SETI publishers Czech Game Edition and Germany-based HeidelBÄR Games scored a double win on the night, having also seen their Matúš Kotry-designed title Little Alchemists take home the best children's game award.
SETI's indomitable 2025 awards run also includes the Deutscher Spiele Preis - the biggest community-voted board game award in Germany - Dice Tower Awards for game of the year, best strategy game and best new designer, and the Golden Geek heavy game of the year and thematic game awards.
Forest Shuffle has added to its triumph in the German language Deutscher Spiele Preis last month by winning the Gouden Ludo Flemish family game of the year award.
Woodland-themed tableau-building card game Forest Shuffle has triumphed in this year's Deutscher Spiele Preis, the biggest community-voted board game award in Germany.
Planet Unknown, the tile-laying planetary development and colonisation game from Ryan Lambert and Adam Rehberg, has triumphed in this year's Deutscher Spiele Preis - Germany’s biggest board gaming award.
Other titles picking up nominations across multiple categories included Eternal Decks, Star Trek: Captain's Chair and Hot Streak, with four each, while Magical Athlete, Molly House, Luthier, Galactic Cruise, Corps of Discovery, The Old King's Crown, Speakeasy and The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era all picked up three nods.
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”.
Voting is open for the Deutsche Spiele Preis, Germany's biggest board gaming award, with winners set to be announced at the Essen Game Fair in October.
SETI's rapid success is striking following a year which has seen many publishers pivoting to smaller box titles over more heavyweight designs, as a response to economic factors such as US tariff volatility, as well as gamers having less money to spend due to inflation and general cost of living struggles.
Board game sales in Germany, one of the world's biggest tabletop markets, grew 6% in the year to August as the industry bounced back from a slump in 2022, new data from German trade association DVSI shows.
