Japan Boardgame Prize

The Japan Boardgame Prize is a game prize awarded by the Japanese magazine U-more since 2002 . Until 2007, the prize was awarded in four categories. The following criteria applied:

Best foreign game for beginners:

Game with relatively simple rules that can be easily learned and played even by players with no gaming experience. Published mainly between October of the previous year and September of the respective year and available in Japan.

Best game for advanced players:

Game with more demanding rules, intended primarily for experienced players. Published mainly between October of the previous year and September of the respective year and available in Japan.

Best children's game:

The game's illustrations and components are designed for children, it is easy for children under 9 to play, and it is fun for parents too. Published mainly between October of the previous year and September of the respective year and available in Japan.

Best Japanese Game:

Published in Japanese packaging in the corresponding year and sold in Japan. The games don't have to be from Japanese authors.

Three games could be chosen in each category. Voting took place via the Internet or voting cards, which were sent to 30 gaming groups, specialist shops and the 150 members of U-more.

In 2008 the four categories were merged and there were no more nominations. Those who took part in the vote could choose up to five titles from a list of 154 games that were sold in Japan between October 2007 and September 2008 and were assigned 1 to 5 points. In 2009 the U-More Award was given to games for beginners and families by a jury for the first time. In 2010 none of the games nominated in this category met the requirements.

2017

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- Kingdomino (Japanese edition) (Bruno Cathala / Ten days games)
- Nominated games:
  - Icecool (Japanese edition) (Brian Gomez / Hobby Japan)
  - Go Go Gelato! (Japanese edition) (Roberto Fraga / Ten days games)
Voters' Selection - 5 games could be selected from a list of 330 games. 203 players (from 39 prefectures) took part in the vote.
- 1st place: Kingdomino (Japanese edition) (Bruno Cathala / Ten days games)
- 2nd place: Century: Spice Road (Japanese edition) (Emerson Matsuuchi / Arclight Games)
- 3rd place: TIME Stories (Japanese edition) (Manuel Rozoy / Hobby Japan)
- 4th place: Race to El Dorado (Reiner Knizia / Ravensburger dist.by Mobius Games)
- 5th place: Icecool (Japanese edition) (Brian Gomez / Hobby Japan)
- 6th place: Completto (Japanese edition) (Heinz Meister / Mobius Games)
- 7th place: Viticulture: Essential Edition (Japanese edition) (Morten Monrad Pedersen, Jamey Stegmaier, Alan Stone / Arclight Games)
- 8th place: Great Western Trail (Japanese edition) (Alexander Pfister / Arclight Games)
- 9th place: Unlock! (Japanese edition) (Cyril Demaegd / Hobby Japan)
- 10th place: EXIT: The game The abandoned hut (Japanese edition) (Inka Brand, Markus Brand / GroupSNE)

2016

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- Karuba (Rüdiger Dorn / HABA dist.by SUGOROKUYA)
- Nominated games:
  - Dr Eureka (Roberto Fraga / Blue Orange Games dist.by Ten days games)
  - Completto (Heinz Meister / Schmidt Spiele dist.by Mobius Games)
- Voters' Selection - 5 games could be selected from a list of 284 games. 254 players (from 37 prefectures) took part in the vote.
  - 1st place: Codenames (Japanese edition) (Vlaada Chvátil / Hobby Japan)
  - 2nd place: Completto (Heinz Meister / Schmidt Spiele dist.by Mobius Games)
  - 3rd place: Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 (Japanese edition) (Matt Leacock, Rob Daviau / Hobby Japan)
  - 4th place: 7 Wonders: Duel (Antoine Bauza, Bruno Cathala / REPOS Production dist.by Hobby Japan)
  - 5th place: In the footsteps of Marco Polo (Japanese edition) (Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini / Arclight Games)
  - 6th place: How I see the world ... (Japanese edition) (Urs Hostettler / Ten days games)
  - 7th place: Food Chain Magnate (Japanese edition) (Jeroen Doumen, Joris Wiersinga / New Games Order LLC)
  - 8th place: Isle of Skye: From Chieftain to King (Andreas Pelikan, Alexander Pfister / Mayfair Games dist.by GP Inc.)
  - 9th place: Insider (Jun Sasaki / Oink Games)
  - 10th place: Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization (Japanese edition) (Vlaada Chvátil / New Games Order LLC)

2015

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- Mahé (Japanese edition) (Alex Randolph / Mobius Games)
- Nominated games:
  - Penguin Party (Japanese edition) (Reiner Knizia / New Games Order LLC / Yukaina Sakana)
  - Schatz Rabatz (Karin Hetling / Noris dist.by Kleeblatt AG)
  - Loony Quest (Laurent Escoffier, David Franck / Libellud dist.by Hobby Japan)
Voters' Selection - 5 games could be selected from a list of 217 games. 299 players (from 42 prefectures) took part in the vote.
- 1st place: Mysterium (Japanese edition) (Oleksandr Nevskiy, Oleg Sidorenko / Hobby Japan)
- 2nd place: In the footsteps of Marco Polo (Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini / Hans im Glück dist.by Mobius Games)
- 3rd place: Kare-san-sui (Stone Garden) (Yusuke Mamada / New Games Order LLC)
- 4th place: Kaiteitanken (Deep Sea Adventure) (Jun Sasaki, Gorou Sasaki / Oink Games)
- 5th place: Patchwork (Japanese edition) (Uwe Rosenberg / Hobby Japan)
- 6th place: Pictell (Bodogeimu)
- 7th place: Pinguin-Party (Japanese edition) (Reiner Knizia / New Games Order LLC / Yukaina Sakana)
- 8th place: Caverna (Japanese edition) (Uwe Rosenberg / Hobby Japan)
- 9th place: Coyote (Japanese edition) (Spartaco Albertarelli / New Games Order LLC)
- 10th place: Street Fighter Rivals (Seiji Kanai / QBIST)
- 10th place: Okashinobi (inao78 / alhara-systems)

2014

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- Speed Cups (Haim Shafir / AMIGO game dist.by Brother Jordan & Mobius Games)
- Nominated games:
  - Splendor (Marc André / Space Cowboys dist.by Hobby Japan)
  - Goblin gang (Gina Manola / AMIGO game dist.by Brother Jordan)
Voters' Selection - 5 games could be selected from a list of 216 games. 313 players (from 40 prefectures) took part in the vote.
- 1st place: Splendor (Marc André / Space Cowboys dist.by Hobby Japan)
- 2nd place: Recipe (Hopper entertainment)
- 3rd place: Abluxxen (Wolfgang Kramer, Michael Kiesling / Ravensburger dist.by Mobius Games)
- 4th place: Concordia (Japanese edition) (Mac Gerdts / New Games Order LLC)
- 5th place: Camel Up (Steffen Bogen / eggertspiele dist.by Hobby Japan)
- 6th place: Hannin ha Odoru (Nabeno Kikaku) [犯人は踊る (鍋野企画)]
- 7th place: Istanbul (Rüdiger Dorn / Pegasus Spiele dist.by Hobby Japan)
- 8th place: Dungeon of Mandom (I Was Game / Oink Games)
- 9th place: Five cucumbers (2F play dist.by Gamestore Banesto)
- 10th place: Russian Railroads (Helmut Ohley, Leonhard Orgley / Hans im Glück dist.by Mobius Games)

2013

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- Ciao Ciao (Japanese edition) (Alex Randolph / Mobius Games)
- Nominated games:
  - Joint Blockers! (Japanese edition) (Kory Heath / Arclight Games)
  - Banana Matcho (Thilo Hutzler / Zoch Verlag dist.by Mobius Games)

Voters' Selection - 5 games could be selected from a list of 215 games. 217 players (from 34 prefectures) took part in the vote.
- 1st place: Tzolk'in : The Mayan Calendar (Simone Luciani, Daniele Tascini / Czech Games Edition dist.by Gamestore Banesto, Hobby Japan)
- 2nd place: The Resistance: Avalon (Japanese edition) (Don Eskridge / Hobby Japan)
- 3rd place: Terra Mystica (Japanese edition) (Jens Drögemüller, Helge Ostertag / Ten days games)
- 4th place: The Legends of Andor (Japanese edition) (Michael Menzel / Arclight Games)
- 5th place: Keyflower (Sebastian Bleasdale, Richard Breese / R&D Games dist.by New Games Order LLC, Hobby Japan)
- 6th place: Village (Japanese edition) (Inka Brand, Markus Brand / Hobby Japan)
- 7th place: Seasons (Japanese edition) (Régis Bonnessée / Hobby Japan)
- 8th place: Telestrations (Japanese edition) (Ten days games)
- 9th place: Sute Sute Marketing (Geimukoubou / Chickin Dice Games)
- 10th place: Sid Meier's Civilization (Japanese edition) (Kevin Wilson / Hobby Japan)
- 10th place: Vegas (Japanese edition) (Rüdiger Dorn / Mobius Games)

2012

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- CLACK! ( Haim Shafir / Amigo )
- Nominated games:
  - DOBBLE (Japanese edition) ( Denis Blanchot / Hobby JAPAN )
  - Vegas ( Rüdiger Dorn / alea , Ravensburger Mobius Games )

Voters' Selection: 5 games could be chosen from a list of 235 games. 297 players took part in the vote.
- 1st place: Love Letter ( Seiji Kanai / KANAI-FACTORY ) - 289 points
- 2nd place: Vorpals ( DaibakushouCurry / I was game ) - 215 points
- 3rd place: Village ( Inka and Markus Brand / Eggertspiele , Hobby Japan ) - 175 points
- 4th place: K2 (Japanese edition) ( Adam Kałuża / Ten days games ) - 159 points
- 5th place: Vegas ( Rüdiger Dorn / alea , Ravensburger , Mobius Games ) - 146 points
- 6th place: Machikoro ( Masao Suganuma / Grounding)
- 7th place: King of Tokyo (Japanese edition) ( Richard Garfield / Hobby Japan )
- 8th place: Ese Geijutsuka New York e Iku ( Jun Sasaki / Oink Games )
- 9th place: Kingdom Builder ( Donald X. Vaccarino / Queen Games , Mobius Games )
- 10th place: Mogel Motte ( Emely Brand , Lukas Brand / Drei Magier Spiele , Mobius Games )

2011

U-more Award - Game of the Year
- Pig 10 (Japanese edition) ( Ayelet Pnueli / Möbius Games )
- Nominated games:
  - RinglDing ( Haim Shafir / Amigo )
  - Incan Gold (Japanese Edition) ( Bruno Faidutti , Alan R. Moon / Arclight Games )

Voters' Selection: 5 games could be selected from a list of 264 games. 423 players took part in the vote.

7 Wonders (Japanese Edition) ( Antoine Bauza / Hobby Japan ) - 587 points
Skull & Roses ( Hervé Marly / Lui-même / Hobby Japan ) - 397 points
The Resistance (Japanese Edition) ( Don Eskridge / Hobby Japan ) - 229 points
K2 ( Adam Kałuża / REBEL.pl / Gamestore Banesto & Ten days games ) - 184 points
Navegado ( Mac Gerdts / PD-Verlag / Gamestore Banesto & Ten days games ) - 176 points
Dixit (Japanese edition) ( Jean-Louis Roubira / Hobby Japan)
Yabu no naka (“Hattari”, Japanese edition) ( Jun Sasaki / Oink Games )
King of Tokyo (Japanese Edition) ( Richard Garfield / Hobby Japan)
Pig 10 (Japanese edition) ( Ayelet Pnueli / Möbius Games)
Quarriors! (Japanese edition) ( Mike Elliott , Eric M. Lang / Arclight Games)

2010

Cat & Chocolate (Ryo Kawakami / Qvinta Essentia)
Funkenschlag (Japanese edition) ( Friedemann Friese / Arclight Games )
Race for the Galaxy (Japanese edition) (Tom Lehmann / Hobby Japan )
Le Havre (Japanese edition) ( Uwe Rosenberg / Hobby Japan)
Thunderstone (Japanese Edition) (Mike Elliott / Arclight Games)
GiftTrap (Nick Kellet / Arclight Games)
Fresco (Marco Ruskowski, Marcel Süßelbeck / Queen Games , Distribution: Möbius Games )
Ubongo 3D (Grzegorz Rejchtman / Kosmos Verlag , Distribution: Möbius Games)
The Speicherstadt (Stefan Feld / eggertspiele , sales: Hobby Japan)
Barbarossa (Atsuo Yoshizawa / Arclight Games)