Best Games of 2016! – The Dice Tower Awards
The best board games, card games, dice games, family games, and party games of 2016 have now been awarded!
The Dice Tower just announced the winners of the Dice Tower Awards — the annual crowing of the best board games published.
With thousands of new games published each year, there’s never a shortage of great new board games to play.
Close to 100 top board game reviewers, podcasters, and industry contributors from around the world participated in the nomination and voting process.
Without further ado, here are The Dice Tower Award Winners for 2016:
Best Board Games of 2016
- Game Of The Year: Scythe
- Best Family Game: Ice Cool
- Best Strategy Game: Terraforming Mars
- Best Two Player Game: Star Wars Rebellion
- Best Cooperative Game: Mansions of Madness 2nd ed
- Best Party Game: Captain Sonar
- Best Game Theming: Captain Sonar
- Best Production: Mechs vs Minions
- Best Game Artwork: Scythe
- Best New Designer: Terraforming Mars
- Best Small Publisher: Roll Player
- Best Expansion: 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon
- Best Game Reprint: Mansions of Madness 2nd ed
- Most Innovative Game: Captain Sonar
Congratulations to all the winners!
There are only 3 games on this list of 14 winners I haven’t played. So I’ll add my two cents that all these games are very deserving of their awards.
I’m very excited to see that Scythe won as Best Board Game of the Year as well as Best Artwork! It’s a fantastic game and it got my vote for game of the year as well. I’ve written about it a number of times including my full review titled, “17 Things I Love About Scythe“.
The Best Family Game category was a tough one for me to vote on this year because I love all the games nominated. But Ice Cool also had my nod for the top spot. So I’m likewise very happy to see that it won.
I didn’t have many doubts that Star Wars Rebellion was going to win for Best 2-Player Game. It’s a full course meal of a game that takes a solid couple hours to play. But, oh is it worth it!
I’m also very happy to see that Mansions of Madness 2nd edition won for both Best Cooperative Board Game and Best Reprint. While I haven’t played the first version, our experiences with Mansions of Madness 2nd edition have been so fun. It’s a very immersive cooperative board game.
Mechs vs Minions wasn’t a surprise at all to win for Best Game Production — it’s absolutely fabulous.
The three games I haven’t yet played are Terraforming Mars, 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon, and Roll Player.
But from what I hear, Terraforming Mars is completely deserving for both Best Strategy Game and Best New Designer.
7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon is also on my “must play” list because we really enjoy 7 Wonders Duel. Hopefully we’ll get to play it soon.
The game that surprised me the most on this list is Captain Sonar. It’s not that it’s not a fun game, but I’m surprised it won 3 awards: Best Party Game, Best Theming, and Most Innovative. I’ll agree with it being very innovative and the theme is perfect for how the game plays. It’s also a very fun game to play. But I don’t consider it a party game at all. It’s a game that can play up to 8 players, but that’s also the limiting factor. It’s not as good with less than 8 and you can’t play with more than 8 either.
Codenames: Pictures was my top pick for Best Party Game of 2016. But I’m guessing that because the original Codenames won Best Party Game of the year in 2015, the new Pictures version (which we like even more) had an uphill battle for the win in 2016.
If you’re looking for great board games to play with your family and friends, this is a great list to go from. You can also check out The Dice Tower Award winners from years past:
2015 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Pandemic Legacy: Season 1
2014 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Dead of Winter: A Crossroads Game
2013 – Best Game of the Year Winner: Caverna: The Cave Farmers
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
