Paolo Mori seals second designer of the year award in five months with Lucca Comics & Games win

Italian board game creator Paolo Mori has picked up his second designer of the year prize in the space of five months thanks to Lucca Comics & Games – one of Europe’s biggest comics and tabletop gaming festivals.

Mori, whose recent designs include As d’Or winner Toy Battle, Spiel des Jahres nominee Captain Flip and historical titles Battalion: War of the Ancients and Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars, took the award amid strong competition from designers including Bruno Cathala, Johannes Goupy, Tomáš Holek and Reiner Knizia.

The win comes just a few months after Mori was named game designer of the year in Italy’s ioGioco Awards, in which Toy Battle also took the prize for best two-player game.

That title, which Mori co-designed with Alessandro Zucchini, has also won France’s high-profile As d’Or main award, a Golden Geek for best 2-player board game, and landed a ‘recommended’ nod in this year’s Spiel des Jahres competition.

Mori has been a published game designer for 20 years, with his highest-profile creations including Ethnos, Libertalia and Pandemic spin-off Fall of Rome.

A statement from Lucca’s judges – which this year included Spiel des Jahres president Harald Schrapers – said, “The two-year period from 2024 to 2026 saw Mori move with rare ease between diverse genres, from historical wargaming, approached in both accessible and more traditional, simulation-based formats, to international family games, and even a foray into narrative puzzles that took his style into entirely new territory.

“In every case, the author has maintained his signature style of essential rules, rich decisions, and a mechanical balance that never fails. Equally significant is the fidelity with which Mori treats his historical and cultural sources, be they meticulously reconstructed wartime events or literary materials transposed into a gaming environment with respect and precision, a trait that makes the setting an integral part of the gaming experience, never merely a framework.

“This variety of registers is accompanied by a remarkable ability to appeal to diverse audiences, from the most demanding historical simulation enthusiasts to the casual gamer. This approach has made its games effective tools for spreading gaming culture, broadening the target audience for modern board games.

“The jury recognizes Paolo Mori as an author who exemplifies the maturity achieved by Italian game design on the international scene.

“The continuity of his output, the versatility demonstrated throughout his career, and the ability to innovate without losing expressive coherence constitute a significant contribution to the evolution of contemporary gaming language.”

Mori was also a finalist for last year’s Lucca designer of the year award, which was won by Castle Combo and Zenith designer Grégory Grard.

The prize was launched by Lucca Comics & Games and board game designer association SAZ Italia in 2024, with Barrage, Tiletum and Nucleum co-designer Simone Luciani taking the inaugural prize.

Rather than rewarding a single game, the international award considers designers’ bodies of work over its reference period, with judging criteria including originality and innovation, sensitivity to current player and market trends, prolificacy and the ability to work successfully across different styles.

This year’s jury also included Fabio Cambiaghi, former Gioco dell’Anno president Paolo Cupola, SAZ Italia representative and game designer Stefania Niccolini and last year’s winner Grard.

Mori also has history with Lucca’s separate Gioco dell’Anno prize, having won the inaugural edition of the award in its current form in 2013 with Rise of Augustus.

This year’s five finalists for that prize have also now been revealed, with Spiel des Jahres winner Bomb Busters, designed by Hisashi Hayashi, up against Mitch Wallace’s Art Society, Simone Luciani and Roberto Pellei’s Echoes of Time, Reiner Knizia’s Rebirth and Brett Myers and Dave Chalker’s Thunder Road: Vendetta.

The shortlist was whittled down from 50 eligible games, with the winner due to be announced on stage during the Lucca Comics & Games festival, which runs from October 28 to November 1.

The current Gioco dell-Anno award succeeded Lucca Games’ long-running Best of Show award, whose history stretches back to 1993.

Recent Gioco dell’Anno winners include Botanicus in 2025, Planet Unknown in 2024 and Challengers in 2023.