It’s that time of the year again when the Board Game Geek community votes for their favorite games. The 18th Golden Geek Awards winners, announced on May 14, included smash hits such as Sky Team, Ark Nova: Marine Worlds, Earth, and Hegemony.
The biggest winner in 2023 was Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory which picked up 1st place in the Innovative, Heavy GOTY, and Thematic Game categories. It was followed by Sky Team, which picked up 1st spot in the 2-Player Game and Cooperative Game categories, and was a runner-up in Innovative and Thematic Game categories.
As usual, the 2023 Golden Geek Awards will be presented at the BGG.Con 2024, taking place in Dallas, TX, from November 13 to 17. Rewards were awarded in 15 categories like 2022 Golden Geek, ranging from cooperative games to digital apps.
Here are the final results for all categories.
- Best Two-Player Game – Sky Team (runner-ups were Star Wars: The Deckbuilding Game and Undaunted: Battle of Britain)
- Best Artwork and Presentation – The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition (runner-ups were Earth and Voidfall)
- Best Cooperative Game – Sky Team (runner-ups were Earthborne Rangers and Sleeping Gods: Distant Skies)
- Best Expansion – Ark Nova: Marine Worlds (runner-ups were Lost Ruins of Arnak: The Missing Expedition and Cascadia: Landmarks)
- Best Innovative Game – Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory (runner-ups were Sky Team and Earthborne Rangers)
- Light Game of the Year – Thunder Road: Vendetta (runner-ups were Knarr and Faraway)
- Medium Game of the Year – Earth (runner-ups were The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition and The White Castle)
- Heavy Game of the Year – Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory (runner-ups were Dune: Imperium – Uprising and Darwin’s Journey)
- Best Party Game – That’s Not a Hat (runner-ups were Dixit: Disney Edition and Nekojima)
- Best Print and Play – Waypoints (runner-ups were Fliptown and A Wayfarer’s Tale)
- Best Solo Game – Legacy of Yu (runner-ups were Earthborne Rangers and Earth)
- Best Thematic Game – Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory (runner-ups were Sky Team and Dune: Imperium – Uprising)
- Best Wargame – Undaunted: Battle of Britain (runner-ups were Halls of Hegra and The British Way: Counterinsurgency at the End of Empire)
- Best Podcast – One Stop Co-Op Shop (runner-ups were Beyond Solitaire and Talk Cardboard)
- Best Board Game App – Unmatched: Digital Edition (runner-ups were Twilight Struggle: Red Sea and Fleet the Dice Game)