French competition which has celebrated unpublished board game designs for almost 50 years unveils 2025 winners -

A venerable French competition which aims to highlight the most original unpublished board game designs has revealed its latest cohort of winners.

1001 Lives by Guillaume Achaz, Archéo III by Aymeric Duperray and Xavier Violeau, Black Flag by Thomas Paradis and Trashing Bird de David Exertier were all named as winners in the 44th Concours de Boulogne-Billancourt – highlighted by French board game website Ludovox – after the jury whittled down 126 entrants to four prize winners.

Achaz’s design 1001 Lives was praised by judges for having players draw and modify the board depending on the actions they take, and the wide variety of its narrative scenarios, in which players progress towards different possible endings.

Archéo III tasks players with answering questions and tracing the course of events in a historical setting, either describing or revealing the secret illustration on the back of the game’s cards utilising their limited pool of action cubes.

Archéo III, designed by Aymeric Duperray and Xavier Violeau

Pirate-themed trick-taking game Black Flag, which sees players betting on how many tricks they can win given each turn’s random event, was commended for its quick rounds and variety, while three-player investigation game Trashing Bird garnered praise for its intense narrative immersion, sense of urgency and quality of its scenarios.

Six other games were picked out as finalists in the 2025 award, which was judged by industry professionals including Blackrock Games founder Yoann Laurent, former finalist and the founder of publisher Act in Games, Thibaut Quintens, and game illustrator Zael.

The contest aims to reward the designers of four games which showcase original mechanisms – or an effective mix of well-tested mechanisms – in addition to being fun to play, with originality being the main criterion for selection.

Previous winners have included Antoine Bauza, who triumphed with his then-unpublished design Tokaido in 2011, Phil Walker-Harding, who won with Chicago in 2015, and Benoit Turpin, whose 2018 winner Nomades became Welcome To….

Last year’s four winners were Defenders, by Nicolas Brodu, Delta from Antoni Guillen, Enoki / Amanita by Thanos Vasof and Pantin Shoot from Rémi Monthiller.

Concours de Boulogne-Billancourt 2025 Results

Winners: