YuMoa said in a statement about the award that it places importance on games being timeless, being playable for a long time, not being affected by a significant difference in ability levels, and being enjoyable for parents and their children as well as other adults. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It added, “In terms of distribution, we place importance on games being available in places other than specialty stores and over the internet, and being sold in places where even people who are not board game enthusiasts can see them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Wild Vikings, originally published by HABA, was first available as an import in 2008, the Japanese version was released this year – and the judges said it was “evaluated as being superior overall compared to other new titles”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They said, “It was awarded for being a rare genre of auction game, despite being a children’s game, and for being enjoyable with a moderate amount of luck with the dice and cards.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wild Vikings was named as a recommended game by the Kinderspiel des Jahres committee in 2008, with Reiner Knizia’s Whoowasit?<\/a> scooping the prize that year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three runners-up for this year’s Japan Boardgame Prize included an even older game, Mister Diamond<\/a> – first published in 1993 – which has had its rules slightly updated for the newly-published Japanese edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rikka<\/a>, which sees players make mahjong-like hands with domino pieces, was also a runner-up, as was Aiue Battle<\/a> – which triumphed this year in the separate award voted for by board game players from across game clubs and shops in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Voters selected up to five games from a list of 244 titles sold in Japanese market within the last year, with their first choice gaining five points, down to one point for their fifth-placed selection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Aiue Battle finished in top spot with 52 points, a single point ahead of Harmonies, while Faraway finished third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japanese editions of Slay the Spire: The Board Game, Rikka, Dorada, Coffee Rush, Sky Tean, Acquire and Mr Diamond made up the rest of the top ten positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last year’s Japanese Boardgame Prize saw Akropolis crowned as the winner, with Challengers! and Super Mega Lucky Box as runners-up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Challengers! soared to a win last year in the player-voted award with 156 points, more than double the 74 garnered by second-placed Darwin’s Journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Japan Boardgame Prize 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Winner: Wild Viking (Wolfgang Dirscherl)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nominated: Aiue Battle (Yonemitsu Kazunari \/ Gentosha Education) Voters’ Selection – 1st Prize: 2nd: Harmonies (Johan Benvenuto \/ Hobby Japan) 3rd: FARAWAY (Japanese edition) (Johannes Goupy, Corentin Lebrat \/ Engames) 4th: Slay the Spire: The Board Game (Gary Dworetsky, Anthony Giovannetti, Casey Yano \/ KenBill) 5th: Rikka (Hashimoto Atsushi \/ Arclight Games) 6th: Dorada (Rudi Hoffmann \/ New Games Order)![\"\"](\"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Wild-Vikings-698x1024.jpg\")
Nominated: Rikka (Hashimoto Atsushi \/ Arclight Games)
Nominated: Mister Diamond (Gunter Baars \/ Hanayama)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aiue battle (Yonemitsu Kazunari \/ Gentosha Education)<\/strong>
52pt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
51pt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
49pt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
46pt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
47pt<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7th: Coffee Rush (Euijin Han \/ Engames)
7th: Sky Team (Luc R\u00e9mond \/Sugorokuya)
9th: Acquire (Sid Sackson \/ Arclight Games)
10th: Mister Diamond (Gunter Baars \/ Hanayama)<\/p>\n\n\n\n