Hundreds of Mensa members wrap up four-day board gaming marathon by revealing this year’s Mensa Select award winners

High IQ society Mensa has revealed this year’s recipients of its Mensa Select seal, following its traditional four-day gaming marathon to determine the winners.

25th Century Games saw two of its published titles scoop Mensa Select awards this year, with Agueda: City of Umbrellas and Diatoms both among the seven games recognised.

Hutan, published by The Op Games, and Hachette Boardgames USA’s In the Footsteps of Marie Curie also picked up the seal of approval in the awards, alongside Farms Race: Deluxe Edition from Medium Brow Games, Plundering Times by SimplyFun and Treasure of the Dragons by FoxMind Games.

This year’s competition marks the third year in a row that Hachette Boardgames USA has picked up an award for one of its published games, following the success of In the Footsteps of Darwin in 2024 and Akropolis in 2023.

25th Century is also no stranger to the awards, having previously picked up a Mensa Select seal for Gartenbau two years ago – the same year its title Blazon picked up a ‘recommended’ nod at the awards.

This year’s games were voted on by about 400 Mensa members attending the society’s four-day Mind Games competition, which wrapped up yesterday, who played and evaluated games released over the preceding year.

Games are judged on aesthetics, instructions, originality, play appeal and play value, Mensa says, with the award aiming to highlight games that are original in concept, challenging and well-designed.

Barnes & Noble and other major retailers have previously given special consideration to games bearing the Mensa Select seal, while winning games are also featured by American Mensa’s official online retailers and on its website.

Diatoms, which was designed by Sabrina Culyba and also published by her company Ludoliminal, previously won the Cardboard Edison Award in 2023.

Culyba told BoardGameWire, “This is a lovely honor for Diatoms. It’s wonderful to see the game recognized with such a prestigious award and in such good company.

“I do think Diatoms receiving the Mensa Select seal will absolutely draw more folks to check out the game. That’s a significant boost to Ludoliminal as we are small publisher and Diatoms is our first title.

“It’s a tough time for everyone in the US board game industry right now with the current tariffs and the ongoing tumultuous economic uncertainty.

“We’ve definitely been impacted as Diatoms is the kind of game that can’t be produced in the US because of the nature and quality of the components in the game.

“Presently we are looking at delaying the US import of our second print of the game until the tariff issue is resolved.”

Chad Elkins, founder and lead developer at 25th Century Games, told BoardGameWire, “I am so proud to see both Diatoms and Agueda pick up Mensa Select Awards this year.

“Congratulations to Sabrina Culyba with Ludoliminal, our partner who we teamed up with for this title. From the design to the production, Sabrina did an outstanding job with this game.

“I’m also excited for Dustin Dobson and Milan Zivkovic with their design of Agueda. Teaming up with them and the Umbrella Sky Project to create this beautiful game, which pays tribute to this festival and Portuguese city was a labor of love.

“I hope the award brings more awareness for folks to experience both of these games.”