“Game of the Year” 2025: “Bomb Busters” wins award

Berlin. "Bomb Busters" is "Game of the Year" 2025. A jury of critics honored the cooperative board game by Japanese author Hisashi Hayashi in Berlin.

In "Bomb Busters," two to five people at a table try to cut the right wires of a ticking bomb and thus defuse it by cleverly combining pieces. In up to 66 missions, a type of number puzzle must be solved – using logic and a bit of luck.

"The special comic look lends the necessary lightness to the threatening subject matter. This brings us together as a team," the jury stated in its statement. This marks the fourth time in the past five years that a cooperative game has won the award.

In the race for the internationally renowned prize, the winner from Pegasus-Verlag prevailed against the also nominated games “Flip 7” by Eric Olsen and “Krakel Orakel” by the author group 7 Bazis.

The 2025 "Children's Game of the Year" award went to "Top the Cake!" by Wolfgang Warsch (Schmidt Spiele). Endeavor: The Deep Sea by Carl de Visser and Jarrat Gray (Frosted Games/Board Game Circus) was named "Connoisseur Game of the Year," a game designed for those with slightly more gaming experience.

The "Spiel des Jahres" association has been awarding the main prize for more than 45 years. This year, the jury selected from more than 475 new games for the three categories.

RND/dpa