{"id":2406,"date":"2025-08-07T15:25:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T13:25:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.giocodellanno.it\/board-game-designer-of-the-year\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T07:12:34","slug":"board-game-designer-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.giocodellanno.it\/en\/board-game-designer-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Board Game Designer of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Board Game Designer of the Year<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Board Game Designer of the Year is an international award that Lucca Comics & Games dedicates to board game designers, both Italian and international.
The award is the result of a collaboration between Lucca Crea and SAZ Italia (Spiele-Autoren-Zunft e.\u202fV. \u2013 the Game Designers Association), with the goal of recognizing the creative and cultural role of game designers. Presented each year during the festival, the prize celebrates excellence in board game design by honoring those who, over the past two years, have stood out for creativity, sensitivity to contemporary trends, and versatility. It is a tribute to the talent and vision of those who expand the boundaries of game culture through their creations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/span> DOWNLOAD REGULATIONS’S PDF<\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Jury members of Board Game Designer of the Year 2025<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Valentina Sacco<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coordinator<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Born in Turin in 1984, Valentina Sacco rediscovered the world of board games in 2008 and never looked back. She began collaborating with Lucca Crea in 2018, when Lucca Comics & Games was hosted at the Turin International Book Fair. That same year, she joined the games office staff at the Carducci Pavilion. A passionate gamer, she has long sought to build bridges between her professional life and the world of play. In 2016, she joined the organizing committee of GT-GiocaTorino la Manifestazione, and in 2021 she co-founded Impronte Ludiche, a social promotion association dedicated to spreading gaming culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fabio Cambiaghi<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Born in Monza in 1974, Fabio Cambiaghi manages projects in the field of industrial process control systems. A polymorphic gamer since childhood, he has focused on European-style board games since 1999 and has amassed an impressive collection. He has worked as a rulebook translator, playtester, and juror for the Personality of the Year in Gaming<\/em> award until 2011. He has written about board games for Game Master Magazine<\/em> and continues to do so for ILSA<\/em> – <\/em>Informazione Ludica a Scatola Aperta<\/em>, which he founded and directed for four years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Stefania Niccolini<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Originally from Florence, she holds a degree in Economics, by her own admission, almost by accident, and worked in accounting and administration before realizing that games were far more engaging.For several years now, she has collaborated with game publishers on the writing and translation of rulebooks and has been involved in game-based learning projects in schools. At the same time, together with her husband and co-designer Marco Canetta, she has designed and published around a dozen games internationally, including Zhanguo<\/em> and Kingdom Crossing<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Paolo Cupola<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With a degree in Aerospace Engineering to his name, Paolo Cupola has long collaborated with La Gazzetta dello Sport, primarily writing about video games, and with the film magazine Best Movie, where he curates the \u201cBoardgames\u201d column. His professional journey in the gaming world began back in 1992, when he joined the editorial team of Studio Vit, the historic publisher of Fantacalcio, where he worked on revising the rulebook across various editions.\nHe served as Jury Chair from November 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Gr\u00e9gory Grard<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

He lives in France, in Normandy. After 15 years in the IT sector, he developed a passion for board game design, which has since become his full-time profession.Among his most notable titles are Cross Clues<\/em> (2020), In the Footsteps of Darwin<\/em> (2023), Castel Combo<\/em> (2024), and Zenith<\/em> (2025, winner of the As d\u2019Or \u2013 Jeu de l\u2019Ann\u00e9e Initi\u00e9 2026)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Harald Schrapers<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Born in 1964, Schrapers lives in Duisburg. His passion for board games led him to write his first review in 1991, dedicated to Master Labyrinth, his favourite game at the time being Kremlin. In 1995, he participated in the German national board game team championship, where his team placed last in the final round playing The Settlers of Catan, then a new release\u2014prompting him to pursue gaming purely for pleasure. Since 2009, he has collaborated with Spielbox magazine (in English and German). Between 2008 and 2011 he served as advisor for the Kinderspiel des Jahres jury. In 2017, he joined the jury of the Spiel des Jahres, becoming its president in 2018. Outside of gaming, he works as a press officer for two members of the German parliament and is an expert in social and family policy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Board Game Designer of the Year’s finalists 2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bruno Cathala<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Johannes Goupy<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Tom\u00e1\u0161 Holek<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Reiner Knizia<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Paolo Mori<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Roll of Honour<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gr\u00e9gory Grard<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simone Luciani<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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News<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Board Game Designer of the Year The Board Game Designer of the Year is an international award that Lucca Comics…<\/p>\n

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