On May 20, 2025, the Spiel des Jahres e.V. jury announced the nominations for the coveted awards. Three outstanding titles were nominated in each of three categories – Game of the Year, Connoisseur Game of the Year and Children’s Game of the Year – that are characterized by innovation, fun and quality.
Game of the Year 2025: The nominees
This category is aimed at families and casual gamers and recognizes games that are particularly accessible and entertaining.
1. Bomb Busters
- Author: Hisashi Hayashi
- Publisher: Pegasus Spiele
- Number of players: 2-5
- Age recommendation: from 10 years
- Playing time: approx. 30 minutes
In this cooperative game, players have to defuse bombs together by cutting identical cables. With 66 missions, it offers varied fun. We’ve already presented this to you in our blog (and we think it’s the hot candidate).
2. flip 7
- Author: Eric Olsen
- Publisher: Kosmos
- Number of players: 3-99
- Age recommendation: from 8 years
- Playing time: approx. 20 minutes
A fast-paced card game with a push-your-luck mechanic in which players collect points by revealing cards without drawing duplicate values.
3. scribble oracle
- Author: The 7 Bazis
- Publisher: frechverlag
- Number of players: 2-8
- Age recommendation: from 10 years
- Playing time: approx. 30 minutes
A creative drawing game in which players have to draw terms while sticking to predetermined lines and curves
Connoisseur game of the year 2025: The nominees
This category is aimed at experienced players and is characterized by games with a higher level of difficulty and strategic depth.
1. Endeavor: The deep sea
- Authors: Carl de Visser & Jarratt Gray
- Publisher: Frosted Games / Board Game Circus
- Number of players: 1-4
- Age recommendation: from 12 years
An atmospheric underwater adventure in which players explore the ocean, collect data and gain scientific knowledge.
2. faraway
- Authors: Johannes Goupy & Corentin Lebrat
- Publisher: Kosmos
- Number of players: 2-6
- Age recommendation: from 10 years
A strategic card game in which players plan expeditions and try to collect as many points as possible.
3 . New territory
- Authors: Charles Chevallier & Laurent Escoffier
- Publisher: Gigamic / Game Factory
- Number of players: 2-4
- Age recommendation: from 10 years
A game that allows players to discover and colonize new territories, requiring strategic thinking and planning
Children’s game of the year 2025: The nominees
This category honors games that have been specially developed for children and impress with their child-friendly mechanisms and appealing design.
1. Cascadia Junior
- Authors: Fertessa Allyse & Randy Flynn
- Publisher: Kosmos / AEG / Flatout Games
- Number of players: 2-4
- Age recommendation: from 6 years
A child-friendly version of the game of the year 2022, where children explore the nature of Cascadia and settle animals in their natural habitat
2 . The mouse gang
- Author: Christophe Lauras
- Publisher: Game Factory
- Number of players: 2-5
- Age recommendation: from 6 years
A cooperative memory game in which children help the tooth fairy to collect all the milk teeth of the forest dwellers before the sun rises.
3 . Top the cake!
- Author: Wolfgang Warsch
- Publisher: Schmidt Spiele
- Number of players: 2-4
- Age recommendation: from 5 years
A sweet fun game in which children build their cake layer by layer, trying to stack as many fillings as possible to match.
Award ceremony
The winners of the respective categories will be announced on July 13, 2025. We are excited to see which titles will prevail! Of course, we will report back to you here on this channel.
Tip: Many of the games mentioned are also available in our store. Visit us and discover the variety of nominated games!