SETI wins expert-level eurogame award Diamant d’Or, Civolution scores second place
Space exploration eurogame SETI has picked up its first major award by scooping this year’s Diamant d’Or, a prize launched a decade ago to celebrate complex eurogames being overlooked by more mainstream board game awards.
Stefen Feld design Civolution finished in second place in the 2025 contest, with Vital Lacerda’s Inventions: Evolution of Ideas finishing in third spot.
The French award focuses on new, expert-level eurogame releases from the previous 12 months which have a high replayability, especially those “whose format does not always allow them to apply for one of the many other current awards”.
A jury of more than 20 board game enthusiasts whittle down a list of about 50 games each year to eight finalists, with the hope of highlighting a group of interesting, complex eurogame designs which may not be well represented in other hobby award competitions.
SETI’s win also marks the first board game award for designer Tomáš Holek, who has surged into the limelight this year after his first three published titles – SETI, Galileo Galilei and Tea Garden – all picked up praise from industry folk and gamers alike.
Civolution designer Feld previously won the Diamant d’Or two years ago with his citybuilding design Marrakesh, while Lacerda previously came second in 2018 with Lisboa, and third in the inaugural Diamant d’Or in 2015/16 with The Gallerist.
Last year’s top prize was won by Simone Luciani and Nestore Mangone’s worker placement game Darwin’s Journey, with Nucleum finishing in second place and Voidfall in third.
Other games making up the eight finalists this year included Sigmund Freud-themed eurogame Unconscious Mind, Ezra and Nehemiah from Garphill Games, Germán Millán design Men-Nefer, Stan Kordonskiy’s Minos: Dawn of the Bronze Age and David Bernal’s Salton Sea.
Last year the Diamant d’Or jury also announced the winner of its first super Diamant d’Or award, which pitted all of the prize’s previous champions against one another.
Underwater Cities triumphed in that award, with Ark Nova finishing second and Gaia Project third.
This year’s Diamant d’Or winners in full:
1st place: SETI (Czech Games Edition)
2nd: Civolution (Deep Print Games)
3rd: Inventions (Eagle-Gryphon Games)
4th: Ezra and Nehemiah (Garphill Games)
5th: Men-Nefer (Ludonova)
6th: Minos: Dawn of the Bronze Age (Board&Dice)
7th: Unconscious Mind (Fantasia Games)
8th: Salton Sea (Devir)
Previous winners of the Diamant d’Or
2024 – Darwin’s Journey
2023 – Marrakesh
2022 – Ark Nova
2021 – Beyond the Sun
2020 – Crystal Palace
2019 – Underwater Cities
2018 – Gaia Project
2017 – Great Western Trail
2015/16 – Mombasa
