{"id":5622,"date":"2026-01-05T13:17:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:17:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/?p=5622"},"modified":"2026-01-05T13:17:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:17:20","slug":"long-running-expert-level-eurogame-award-diamant-dor-reveals-its-eight-finalists-for-2026-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boardgamewire.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/05\/long-running-expert-level-eurogame-award-diamant-dor-reveals-its-eight-finalists-for-2026-prize\/","title":{"rendered":"Long-running expert-level eurogame award Diamant d\u2019Or reveals its eight finalists for 2026 prize"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Diamant d\u2019Or<\/a>, a prize launched more than a decade ago to champion complex eurogames the organisers felt were being overlooked by more mainstream board game awards, has unveiled its eight finalists for 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Space vacations-focused strategy game Galactic Cruise<\/a>, which has picked up heavy interest from players since its 2024 Kickstarter campaign, is in the running for this year’s award, alongside titles including Luthier<\/a> from Paverson Games and Sweet Lands<\/a> from Japanese publisher Uchibacoya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other nominees include Recall<\/a> – the new engine building and exploration game from the designers of 2023 Diamant d\u2019Or nominee Revive – dice manipulation game Ada’s Dream<\/a> and Ants<\/a>, an ant colony expansion title from frequent award finalist Cranio Creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyside<\/a>, the latest design from Keyflower creator Richard Breese, is also in contention for the 2026 award, as is Faris Suhaimi’s space orchestra-focused worker placement title Philarmonix<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The French award focuses on new, expert-level eurogame releases from the previous 12 months which have a high replayability, especially those \u201cwhose format does not always allow them to apply for one of the many other current awards\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of this year’s crop of nominees are up for the award for the first time, while both Philarmonix and Ants represent first-time designs from, respectively, Suhaimi and Renato Ciervo (alongside co-designer Andrea Robbiani).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Space exploration eurogame\u00a0SETI\u00a0triumphed in last year’s Diamant d\u2019Or<\/a>, kicking off a stellar run of major award wins<\/a> which has since included the\u00a0Deutscher Spiele Preis<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the biggest community-voted board game award in Germany \u2013 Dice Tower Awards for game of the year, best strategy game and best new designer, and\u00a0the Golden Geek heavy game of the year and thematic game awards<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stefen Feld design\u00a0Civolution<\/a>\u00a0finished in second place in the 2025 Diamant d’Or contest, with Vital Lacerda\u2019s\u00a0Inventions: Evolution of Ideas<\/a>\u00a0finishing in third spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Diamant d\u2019Or jury of board game players whittles down the final eight from about 50 entries each year. The 2026 winner is expected to be announced on February 8.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year the Diamant d\u2019Or jury announced the winner of its first super Diamant d\u2019Or\u00a0award, which pitted all of the prize\u2019s previous winners against one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underwater Cities triumphed in that award, with Ark Nova finishing second and Gaia Project third.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 2026 Diamant d’Or nominees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ada’s Dream<\/strong>, designed by Toni L\u00f3pez (Published by Alley Cat Games)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ants<\/strong>, by Renato Ciervo and Andrea Robbiani (Cranio Creations)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Galactic Cruise<\/strong>, by TK King, Dennis Northcott and Koltin Thompson (Kinson Key Games)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyside<\/strong>, by Richard Breese and David Turczi (HUCH!, R&D Games)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luthier<\/strong>, by Dave Beck and Abe Burson (Paverson Games)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philarmonix<\/strong>, by Faris Suhaimi (Archona Games)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recall<\/strong>, by Helge Meissner, Kristian Amundsen \u00d8stby, Kjetil Svendsen and Anna Wermlund (Alion \u2013 by Dr \u00d8)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sweet Lands<\/strong>, by Totsuca Chuo (Uchibacoya)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more stories like this direct to your email inbox, click here to sign up for BoardGameWire’s free email newsletter. \n\nAnd if you’ve found our reporting interesting or useful, please consider a paid subscription to help support our journalism!<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The French award focuses on new, expert-level eurogame releases from the previous 12 months which have a high replayability, especially those \u201cwhose format does not always allow them to apply for one of the many other current awards\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2056,1009,16,1400,2051,85,672,2052,2057,2058,2054,2055],"class_list":["post-5622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-adas-dream","tag-alley-cat-games","tag-award","tag-diamant-dor","tag-expert-games","tag-france","tag-french","tag-galactic-cruise","tag-kinson-key-games","tag-paverson-games","tag-recall","tag-sweet-lands"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t