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The Dice Tower Awards 2020

Presenting the nominees of the fourteenth annual Dice Tower Awards for games released in 2020 in categories including artwork, small publisher, new designer, and the game of the year!

Game of the Year

In the co-operative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, the players set out as astronauts on an uncertain space adventure. What are the rumors regarding the unknown planet about? The eventful journey through space extends over 50 exciting missions. But this game can only be defeated by meeting common individual tasks of each player. In order to meet the varied challenges communication is essential in the team. But this is more difficult than expected in space.

With each mission the game becomes more difficult. After each mission the game can be paused and continued later. During each mission it is not the number of tricks but the right tricks at the right time that count.

The team completes a mission only if every single player is successful in fulfilling their tasks.

The game comes with 50 missions, with three additional missions published in spielbox 2/2020.

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Year Published: 2019
Designers: Thomas Sing
Publishers: KOSMOS
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Luke Laurie
Publishers: Breaking Games
Year Published: 2019
Designers: Frank West
Publishers: The City of Games
Year Published: 2019
Designers: Thomas Sing
Publishers: KOSMOS
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Shem Phillips
Publishers: Garphill Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Mr. Bistro
Publishers: Plaid Hat Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Elwen
Publishers: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Rob Daviau
Publishers: Z-Man Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Kevin Russ
Publishers: Flatout Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Paul Dennen
Publishers: Dire Wolf

Best Artwork

On an uninhabited island in uncharted seas, explorers have found traces of a great civilization. Now you will lead an expedition to explore the island, find lost artifacts, and face fearsome guardians, all in a quest to learn the island's secrets.

Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island. Some of these actions require resources instead of workers, so building a solid resource base will be essential. You are limited to only one action per turn, so make your choice carefully... what action will benefit you most now? And what can you afford to do later... assuming someone else doesn't take the action first!?

Decks are small, and randomness in the game is heavily mitigated by the wealth of tactical decisions offered on the game board. With a variety of worker actions, artifacts, and equipment cards, the set-up for each game will be unique, encouraging players to explore new strategies to meet the challenge.

Discover the Lost Ruins of Arnak!

—description from the publisher

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Elwen
Publishers: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Tim Eisner
Publishers: Druid City Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Michał Oracz
Publishers: Awaken Realms
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Nick Bentley
Publishers: North Star Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Mr. Bistro
Publishers: Plaid Hat Games

Best Board Game Production

Dwellings of Eldervale is an epic worker placement game set in a once lost magical world. Giant elemental monsters roam while dragons, wizards and warriors battle for dominance over 8 elemental realms. Players control unique factions seeking to adventure, battle, grow in power and ultimately dwell Eldervale, shaping it to their vision.

Dwellings of Eldervale blends worker placement, area control, engine building and unique worker units. Players take turns placing a worker in Eldervale or regrouping and activating their tableau of adventure cards. Action spaces include realms key to power: a summoning portal, an ancient mill, the lost fortress, deep dungeons, and a crumbling mage tower and the elemental lands of Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Light, Dark, Order and Chaos! Magic cards grant spells, quests and prophecies to players.

In the end, the players with the most elemental dominance among the multiple paths to victory will reign over Eldervale.

—description from the publisher

Link to Unofficial FAQ

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Luke Laurie
Publishers: Breaking Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Francesco Testini
Publishers: ThunderGryph Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Tim Eisner
Publishers: Druid City Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Vital Lacerda
Publishers: Eagle-Gryphon Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Paul Salomon
Publishers: Elf Creek Games

Best Cooperative Game

In the co-operative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, the players set out as astronauts on an uncertain space adventure. What are the rumors regarding the unknown planet about? The eventful journey through space extends over 50 exciting missions. But this game can only be defeated by meeting common individual tasks of each player. In order to meet the varied challenges communication is essential in the team. But this is more difficult than expected in space.

With each mission the game becomes more difficult. After each mission the game can be paused and continued later. During each mission it is not the number of tricks but the right tricks at the right time that count.

The team completes a mission only if every single player is successful in fulfilling their tasks.

The game comes with 50 missions, with three additional missions published in spielbox 2/2020.

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Year Published: 2019
Designers: Thomas Sing
Publishers: KOSMOS
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Joe Hopkins
Publishers: Grand Gamers Guild
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Andrea Chiarvesio
Publishers: CMON Global Limited
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Mr. Bistro
Publishers: Plaid Hat Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Rob Daviau
Publishers: Z-Man Games

Best Expansion

"You are Abelard Lavel, a knight sworn to King Charles VI the Beloved. You live in the city of Paris in a family mansion not far from the famous Notre Dame cathedral. Since you were a child, you had strange, prophetic dreams in which you saw violent scenes of past crimes or even ones yet to be committed. Over time you learned that your unusual gift could be put to good use and you started to solve cases that nobody else could crack. This earned you some reputation in the city and now people seek your help whenever a mysterious crime is committed."

The Chronicles of Crime: 1400 standalone game brings back well-known mechanisms of the original Chronicles of Crime game while adding some new twists. Now you can deduce not only from the evidence you find or the testimonies given by various characters but also from the mysterious scenes depicted on new Vision Cards. These scenes can be either from the future or from the past and they usually involve characters and objects yet to be revealed.

During your investigation, you can also count on your family members to share their knowledge with you. You can ask your uncle, a monk who has a wealth of knowledge about written texts, your sister a merchant who knows something about almost any object you’ll find or even your brother, a king’s spy, who knows a story or two about many of the people you will meet. Finally, your faithful dog is always willing to trace a suspect for you, just bring him an item belonging to the person in question and he’ll track them down!

Part of Chronicles of Crime - The Millennium Series
Chronicles of Crime is back with a range of games called "The Millennium Series". Three brand new standalone Chronicles of Crime games, working with the same great system but providing interesting gameplay twists and refreshing universes that span an entire millennium from 1400 to 1900 and finally 2400. All three games are standalone but will offer connecting narrative threads for players to discover.

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: David Cicurel
Publishers: Lucky Duck Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: R. Eric Reuss
Publishers: Greater Than Games, LLC
Year Published: 2021
Designers: Mattox Shuler
Publishers: Keymaster Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Elizabeth Hargrave
Publishers: Stonemaier Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Rob Daviau
Publishers: Mondo Games

Best Game from a New Designer

On an uninhabited island in uncharted seas, explorers have found traces of a great civilization. Now you will lead an expedition to explore the island, find lost artifacts, and face fearsome guardians, all in a quest to learn the island's secrets.

Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island. Some of these actions require resources instead of workers, so building a solid resource base will be essential. You are limited to only one action per turn, so make your choice carefully... what action will benefit you most now? And what can you afford to do later... assuming someone else doesn't take the action first!?

Decks are small, and randomness in the game is heavily mitigated by the wealth of tactical decisions offered on the game board. With a variety of worker actions, artifacts, and equipment cards, the set-up for each game will be unique, encouraging players to explore new strategies to meet the challenge.

Discover the Lost Ruins of Arnak!

—description from the publisher

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Elwen
Publishers: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Joe Hopkins
Publishers: Grand Gamers Guild
Year Published: 2020
Designers: David Alberto Diaz
Publishers: Kids Table BG
Year Published: 2019
Designers: Dan Kazmaier
Publishers: Steeped Games Ltd.
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Dennis K. Chan
Publishers: Rio Grande Games

Best Game from a Small Publisher

Some important links: The Official FAQ, the Unofficial FAQ, and an Automa (solo and 2p) Overview

Dune: Imperium is a game that finds inspiration in elements and characters from the Dune legacy, both the new film from Legendary Pictures and the seminal literary series from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson.

As a leader of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad, raise your banner and marshal your forces and spies. War is coming, and at the center of the conflict is Arrakis – Dune, the desert planet.

Dune: Imperium uses deck-building to add a hidden-information angle to traditional worker placement.

You start with a unique leader card, as well as deck identical to those of your opponents. As you acquire cards and build your deck, your choices will define your strengths and weaknesses. Cards allow you to send your Agents to certain spaces on the game board, so how your deck evolves affects your strategy. You might become more powerful militarily, able to deploy more troops than your opponents. Or you might acquire cards that give you an edge with the four political factions represented in the game: the Emperor, the Spacing Guild, the Bene Gesserit, and the Fremen.

Unlike many deck-building games, you don’t play your entire hand in one turn. Instead, you draw a hand of cards at the start of every round and alternate with other players, taking one Agent turn at a time (playing one card to send one of your Agents to the game board). When it’s your turn and you have no more Agents to place, you’ll take a Reveal turn, revealing the rest of your cards, which will provide Persuasion and Swords. Persuasion is used to acquire more cards, and Swords help your troops fight for the current round’s rewards as shown on the revealed Conflict card.

Defeat your rivals in combat, shrewdly navigate the political factions, and acquire precious cards. The Spice Must Flow to lead your House to victory!

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Paul Dennen
Publishers: Dire Wolf
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Michal Mikeš
Publishers: Boardcubator
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Paul Salomon
Publishers: Elf Creek Games
Year Published: 2019
Designers: Dan Kazmaier
Publishers: Steeped Games Ltd.
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Vladimír Suchý
Publishers: Delicious Games

Best Party Game

Sesame snaps caramels cotton candy marzipan pie donut. Pudding I love dragée jelly I love liquorice topping tootsie roll marshmallow. I love fruitcake oat cake muffin candy cake chocolate oat cake I love. Cupcake jelly-o caramels sweet roll soufflé muffin. Cookie I love cupcake oat cake chocolate bar cake cake gummies gummi bears. Cake sugar plum candy canes halvah sugar plum I love.

What hue do you think of when we say “apple”? Hues and Cues is a vibrant game of colorful communication where players are challenged to make connections to colors with words. Using only one and two-word cues, players try to get others to guess a specific hue from the 480 colors on the game board. The closer the guesses are to the target, the more points you earn. Since everyone imagines colors differently, connecting colors and clues has never been this much fun!

Gather around with three to ten people to play a quick and simple game with a prism of possibilities! First, a “cue giver” hides a specific color they’ve chosen out of a deck of cards. There are 480 shades on the board in front of you! After getting one- and two-word cues, everyone places their marker on which color they think is being described. “Coffee.” Is it dark brown, as in freshly brewed? “Au lait.” With milk. That means I should pick a lighter shade!

Use examples from everyday life, from nature to pop culture, or materials and moods. Everyone around the table gets a turn to give cues and guess. The better your hints or guesses, the more points you earn. Play off others' experiences to narrow down what they have in mind!

—description from the publisher

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Scott Brady
Publishers: The Op
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Connor Reid
Publishers: Game Factory
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Kane Klenko
Publishers: The Op
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Gérald Cattiaux
Publishers: Le Scorpion Masqué
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Oleksandr Nevskiy
Publishers: Libellud

Best Reprint

Sesame snaps caramels cotton candy marzipan pie donut. Pudding I love dragée jelly I love liquorice topping tootsie roll marshmallow. I love fruitcake oat cake muffin candy cake chocolate oat cake I love. Cupcake jelly-o caramels sweet roll soufflé muffin. Cookie I love cupcake oat cake chocolate bar cake cake gummies gummi bears. Cake sugar plum candy canes halvah sugar plum I love.

Welcome to the Rococo era. Louis XV reigns in France, and it's the height of fashion to attend his lavish balls where important luminaries dress up in extravagant gowns and fancy frock coats, all eager to surpass one another in elegance and grace. In just a few weeks, Louis XV is hosting the final Grand Ball of the season, and everyone is clamoring for you to provide them with an elegant frock coat here, a sumptuous gown there, or even a small sum to fund the great fireworks display. You quickly realize that it's not just about your tailoring business anymore; it's about creating a presence at the most prestigious ball of the era and the chance to gain everlasting fame and prestige.

In Rococo: Deluxe Edition, you are the owner of a distinguished tailoring business endeavoring to increase your prestige. Each turn, you play an employee card that allows you to perform a task, such as hiring a new employee for your staff, tailoring exquisite gowns and frock coats to rent or sell, or funding some of the many decorations. However, employees are not always able to perform all tasks, so you must plan carefully how you direct them, especially as each employee grants a unique bonus — including some that generate prestige.

The Grand Ball ends after seven rounds with a huge fireworks display and final scoring. You will gain prestige points for the sumptuous gowns and frock coats you have rented out to guests at the ball, certain employee bonuses, and the festive decorations you have funded. Whoever has collected the most prestige at the end of the game wins.

Rococo: Deluxe Edition contains the previously released Jewelry Box expansion, the Festivity Dresses expansion, and the Fancy Dresses promo, as well as a new "Madame du Barry" solo mode expansion. This version of Rococo features changes from the previous edition of the base game, along with premium components including custom poly-resin lace and thread tokens; gold foil heat-stamped, wooden player markers; velveteen cloth bags for garments, silk and jewelry tokens; and upgraded punch boards for the garments, silk, and coins.

—description from the publisher

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Matthias Cramer
Publishers: Eagle-Gryphon Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Konstantinos Kokkinis
Publishers: Artipia Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Touko Tahkokallio
Publishers: Lautapelit.fi
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Antoine Bauza
Publishers: Repos Production
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Grant Rodiek
Publishers: Leder Games

Best Solo Game

Aliens have arrived to conquer Earth. Enemy ships fill the skies. Humanity retreats to underground bunkers located below cities across the globe. Stand against the common threat! Fight the invaders city by city. Build a team from around the globe to save your planet and defeat the aliens!


GAMEPLAY

Under Falling Skies is a solo game with a multi-mission campaign. In each mission, you take charge of defending a besieged city.

Your actions are powered by an innovative dice placement mechanic. When you choose an action, you are also choosing which enemy ships will descend. Bigger numbers give better effects, but they also cause ships to descend faster.

Expand your underground base to gain access to more powerful actions, allowing you to shoot down enemy ships or deploy robots to increase your workforce, but don't forget to work on your research and watch your energy supply.

The mothership draws closer every round, ratcheting up the tension.

Can you complete your mission before your base is destroyed?

Official rules: https://czechgames.com/files/rules/under-falling-skies-rules-en.pdf


Under Falling Skies is based on the print & play game that won the 2019 9-card Nanogame P&P Design Contest. Built on the same intriguing mechanics, it now comes with a full-scale campaign providing even more content for hours of intense fun.

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Jason Holt
Publishers: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Luke Laurie
Publishers: Breaking Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Elwen
Publishers: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Geoff Engelstein
Publishers: WizKids
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Paul Dennen
Publishers: Dire Wolf

Best Stragety Game

On an uninhabited island in uncharted seas, explorers have found traces of a great civilization. Now you will lead an expedition to explore the island, find lost artifacts, and face fearsome guardians, all in a quest to learn the island's secrets.

Lost Ruins of Arnak combines deck-building and worker placement in a game of exploration, resource management, and discovery. In addition to traditional deck-builder effects, cards can also be used to place workers, and new worker actions become available as players explore the island. Some of these actions require resources instead of workers, so building a solid resource base will be essential. You are limited to only one action per turn, so make your choice carefully... what action will benefit you most now? And what can you afford to do later... assuming someone else doesn't take the action first!?

Decks are small, and randomness in the game is heavily mitigated by the wealth of tactical decisions offered on the game board. With a variety of worker actions, artifacts, and equipment cards, the set-up for each game will be unique, encouraging players to explore new strategies to meet the challenge.

Discover the Lost Ruins of Arnak!

—description from the publisher

Read more Read less
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Elwen
Publishers: Czech Games Edition
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Vital Lacerda
Publishers: Eagle-Gryphon Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Dennis K. Chan
Publishers: Rio Grande Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Paul Dennen
Publishers: Dire Wolf
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Vladimír Suchý
Publishers: Delicious Games

Best Two-Player Game

Sesame snaps caramels cotton candy marzipan pie donut. Pudding I love dragée jelly I love liquorice topping tootsie roll marshmallow. I love fruitcake oat cake muffin candy cake chocolate oat cake I love. Cupcake jelly-o caramels sweet roll soufflé muffin. Cookie I love cupcake oat cake chocolate bar cake cake gummies gummi bears. Cake sugar plum candy canes halvah sugar plum I love.

The Undaunted series continues with this two-player deck-building game of tactical combat, pitting the raiders of Britain's Long Range Desert Group against Italian forces in the North African Theater of World War II.

The North African campaign has begun. Take control of the British Army's Long Range Desert Group and operate behind enemy lines or command the formidable Italian forces opposing them. In "Undaunted: North Africa", a sequel to Undaunted: Normandy, players once again lead their sides through a varied series of missions. As casualties mount, wounded soldiers leave the players' decks, forcing them to adapt in the face of changing tactical circumstances. Use your cards to strengthen your forces, deploy vehicles to advance rapidly across the battlefield, and seize the initiative as you determine the outcome of the North African Theater.

—description from the publisher

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Trevor Benjamin
Publishers: Osprey Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Ananda Gupta
Publishers: GMT Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Foxtrot Games
Publishers: Foxtrot Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Frank Brooks
Publishers: Fantasy Flight Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Ryan Courtney
Publishers: Capstone Games

Best Welcoming Game

The Isle of Cats is a competitive, medium-weight, card-drafting, polyomino cat-placement board game for 1-4 players (6 with expansions).

In the game, you are citizens of Squalls End on a rescue mission to The Isle of Cats and must rescue as many cats as possible before the evil Lord Vesh arrives. Each cat is represented by a unique tile and belongs to a family, you must find a way to make them all fit on your boat while keeping families together. You will also need to manage resources as you:


Explore the island (by drafting cards)
Rescue cats
Find treasures
Befriend Oshax
Study ancient lessons


Each lesson you collect gives you another personal way of scoring points, and 38 unique lessons are available. Complete lessons, fill your boat, and keep cat families together to score points, and the player with the most points after five rounds wins.

Note: The Isle of Cats: Kickstarter Edition is a compilation item consisting of The Isle of Cats base game and The Isle of Cats: Kickstarter Pack, each of which are available as separate items and listed individually in the BGG database.

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Year Published: 2019
Designers: Frank West
Publishers: The City of Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Charlie Bink
Publishers: Underdog Games (I)
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Reiner Knizia
Publishers: KOSMOS
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Jay Cormier
Publishers: The Op
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Kevin Russ
Publishers: Flatout Games

Excellence in Rules Teaching

Sesame snaps caramels cotton candy marzipan pie donut. Pudding I love dragée jelly I love liquorice topping tootsie roll marshmallow. I love fruitcake oat cake muffin candy cake chocolate oat cake I love. Cupcake jelly-o caramels sweet roll soufflé muffin. Cookie I love cupcake oat cake chocolate bar cake cake gummies gummi bears. Cake sugar plum candy canes halvah sugar plum I love.

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is a standalone game that takes place before the events of Gloomhaven. The game includes four new characters — Valrath Red Guard (tank, crowd control), Inox Hatchet (ranged damage), Human Voidwarden (support, mind-control), and Quatryl Demolitionist (melee damage, obstacle manipulation) — that can also be used in the original Gloomhaven game.

The game also includes 16 monster types (including seven new standard monsters and three new bosses) and a new campaign with 25 scenarios that invites the heroes to investigate a case of mysterious disappearances within the city. Is it the work of Vermlings, or is something far more sinister going on?

Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion is aimed at a more casual audience to get people into the gameplay more quickly. All of the hard-to-organize cardboard map tiles have been removed, and instead players will play on the scenario book itself, which features new artwork unique to each scenario. The last barrier to entry — i.e., learning the game — has also been lowered through a simplified rule set and a five-scenario tutorial that will ease new players into the experience.

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Year Published: 2020
Designers: Isaac Childres
Publishers: Cephalofair Games

Most Innovative Game

In the co-operative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine, the players set out as astronauts on an uncertain space adventure. What are the rumors regarding the unknown planet about? The eventful journey through space extends over 50 exciting missions. But this game can only be defeated by meeting common individual tasks of each player. In order to meet the varied challenges communication is essential in the team. But this is more difficult than expected in space.

With each mission the game becomes more difficult. After each mission the game can be paused and continued later. During each mission it is not the number of tricks but the right tricks at the right time that count.

The team completes a mission only if every single player is successful in fulfilling their tasks.

The game comes with 50 missions, with three additional missions published in spielbox 2/2020.

Read more Read less
Year Published: 2019
Designers: Thomas Sing
Publishers: KOSMOS
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Matthew O'Malley
Publishers: Foxtrot Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Mr. Bistro
Publishers: Plaid Hat Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Scott Caputo
Publishers: Bézier Games
Year Published: 2020
Designers: Johannes Sich
Publishers: Edition Spielwiese