Five of board gaming’s ‘most active and prolific’ designers up for this year’s Lucca Comics & Games designer of the year award

Five finalists have been unveiled in the latest board game designer of the year contest held by Lucca Comics & Games, one of Europe’s biggest comics and tabletop gaming festivals.

Matthew Dunstan, Grégory Grard, Tomáš Holek, Ryan Laukat and Paolo Mori are all in the running for the 2025 prize, which is being judged by tabletop luminaries including Spiel des Jahres president Harald Schrapers, inaugural prize winner Simone Luciani, and Flaminia Brasini, the co-designer of Lorenzo Il Magnifico and Coimbra who is a delegate for the Italian arm of board game designer association SAZ.

The award, which debuted last year, says it aims to reward the creative excellence of Italian and international game authors by focusing on “originality and innovation, sensitivity and timing, and prolificacy and eclecticism”.

The judges provided the following write-ups about their reasoning for choosing the five as finalists.

Matthew Dunstan: “With his rigorous and analytical approach to design, Dunstan has established himself as an important figure in the board game world, thanks to his elegant and well-structured designs, successfully blending innovative mechanics with notable strategic depth. A versatile and eclectic game designer, he has demonstrated the ability to tackle various genres and levels of complexity, skillfully using the language of board games with intelligence, rhythm, and inspiration.”

Notable games during the reference period are: 52 Realms: Adventures (2024); Next Station: Paris (2024); Happy Home (2024); Waypoints (2023); Pioneer Rails (2023); Perspectives (2023); Prey Another Day (2023).

Grégory Grard: “An active member of the Bureau des Auteurs Rouennais, Grard has shown a strong aptitude for fruitful collaboration, offering a fresh, creative, and impressively mature perspective in today’s game design landscape. His games display a subtle balance between simplicity and depth, being accessible yet consistently surprising to players. He has been praised for his ability to innovate without adding unnecessary complexity, enabling his works to reach a broad audience.”

Notable games during the reference period: Zenith (2025); Castle Combo (2024); Festival (2024); In the Footsteps of Darwin (2023); Cross Clues: Sample Pack (2023).

Tomáš Holek: “An emerging talent in the board game world, [Tomáš] has stood out for his ability to design games that combine strategic depth, player interaction, and high replayability. He has successfully integrated well-established mechanics with a coherent and well-crafted narrative, demonstrating a strong command of Euro-style game structures. In a particularly productive period, he has emerged as one of the most promising voices of a new generation of designers, capable of creating engaging gameplay with meaningful choices.”

Notable games during the reference period: Tea Garden (2024); SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2024); Galileo Galilei (2024).

Ryan Laukat: “A visionary designer who, in recent years, has created original and coherent game worlds, showcasing a narrative sensitivity that captivates and engages players. His epic adventures have intuitive, elegant mechanics and are complemented by his own distinctive artwork. As the designer, illustrator, and developer of his games, Laukat embodies a complete vision of what it means to be a game author, offering evocative, accessible, and memorable gaming experiences.”

Notable games during the reference period: Creature Caravan (2024); Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies (2023).

Paolo Mori: “Already an established name in the board game industry, Mori reaffirms his versatility, comfortably ranging from accessible titles to more complex games. He has demonstrated excellence in originality and innovation, with bold mechanisms and strong thematic coherence, often paired with historical accuracy. Equally noteworthy are his market acumen, ability to identify strategic trends, and collaborative spirit, which make him a reliable and stimulating creative partner, enriching every project with clear ideas and brilliant solutions.”

Notable games during the reference period: Battlefields of the Napoleonic Wars (2025); Battalion: War of the Ancients (2024); Captain Flip (2024); Altay: Dawn of Civilization (2024); Match of the Century (2023); Archeos Society (2023).

Lucca said the winner will be announced at this year’s fair, which runs between October 29 and November 2.