Best Board Games of 2011 – Nominees announced!

It’s that time of year again – time for the annual Dice Tower Awards!
Well, actually it’s time for the game nominations to be announced.

This week, The Dice Tower Network announced the nominations for the Dice Tower Gaming Awards for 2011. A committee made up of over 40 prominent board game podcasters and bloggers has come up with the lists of the best games released in the year 2011.

This year, it was decided to increase the nomination slate for Game of the Year to 10 games rather than five. They’ve also added two new categories: Best Digital Board Games – for board games translated to iOS devices or computers, and a Best Game Theme category – in which games are recognized for having unique, refreshing themes or portraying their theme well.

The winners will be announced the first week of July – after more game playing and comparisons can be made from repeated plays to judge which are really the Best of the Best.

Here’s this year’s list of nominations in the 13 categories, along with designer and English publisher.

Game of the Year Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
A Few Acres of Snow	Martin Wallace	Treefrog Games
The Ares Project	Brian and Geoff Engelstein	Z-Man Games
The Castles of Burgundy	Stefan Feld	Ravensburger
Eclipse	Touko Tahkokallio	Asmodee
King of Tokyo	Richard Garfield	IELLO
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game	Nate French	Fantasy Flight Games
Mage Knight Board Game	Vlaada Chvatil	WizKids
Quarriors!	Mike Elliott and Eric M. Lang	Wizkids
Risk Legacy	Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis	Hasbro
Star Trek: Fleet Captains	Mike Elliott, Bryan Kinsella, and Ethan Pasternack	WizKids

Best Family Game Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Flash Point: Fire Rescue	Kevin Lanzing	Indie Boards and Cards
Kingdom Builder	Donald X. Vaccarino	Queen Games
King of Tokyo	Richard Garfield	IELLO
Quarriors!	Mike Elliott and Eric M. Lang	Wizkids
Say Anything Family Edition	Dominic Crapuchettes	North Star Games

Best New Game Designer Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Blood Bowl: Team Manager – The Card Game	Jason Little	Fantasy Flight Games
Flash Point: Fire Rescue	Kevin Lanzing	Indie Boards and Cards
The Ares Project	Brian and Geoff Engelstein	Z-Man Games
Sentinels of the Multiverse	Christopher Badell and Paul Bender	Greater Than Games
Nightfall	David Gregg	Alderac Entertainment Group

Best Game Reprint Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Can’t Stop	Sid Sackson	Gryphon Games
Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War	Robert Abbott	Stronghold Games
Evo	Philippe Keyaerts	Asmodee
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (2nd Edition)	Christian T. Petersen	Fantasy Flight Games
Puerto Rico: Anniversary Edition	Andreas Seyfarth	Rio Grande Games

Best Production Value Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game	Peter Lee, Mike Mearls, and Bill Slavicsek	Wizards of the Coast
Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game	Peter Lee, Mike Mearls, and Bill Slavicsek	Wizards of the Coast
Mansions of Madness	Corey Konieczka	Fantasy Flight Games
Risk Legacy	Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis	Hasbro
Super Dungeon Explore	Chris Birkenhagen, John Cadice, and Deke Stella	Soda Pop Miniatures

Best Small Publisher Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Flash Point: Fire Rescue	Kevin Lanzing	Indie Boards and Cards
Dungeon Run	Mr. Bistro	Plaid Hat Games
Rallyman	Jean-Christophe Bouvier	Rallyman Inc.
Sentinels of the Multiverse	Christopher Badell and Paul Bender	Greater Than Games
Bears!	Anne-Marie De Witt	Fireside Games

Best Party Game Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Crappy Birthday	Brian Weinstock and Amy Weinstock	North Star Games
Dixit: Odyssey	Jean-Louis Roubira	Asmodee
Reverse Charades Junior Edition	Scott and Bryce Porter	Gryphon Games
Faux-Cabulary	Matthew Nuccio	Out of the Box
Train of Thought	Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim	Tasty Minstrel Games

Best Game Expansion Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 – Team Asia & Legendary Asia	Alan R. Moon and Francois Valentyne	Days of Wonder
Thunderstone: Dragonspire	Mike Elliott and Brent Keith	Alderac Entertainment Group
Small World Underground	Philippe Keyaerts	Days of Wonder
7 Wonders: Leaders	Antoine Bauza	Asmodee
Summoner Wars: Master Set	Colby Dauch	Plaid Hat Games

Most Innovative Game Designer Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
The Ares Project	Brian and Geoff Engelstein	Z-Man Games
Ascending Empires	Ian Cooper	Z-Man Games
Paperclip Railways	Tony Boydell	Surprised Stare Games Ltd
Quarriors!	Mike Elliott and Eric M. Lang	Wizkids
Risk Legacy	Rob Daviau and Chris Dupuis	Hasbro

Best Game Artwork Nominees:
Game	Artist	Publisher
Dixit: Odyssey	Marie Cardouat and Pierô	Asmodee
The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game	Various Artists	Fantasy Flight Games
Mansions of Madness	Christopher Burdett, Anders Finer, and Henning Ludvigsen	Fantasy Flight Games
Flash Point: Fire Rescue	Luis Francisco and George Patsouras	Indie Boards and Cards
A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (2nd Edition)	Tomasz Marek Jedruszek and Henning Ludvigsen	Fantasy Flight Games

Best War Game Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Sekigahara: Unification of Japan	Matt Calkins	GMT Games
Band of Brothers	Jim Krohn	Worthington Games
A Few Acres of Snow	Martin Wallace	Treefrog Games
Julius Caesar	Grant Dalgliesh and Justin Thompson	Columbia Games
Sergeants Miniatures Game	Jeff Billings	Lost Battalion Games

Best Game Theme Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Dungeon Petz	Vlaada Chvatil	Z-Man Games
Flash Point: Fire Rescue	Kevin Lanzing	Indie Boards and Cards
Last Will	Vladimir Suchy	Rio Grande Games
Yggdrasil	Cedric Lefebvre and Fabrice Rabellino	Z-Man Games
Takenoko	Antoine Bauza	Asmodee

Best Digital Boardgame Nominees:
Game	Designer	Publisher
Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer	Robert Dougherty, John Fiorillo, Justin Gary, and Brian M. Kibler	Playdek
Ticket to Ride	Alan R. Moon	Days of Wonder
Forbidden Island	Matt Leacock	Button Mash Games
Ghost Stories	Antoine Bauza	Repos Productions
Elder Sign	Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson	Fantasy Flight Games

We’ve found it interesting how these nominees compare to the Best Board Game and Best Card Game of 2011 list that we posted about just after 2011 came to a close. That preliminary list included 27 games. What’s interesting is that only 13 of those became nominees in The Dice Tower Awards 2011.

Now I better get back to playing some games – so I can be better prepared to worthily contribute along with the others around the world judging this year’s nominees and ultimate winners!

If you’re interested in seeing The Dice Tower Awards lists from years past, head to the Dice Tower website.
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