The Board Game Arena Awards 2025 have officially come to a close, and we are excited to reveal this year’s winners!
From strategic mind-benders to light, fun-filled adventures, these games have captured the hearts of players worldwide.
After weeks of player votes, here are your champions across five categories, from the games released in 2024:
Find them all on the official AWARD page: here
Best 2-Player Game: Splendor Duel
Renaissance merchants go head to head to please nobility by collecting jewels. With its mix of tactical depth and elegant simplicity, Splendor Duel proved why it is the go-to choice for competitive pairs looking to test their mettle.
Play it now: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=splendorduel
Best Casual Game: Castle Combo
Draft people from the lower and upper city to create a valuable house. Combining simple rules with a very dynamic system, this light-hearted game had gamers, families and friends hooked all year long. Perfect for anyone who just wants to sit down and have fun!
Play it now: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=castlecombo
Best Regular Game: Harmonies
Create your own landscape and habitats to welcome animals. This wonderful-looking game offered just the right level of challenge while remaining accessible to a broad audience. If you have not played it yet, now is the time to dive in and see what all the buzz is about.
Play it now: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=harmonies
Best Expert Game: Darwin's Journey
This year’s most intricate and rewarding experience goes to Darwin's Journey. Players praised its deep decision-making and endless replayability. It is the kind of game that leaves you thinking about your strategy long after you have finished playing. A true gem for core board gamers!
Play it now: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=darwinsjourney
Best Animal-themed game: The Wolves
Establish your pack of wolves' dominance over the course of a moon cycle! The clever action-selection mechanism was just the right one fitting your board gamer's needs from the animal-themed games category. A must play!
Play it now: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=thewolves
Special Award: Board Game Arena Team Winner – Nana Tori Dori
As every year, we voted internally for the game we liked the most from 2024 that deserves an award from us, and this charming game has won our hearts. It is light, beautiful and really a pleasant experience around the table or online.
Play it now: https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=nanatoridori
Thank You to the BGA Community!
None of this would have been possible without YOU- the players. The 2025 BGA Awards celebrated innovation, creativity, and connection in the world of board games. Whether you are a casual player or a dedicated strategist, your votes and passion continue to shape the future of board gaming on Board Game Arena.
We also want to really thank all of our partners, developers, publishers, tutorial-makers and moderators for this fantastic journey through 2024.
Want to try the winners for yourself? Let us know which winner was your favorite!
But that's not all...
Today we are also releasing also 2 small dice games you might enjoy, to fulfil all your gaming needs:
Splitter and Knister!
In Splitter, you must group numbers together to score points- two 2s, three 3s, and so on- but you are placing two numbers at a time, so things will not always work out. On a turn, someone rolls two six-sided dice. Each player then writes the results, e.g. 1 and 4, in empty spaces in the pattern, with each number being in the mirrored space of the other. After all spaces are filled, you calculate the score.
Of course, a tutorial is provided, and you can play the game by clicking the link right below:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=splitter
In Knister, each player takes a pencil and a playing sheet with a 5x5 matrix. A round consists of 25 rolls of two standard six-sided dice. After each roll, every player writes the sum of the rolled dice into one of the fields on the sheet. After 25 rolls, each player tallies the points. Whoever has the highest score wins!
You asked for a tutorial too? There it is, with the related link to its game page:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?game=knister
Let's celebrate Stefan Nikolic for Splitter, and Heinz Wüppen for Knister, the game designers, with the kind authorization from Nürnberg Spierlkarten Verlag. A lot of thanks to the developer, vurtan, who made both of them available on our platform!
See you next year for the upcoming awards: you have a year to play them all to be able to vote for them!
Until then, take care and... play fair
