As we prepare to ring out the gaming year of 2025, it’s obvious which title dominated the Game of the Year awards. Tomas Holek’s SETI, published by CGE, swept through the awards like E.T. on a flying bicycle. It recently added another notch on Orion’s belt: the Jogo do Ano. This award is bestowed by the Spiel Portugal game club and focuses almost exclusively on heavier games. As a result of this latest honor, here are the significant GotY awards claimed by SETI this year:
- Germany’s Deutscher Spiele Preis (DSP)
- International Gaming Award (IGA) – Best Multiplayer Game
- BGG’s Golden Geeks – Best Heavy Game
- Dice Tower’s Game of the Year
- Meeple Choice Awards
- Jogo do Ano
No other 2025 design came close to matching that record. There’s one other award that SETI could conceivably win–France’s As d’Or, which will be announced early next year–but a cool half dozen wins is more than enough to establish the game as this year’s dominant title.
The other games nominated for the 2025 Jogo do Ano were Endeavor: Deep Sea, Shackleton Base, Terminus, and Unconscious Mind.
Congratulations to Tomas Holek and CGE for all their achievements this year!
