The International Gamers Awards (IGA), known as one of the most important and prestigious awards in the board gaming community (besides Spiel des Jahres, Origins Awards, and the Golden Geek) announced winners for 2023. The awards were given in three categories, Best Multiplayer Experience, Best Two-Player Experience, and Best Solo Experience.
The winner of the Best Multiplayer Experience was Revive, which has players trying to, as the name suggests, revive the civilization, five millennia after its destruction. The game is asymmetric, without direct conflict between players, who are trying to populate ancient sites and lead their tribe to a better future.
Revive was designed by Helge Meissner, Kristian Amundsen Østby, Eilif Svensson, and Anna Wermlundn who previously worked on the critically acclaimed Santa Maria, and is published by Aporta Games.
The Best Two Player game comes from Uwe Rosenberg, a prolific board game designer. Oranienburger Kanal unsurprisingly takes place around the Oranienburg canal and has players building a thriving industry around it. It’s an economic, city-building game, with a classic Rosenberg touch and an option to play it in solo mode. The game was published by Spielworxx.
The Best Solo Game in 2023 is a Boar Gamer favorite, Earth, designed by Maxime Tardif and published by Inside Up Games. Earth is a lovely tableau-building game that made our heads spin in 2023 and helped us gain a new appreciation for Mother Nature through its lovely cards. We can see why it earned its place among the winners: not only is it a fantastic and fun to play title but offers great replayability, for solo and group play alike.