Unconscious Mind leads Dice Tower Awards nominations with nods in record seven categories, River of Gold and SETI challenge for five -

Unconscious Mind, a worker placement game themed around the psychoanalysis work of Sigmund Freund in the early 1900s, has scooped a record seven nominations in this year’s Dice Tower Awards.

The game, designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma and Antonio Zax, will challenge for categories including game of the year, best strategy game, best theming and best artwork, with Cypriot publisher Fantasia Games also in line for a prize in the best small publisher segment thanks to the game.

No game has previously picked up seven nominations in the 18-year history of the contest, although the categories have changed somewhat over the years. Previous games with six nominations have included Mice & Mystics, Wingspan, Chronicles of Crime and last year’s breakout success Distilled.

Distilled, designed by Dave Beck, ultimately only went on to win one of its categories last year, with Luc Rémond’s Sky Team scooping up three awards. Earth, by Maxime Tardif, won game of the year and best strategy game last year.

Other challengers for this year’s game of the year title include SETI and River of Gold, which both picked up five nominations in total, Bomb Busters and Rock Hard 1977, which picked up four nods, and Andromeda’s Edge, The Gang, Harmonies and River Valley Glassworks, all on three.

Unsconscious Mind previously won best artwork and presentation in this year’s Golden Geek Awards, voted on by users of BoardGameGeek, and was a nominee for best thematic game and heavy game of the year – ultimately being beaten in those categories by Tomáš Holek’s SETI.

The Dice Tower also revealed Patchwork and Splendor as the latest inductees to its Hall of Fame, which celebrates titles at least ten years old which have proved important to the hobby in terms of their design quality or general impact.

This year’s Dice Tower Awards winners will be announced at Gen Con on August 7.

This year’s nominations in full:

GAME OF THE YEAR:

ANDROMEDA’S EDGE (Designed by Luke Laurie & Maximus Laurie, Published by Cardboard Alchemy)
BOMB BUSTERS (Designed by Hisashi Hayashi, Published by Pegasus Spiele)
FROMAGE (Designed by Matthew O’Malley & Ben Rosset, Published by R2i Games)
HARMONIES (Designed by Johan Benvenuto, Published by Libellud)
LORD OF THE RINGS: DUEL FOR MIDDLE EARTH (Designed by Antoine Bauza & Bruno Cathala, Published by Repos Production)
RIVER OF GOLD (Designed by Keith Piggott, Published by Office Dog)
RIVER VALLEY GLASSWORKS (Designed by Adam Hill, Ben Pinchback & Matt Riddle, Published by allplay)
ROCK HARD 1977 (Designed by Jackie Fox, Published by Devir)
SETI (Designed by Tomas Holek, Published by CGE)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma & Antonio Zax, Published by Fantasia Games)

BEST WELCOMING GAME:

CASTLE COMBO (Designed by Gregory Grard & Mathieu Roussel, Published by Pandasaurus)
CITIES (Designed by Steve Finn & Phil Walker-Harding, Published by Devir)
THE GANG (Designed by John Cooper & Kory Heath, Published by KOSMOS)
HARMONIES (Designed by Johan Benvenuto, Published by Libellud)
RIVER VALLEY GLASSWORKS (Designed by Adam Hill, Ben Pinchback & Matt Riddle, Published by allplay)

BEST SMALL PUBLISHER:

CAPTAIN FLIP (Designed by Remo Conzadori & Paolo Mori, Published by PlayPunk)
GALILEO GALILEI (Designed by Tomas Holek, Published by Pink Troubador)
SLAY THE SPIRE (Designed by Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti & Casey Yano, Published by Contention Games)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma & Antonio Zax, Published by Fantasia Games)
WONDROUS CREATURES (Designed by Yeom CW, Published by Bad Comet)

BEST STRATEGY GAME:

BOMB BUSTERS (Designed by Hisashi Hayashi, Published by Pegasus Spiele)
FROMAGE (Designed by Matthew O’Malley & Ben Rosset, Published by R2i Games)
RIVER OF GOLD (Designed by Keith Piggott, Published by Office Dog)
SETI (Designed by Tomas Holek, Published by CGE)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma & Antonio Zax, Published by Fantasia
Games)

BEST TWO-PLAYER GAME:

A GEST OF ROBIN HOOD (Designed by Fred Serval, Published by GMT Games)
AGENT AVENUE (Designed by Christian Kudahi & Laura Kudahl, Published by Nerdlab Games)
KELP: SHARK VS OCTOPUS (Designed by Carl Robinson, Published by Wonderbow Games)
LORD OF THE RINGS: DUEL FOR MIDDLE EARTH (Designed by Antoine Bauza & Bruno Cathala, Published by Repos Production)
STAR WARS UNLIMITED (Designed by Jim Cartwright, Tyler Parrott, Daniel Schaefer & Jeremy Zwirn, Published by Fantasy Flight Games)

BEST SOLO GAME:

ANDROMEDA’S EDGE (Designed by Luke Laurie & Maximus Laurie, Published by Cardboard Alchemy)
DRAFT & WRITE RECORDS (Designed by Bruno Maciel, Published by Inside Up Games)
KINGDOM LEGACY (Designed by Jacob Fryxelius, Published by FryxGames)
PRIMAL: THE AWAKENING (Designed by Tommaso Mondadori & Alberto Parisi, Published by Reggie Games)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma & Antonio Zax, Published by Fantasia Games)

MOST INNOVATIVE GAME:

BOMB BUSTERS (Designed by Hisashi Hayashi, Published by Pegasus Spiele)
THE GANG (Designed by John Cooper & Kory Heath, Published by KOSMOS)
HARROW COUNTY (Designed by Jay Cormier & Shad, Published by Off the Page Games)
SETI (Designed by Tomas Holek, Published by CGE)
XYLOTAR (Designed by Christopher Wray, Published by Bezier Games)

BEST CO-OPERATIVE GAME:

BOMB BUSTERS (Designed by Hisashi Hayashi, Published by Pegasus Spiele)
THE GANG (Designed by John Cooper & Kory Heath, Published by KOSMOS)
LEVIATHAN WILDS (Designed by Justin Kemppainen, Published by Moon Crab Games)
THE MANDALORIAN ADVENTURES (Designed by Corey Konieczka & Josh Beppler, Published by Unexpected Games)
PRIMAL: THE AWAKENING (Designed by Tommaso Mondadori & Alberto Parisi, Published by Reggie Games)

BEST PARTY GAME:

CAUTION SIGNS (Designed by Scott Brady & Danielle Reynolds, Published by Wacky Wizard Games)
DUCK & COVER (Designed by Oussama Khelifati, Published by Captain Games)
FLIP 7 (Designed by Eric Olsen, Published by The Op)
LINK CITY (Designed by Emilien Alguier, Published by Blue Orange Games)
THINGS IN RINGS (Designed by Peter C Hayward, Published by allplay)

BEST THEMING:

ENDEAVOR: DEEP SEA (Designed by Carl de Visser & Jarratt Gray, Published by Burnt Island Games)
LET’S GO TO JAPAN (Designed by Josh Wood, Published by AEG)
ROCK HARD 1977 (Designed by Jackie Fox, Published by Devir)
SETI (Designed by Tomas Holek, Published by CGE)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma & Antonio Zax, Published by Fantasia Games)

BEST NEW DESIGNER:

FLIP 7 (Designed by Eric Olsen, Published by The Op)
RIVER OF GOLD (Designed by Keith Piggott, Published by Office Dog)
ROCK HARD 1977 (Designed by Jackie Fox, Published by Devir)
SETI (Designed by Tomas Holek, Published by CGE)
SLAY THE SPIRE (Designed by Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti & Casey Yano, Published by Contention Games)

BEST ARTWORK:

EXPLORERS OF NOVORIA (Illustrated by Meng Chunlin, Published by Qiling Board Games)
HARMONIES (Illustrated by Meava da Silva, Published by Libellud)
RIVER OF GOLD (Illustrated by Francesca Baerald, Published by Office Dog)
ROCK HARD 1977 (Illustrated by Jennifer Giner, Published by Devir)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Illustrated by Andrew Bosley & Vincent Dutrait, Published by Fantasia Games)

BEST REPRINT:

FINCA (Designed by Wolfgang Sentker & Ralf zur Linde, Published by Pandasaurus)
MIDDLE AGES (Designed by Marc Andre, Published by Studio H)
REBEL PRINCESS DELUXE (Designed by Daniel Byrne, Jose Gerardo Guerrero, Kevin Pelaez & Tirso Virgos, Published by Bezier Games)
SKYRISE (Designed by Gavan Brown, Sebastien Pauchon & Adam Wyse, Published by Roxley)
THROUGH THE DESERT (Designed by Reiner Knizia, Published by allplay)

BEST PRODUCTION:

ANDROMEDA’S EDGE (Designed by Luke Laurie & Maximus Laurie, Published by Cardboard Alchemy)
FRACTURED SKY (Designed by Max Anderson, Zac Dixon & Austin Harrison, Published by IV Studio)
RIVER OF GOLD (Designed by Keith Piggott, Published by Office Dog)
RIVER VALLEY GLASSWORKS (Designed by Adam Hill, Ben Pinchback & Matt Riddle, Published by allplay)
UNCONSCIOUS MIND (Designed by Laskas, Jonny Pac, Yoma & Antonio Zax, Published by Fantasia Games)

DICE TOWER HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES – 2025