At the end of each year, Strange Assembly gives two game of the year awards for tabletop board or card games.
For that year, we award a preliminary game of the year – the best of that year as we see it at the end of that year. This is a preliminary awards because at the end of a year the penetration of a lot of games is not that great, especially given the way that gaming releases are often back loaded in the year due to GenCon and Essen. So the second, “real” award we hand out is the Game of the Year for the prior year. Sometimes what we thought were the best games at the end of the release year were still some of the best handful of games for that year once we had played more – and sometimes there’s more of a shakeup.
2022 Preliminary Game of the Year – Planet Unknown (Adam’s Apple Games)
2021 Game of the Year – Ark Nova (Capstone Games)
2021 Preliminary Game of the Year – Furnace (Arcane Wonders/Hobby World)
2020 Game of the Year – Lost Ruins of Arnak (CGE); Runner-Up: Dune: Imperium (Dire Wolf)
2020 Preliminary Game of the Year – Not Awarded (pandemic)
2019 Game of the Year – Wingspan (Stonemaier Games); Runner-Up (tie): Star Wars: Outer Rim and The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth (both Fantasy Flight Games)
2019 Preliminary Game of the Year – Star Wars: Outer Rim (Fantasy Flight Games); Runner-Up: Wingspan (Stonemaier Games)
2018 Game of the Year – Root (Leder Games)
2018 Preliminary Game of the Year (tie) – Root (Leder Games); Keyforge: Call of the Archons (Fantasy Flight Games)
2017 Game of the Year – Gloomhaven (Cephaolofair Games); Runner-Up: Charterstone (Stonemaier Games)
2017 Preliminary Game of the Year (tie) – Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game (Fantasy Flight Games); Gloomhaven (Cephalofair Games)
2016 Game of the Year – Terraforming Mars (Stronghold Games); Runner-Up – Mansions of Madness (Fantasy Flight Games)
2016 Preliminary Game of the Year – Terraforming Mars (Stronghold Games); Runner-Up – Mansions of Madness (Fantasy Flight Games)
2015 Game of the Year – Pandemic Legacy: Season One (Z-Man Games); Runner-Up – 7 Wonders Duel (Repos Productions)
2015 Preliminary Game of the Year – TIE – 7 Wonders Duel (Repos Productions); Between Two Cities (Stonemaier Games)
2014 Game of the Year – Splendor (Space Cowboys); Runner Up – Orléans (Tasty Minstrel Games)
2014 Preliminary Game of the Year – Doomtown Reloaded (AEG); Runner Up – Valley of the Kings (AEG)
2013 Game of the Year – Star Realms (White Wizard Games); Runner Up – Viticulture (Stonemaier Games)
2013 Preliminary Game of the Year – Viticulture (Stonemaier Games)
Eligibility years are usually, but not always, based on the BGG year for the game. Identified publishers are for the U.S. release.