Card Games Cooperative Games Dice Games Family Games Game Reviews Kid Games 
best board games
Let’s hear it for the 2013 Best Board Game nominations!

What are the best board games and card games from 2013?

We don’t quite have that answer for you yet. But we do have the list of nominations.

The annual Dice Tower Awards recognize the best board games published every year and it’s about that time again. While the award winners won’t be announced until the summer, we’re happy to share the list of nominees for 2013.

With more than 3,000 new board games published last year, finding the best is a tough job for sure. (But not one that reviewers from all over the world shy away from.)

best board game 2013
Russian Railroads has received many positive reviews.

Without further ado, here’s the list of nominations for Best Board Games of 2013.

Game of the Year:

Forbidden Desert board game
Forbidden Desert is a great family board game.

Best Family Game Nominees:

Best Strategy Game Nominees:

Best Two-Player Game Nominees:

best board games 2013
Freedom is a very thematic and good cooperative board game.

Best Cooperative Game Nominees:

Best Party Game Nominees:

Best Game Expansion Nominees:

best board game 2013
Ready for a fun auction game?

Most Innovative Game Nominees:

Best Game Reprint Nominees:

best board game 2013
Can you really beat destructive monsters terrorizing a meeple city?

Best Game Theming Nominees:

Best Board Game Components Nominees:

Best Game Artwork Nominees:

best board games 2013
Ready to set of on an expedition?

Best New Game Designer Nominees: (for any designer’s first or second published game)

Best Small Publisher Nominees: (five or less published board games)

As you can see, there are a number of board games that show up in multiple categories. Out of 14 categories, the ones that show up the most are:

While we haven’t yet played most of the games on these lists, we’re familiar with most of them. And we’ll give it our best shot to play as many as possible to vote on the categories where we can.

The final judging won’t take place until mid-summer since that will give judges more time to play the nominated games for final judgement.

We also know that truly judging the merits of a board games takes time. Some games may be good initially, but will fade when the shiny “hotness” wears off. That’s why we also like to take a look at winners from years past and see if those games are still considered great board games.

Check out the top board games from years past:
2012 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Star Wars: X-wing Miniatures Game
2011 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Eclipse
2010 – Best Game of the Year Winner: 7 Wonders
2009 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Smallworld
2008 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Dominion
2007 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Race for the Galaxy




2 thoughts on “Best Board Games 2013 – Nominees are in!”

  • Oh yes, nomination lists. I love board game nomination lists.

    Here’s my predictions (have only played some of them but just my feeling based on hype, reviews, etc.). GotY- Caverna. Family- Rampage. Strategy- Caverna. 2 Player- Battlelore. Coop- Pathfinder. Party- Going, going, gone! Expansion- Waterdeep. Innovative- Freedom. Reprint- Ogre. Theme- Eldrich Horror. Components- Kemet. Art- (not sure). New Designer- Nations. Small publisher- 8 Minute Empire.

    I personally would pick most of the other nominees over Caverna for GotY, but Caverna has gotten so much popularity and good ratings it almost seems inevitable. Of course I was surprised last year with X-Wing, so maybe a different one will be picked.

    Of all the games that I’ve played on any of the lists I think Rampage is probably my favorite (unless you count Legendary with the Dark City expansion). Of the ones that I haven’t played it’s a toss up between Pathfinder and Freedom for the games I most want to play.

    There were a few surprises for me in the lists. 1. Rampage was nominated as a party game!? Apparently I have a stricter definition of party game. 2. Kemet wasn’t nominated for GotY when it showed up elsewhere. 3. Even more surprising than Kemet is BattleCon: Devastation of Indines. I consider this the best game published in 2013 and it’s not on any of the lists. It’s particularly surprising because Pixel Tactics 2 showed up and it’s the same designer/publisher.

    Reply

    • Aaron – I think you’re going to come up with a high percentage on picking the winners. Great choices. We have Freedom on our “to review” stack for May. I haven’t played BattleCon: Devastation of Indines, but with your plug for it, will have to put it on my ‘to play’ list.

      Reply

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