Sky Team<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTom\u00e1\u0161 Holek’s already multi-award-winning space exploration eurogame SETI\u00a0is eyeing yet another gong in the Expert Games category, which is also being contested by Germ\u00e1n Mill\u00e1n’s Egypt-themed worker placement and tile drafter Men Nefer and Dani Garcia-designed tulip-farming action-selection game Windmill Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Connoisseurs Game category – suitable for players aged 10-plus who appreciate a game that lasts an hour and a half, that can be explained in fifteen minutes – will be fought over by Peter Prinz’s design Comet, Samuele Tabellini Ferrari and Vieri Masseini’s botanical garden builder Botanicus, and Pirates of Maracaibo, designed by Alexander Pfister, Ralph Bienert and Ryan Hendrickson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Nederlandse Spellenprijs has been running since 2001, when it crowned Bruno Faidutti’s Machiavelli as game of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The awards expanded to include an expert game category in 2013, and settled on its current three-award system in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A 10-person jury of Netherlands-based board game writers, video makers, reviewers, game store and cafe owners and board game association organisers whittled down the nominees from more than 100 Dutch language games released in the 12 months to June 30 this year, with a focus on “quality, enjoyment and originality”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The winners are expected to be announced on October 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year’s Nederlandse Spellenprijs saw Sky Team triumph in the family award, Forest Shuffle win the Connoisseurs Game prize and Sabika pick up the Expert Game award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nederlandse Spellenprijs Nominees 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFamily Game:<\/strong>
Bomb Busters<\/strong>, designed by Hisashi Hayashi – published by 999 Games
Faraway<\/strong>, Corentin Lebrat and Johannes Goupy – White Goblin Games
Pixies<\/strong>, Johannes Goupy – Gamin’BIZ<\/p>\n\n\n\nConnoisseur Game:<\/strong>
Botanicus<\/strong>, Samuele Tabellini Ferrari and Vieri Masseini – 999 Games
Comet<\/strong>, Peter Prinz – HOT Games
Pirates of Maracaibo<\/strong>, Alexander Pfister, Ralph Bienert and Ryan Hendrickson – Geronimo Games<\/p>\n\n\n\nExpert Game<\/strong>:
Men Nefer<\/strong>, Germ\u00e1n Mill\u00e1n – Keep Exploring Games
SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence<\/strong>, Tom\u00e1\u0161 Holek – DSV Games
Windmill Valley<\/strong>, Dani Garcia – Board & Dice<\/p>\n\n\n\n