Boardgame Bulletin 23-30 ~ RockyMountainNavy 2023 Boardgame of the Year

Nominees

Candidate boardgames are those acquired by me between December 25, 2022 and December 24, 2023 as found in my 2023 RockyMountainNavy’s Wargame/Boardgame GeekList of Acquisitions Geeklist on BoardGameGeek. Presented in alphabetical order:

• Apiary (Stonemaier Games, 2023)
• boop. (Smirk & Dagger Games, 2022)
• Expeditions: A Sequel to Scythe (Stonemaier Games, 2023)
• Firefly Adventures: Brigands and Browncoats (Gale Force Nine, 2018)
• General Orders: World War II (Osprey Games, 2023)
• Hanabi (R&R Games, 2010)
• Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War (Blue Panther, 2023)
• Puffin Rush (Foul Play Games, 2023)
• Ramen Fury (Mixlore, 2019)
• Robotech: Reconstruction (Strange Machine Games, 2023)
• Shake That City (AEG, 2023)
• Sharks (The Dietz Foundation, 2023)
• Votes for Women (Fort Circle Games, 2023)

My list of nominees is, admittedly, a very eclectic collection of boardgames. They range from children’s/family games (boop., Puffin Rush, Sharks) to light abstracts (Hanabi, Ramen Fury) to medium-light strategy Euros (Apiary, Expeditions, Shake That City) to strategy “war games” (Firefly Adventures, General Orders, Land and Freedom, Robotech: Reconstruction, Votes for Women). I consider myself fairly lucky this year in that only one game was an outright “stinker” or a regretful buy.

Special Mentions

RMN Kids Boardgame of the Year for 2023 – Puffin Rush (Foul Play Games, 2023). At heart this is a memory game, but it was designed by a kid for kids. I backed the Kickstarter for pretty much that reason and was very pleased when a nice boardgame delivered at the end of the campaign.

RMN Educational Boardgame of the Year for 2023 – Sharks (The Dietz Foundation, 2023). It would almost be too easy to call this a children’s game, but the strategy needed to play is a bit more than that found in most games of that genre. Add to the strategy the educational points and this is a well-rounded playable, edu-ma-cational, and enjoyable package for young and older alike.

RMN Family Boardgame of the Year for 2023 – Shake That City (AEG, 2023). Puzzle games are not my usual thing, but the “gimmick” of the cube shaker and the fact the game plays different depending on your table perspective makes this an interesting challenge. It’s hard enough putting your own puzzle together but more difficult to follow what your opponent’s may be doing since their perspective—both viewpoint and scoring—is different from yours.

RMN Boardgame of the Year for 2023

Honorable Mention – General Orders: World War II (Osprey Games, 2023). This is a light, worker placement strategy game that features elimination of pieces. If it tried to be more it would likely fail, but that simple, straight-forward game design approach works here.

Runner Up – boop. (Smirk & Dagger Games, 2022). This is a thinky abstract, family boardgame wrapped up in a cute theme that is good for young or older players.

RMN Boardgame of the Year for 2023 – Land and Freedom: The Spanish Revolution and Civil War (Blue Panther, 2023). A cooperative COIN game? Cooperative, yes. COIN, not really. The core tension of the game comes from a dichotomy of needed cooperation amongst political rivals in a battle nobody wants to lose but you don’t want your fellow players to win. Besides, who doesn’t like keeping Fascists at bay?

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Feature image courtesy RMN

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