The winner of this award has been announced! Click here to see the results.
There are many game awards out there, from the Spiel des Jahres to the Golden Geek Awards and everything in between. While these awards recognize many great games, we have found that our favorite casual games have often gone under-represented, especially in the United States.
As a representative of casual board gaming, we want to change that. In recent months, we introduced our Recommended and Revolutionary awards to recognize great casual games. Now, it is our pleasure to introduce the first annual Best Casual Game of the Year award!
A panel of 12 judges, consisting of popular media personalities in the game industry, has come together to nominate recipients for this award (the judges' names will be announced when the award is finalized). Nominations were considered based on gameplay, aesthetics, and originality. Each nomination was required to meet the following criteria:
After tallying the nominations, the top three games have been selected and voting is now underway! Here are the nominees, in alphabetical order.
Azul (Plan B Games) — Players take turns drafting colored tiles from suppliers to their player board. Later in the round, players score points based on how they've placed their tiles to decorate the palace. Extra points are scored for specific patterns and completing sets; wasted supplies harm the player's score. (Source: BGG)
Go Nuts for Donuts (Gamewright) — Players lay out donuts from the deck equal to the amount of players plus one. Each player has a number card for each donut that is out. Players all pick a donut they want by placing one of their number cards face down on the table. Players simultaneously reveal their number. If two or more players have matching numbers, that donut is discarded and no one gets it. If you're the only player that bid for the donut, than you take it and place it face up in front of you. Collect sets, unique and powerful donuts, and pairs of donuts to maximize points. (Source: BGG)
Sagrada (Floodgate Games) — Each player builds a stained glass window by building up a grid of dice on their player board. Each board has some restrictions on which color or shade (value) of die can be placed there. Dice of the same shade or color may never be placed next to each other. Dice are drafted in player order, with the start player rotating each round, snaking back around after the last player drafts two dice. Scoring is variable per game based on achieving various patterns and varieties of placement...as well as bonus points for dark shades of a particular hidden goal color. (Source: BGG)
Which of these games would you choose? Vote below for your favorite pick. Voting closes at noon on January 25, 2018.
YOU could influence the final decision! The winner of this public vote will be counted along with the votes from our panel of judges. The winner will be announced on January 26, 2018.
