Just to confuse everyone as compared to the Origins Awards announcement we talked about the other week, the Dice Tower 2013 awards cover the same time period (2013) as the 2014 Origins Awards. One is just labeled with the year of the game, while the other is labeled with the year the award is handed out.

Anyhow … the Dice Tower Awards are (along with the Golden Geeks from BGG) one of the two sets of board/card gaming awards that I think are most significant for hobby gamers. You can find the full nominations list here, and below I’ve listed select categories, including links to any written reviews or podcast episodes that covered nominated games.

Game of the Year
– Bruges – Z-Man Games – Stefan Feld
– Caverna: The Cave Farmers – Lookout Games – Uwe Rosenberg (review)
– Concordia – PD-Verlag – Mac Gerdts
– Eldritch Horror – Fantasy Flight Games – Corey Konieczka, Richard Launius, Nikki Valens (review)
– Freedom: The Underground Railroad – Academy Games – Brian Mayer
– Forbidden Desert – Gamewright Games – Matt Leacock
– Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set – Paizo Publishing – Mike Selinker (review)
– Rampage – Repos Productions – Antoine Bauza, Ludovic Maublanc (review)
– Russian Railroads – Z-Man Games – Helmut Ohley, Leonhard “Lonny” Orgler
– Trains – Alderac Entertainment Group – Hisashi Hayashi (audio review; written review)

Best Strategy Game
– Bruges – Z-Man Games – Stefan Feld
– Caverna: The Cave Farmers – Lookout Games – Uwe Rosenberg (review)
– Freedom: The Underground Railroad – Academy Games – Brian Mayer
– Lewis and Clark – Ludonaute – Cedrick Chaboussit
– Russian Railroads – Z-Man Games – Helmut Ohley, Leonhard “Lonny” Orgler

Best Co-Op Games
– Eldritch Horror – Fantasy Flight Games – Corey Konieczka, Richard Launius, Nikki Valens (review)
– Forbidden Desert – Gamewright Games – Matt Leacock
– Freedom: The Underground Railroad – Academy Games – Brian Mayer
– Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set – Paizo Publishing – Mike Selinker (review)
– Police Precinct – Common Man Games/Passport Game Studios – Ole Steiness

Best Two-Player Game
– The Duke – Catalyst Game Labs – Jeremy Holcomb, Stephen McLaughlin
– BattleLore (Second Edition) – Fantasy Flight Games – Richard Borg, Robert Kouba
– Pixel Tactics 2 – Level 99 Games – D. Brad Talton, Jr.
– Targi – Z-Man Games – Andreas Steiger
– Tash-Kalar: Arena of Legends – Czech Games Edition/Z-Man Games – Vlaada Chvatil (review)

Best Family Game
– Forbidden Desert – Gamewright – Matt Leacock
– Going, Going, GONE! – Stronghold Games – Scott Nicholson (review)
– Rampage – Repos Productions – Antoine Bauza, Ludovic Maublanc (review)
– Augustus – Hurrican – Paolo Mori (review)
– Steam Park – Cranio Creations – Aureliano Buonfino, Lorenzo Silva, Lorenzo Tucci Sorrentino

Best Party Game
– Bang! The Dice Game – dV Giochi – Michael Palm, Lukas Zach
– Going, Going, GONE – Stronghold Games – Scott Nicholson (review)
– One Night Ultimate Werewolf – Bezier Games – Ted Alspach, Akihisa Okui
– Rampage – Repos Productions – Antoine Bauza, Ludovic Maublanc (review)
– Tapple – USAopoly – (uncredited designer)

Most Innovative Game
– Freedom: The Underground Railroad – Academy Games – Brian Mayer
– Going, Going, GONE! – Stronghold Games – Scott Nicholson (review)
– Kemet – Asmodeee – Jacques Bariot, Guillaume Montiage
– Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set – Paizo Publishing – Mike Selinker (review)
– Rampage – Repos Productions – Antoine Bauza, Ludovic Maublanc (review)

Best Expansion
– Core Worlds: Galactic Orders – Stronghold Games – Andrew Parks (review)
– Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport – Wizards of the Coast – Chris Dupuis, Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson (review)
– Legendary: Dark City – Upper Deck Entertainment – Devin Low
– Pandemic: In the Lab – Z-Man Games – Matt Leacock, Thomas Lehmann
– Suburbia Inc. – Bézier Games – Ted Alspach

Best Game Theming
– Eldritch Horror – Fantasy Flight Games – Corey Konieczka, Richard Launius, Nikki Valens (review)
– Freedom: The Underground Railroad – Academy Games – Brian Mayer
– Lewis and Clark – Ludonaute – Cedrick Chaboussit
– Police Precinct – Common Man Games/Passport Game Studios – Ole Steiness
– Rampage – Repos Productions – Antoine Bauza, Ludovic Maublanc (review)

Best Components
– BattleLore (Second Edition) – Fantasy Flight Games
– Forbidden Desert – Gamewright Games
– Kemet – Asmodeee
– Rampage – Repos Productions (review)
– Relic Runners – Days of Wonder

Best Artwork
– Dixit Origins – Libellud/Asmodee – Clément Lefevre
– Eldritch Horror – Fantasy Flight Games – Aners Finér, David Griffith, Ed Mattinian, Patrick McEvoy, Emilio Rodriguez, Magali Villeneuve, and Drew Whitmore (review)
– Lewis and Clark – Ludonaute – Vincent Dutrait
– Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords Base Set – Paizo Publishing – Noah Bradley (review)
– Rampage – Repos Productions – Pierõ (review)

Best Game from a Small Publisher
– Eight-Minute Empire: Legends – Red Raven Games – Ryan Laukat
– Euphoria: Build a Better Dystopia – Stonemaier Games – Jamey Stegmaier, Alan Stone (review)
– Viticulture – Stonemaier Games – Jamey Stegmaier, Alan Stone (review) (unofficial SA GOTY)
– The Great Heartland Hauling Co. – Dice Hate Me Games – Jason Kotarski
– Francis Drake – Kayal Games – Peter Hawes (review)