Skulls and Board Games

Finalists for the Spiel des Jahres, Germany’s game of the year, were announced last week. Check out who will contend below. Also, Warhammer Skulls took place last week. We have the biggest announcements from the event. All this and more. Let’s go!

2025 Spiel des Jahres finalists announced

The Spiel des Jahres, one of the most prestigious board game awards in the world, announced their finalists last week. The award focuses on family games andr those that cater to more casual players. The 2025 Nominees are:

• Bomb Busters - a card game where players attempt to defuse bombs.
• Flip 7 - a card-flipping press-your-luck game.
• Krakel Orake - billed as a co-operative drawing game for people who can't draw.

The committee nominated games for two other awards. They include:

Kinderspiel des Jahres (best kid’s game)

• Cascadia Junior - a version of the popular wildlife ecosystem building game for kids. 
• Le Clan des Souris - little mice venture into the woods in search of teeth for the tooth fairy.
• Topp die Torte - pastry chefs compete in a cake topping tournament. 

Kennerspiel des Jahres (enthusiast's game of the year)

• Endeavor: Deep Sea - explore the ocean depths and publish your findings. 
• Faraway - a card-based adventure game.
• Looot - gather resources and capture buildings to develop your fjord.

Winners will be announced July 13.

Warhammer Skulls

Warhammer Skulls took place last week. The self-described “annual celebration of all that’s excellent in the world of Warhammer video games” offered fans a plethora of announcements. You can find everything announced here, but these are a few of our favorites:

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is getting a revised Definitive Edition

In an interview with IGN, one developer says “I am going back and fixing typos I made 20 years ago. 

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is being remastered

The new version will offer 4K graphics and crossplay. The Master Crafted edition arrives June 10 on PC and Xbox, but not PlayStation.

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun – Words of Vengeance

A new type-to-kill game that lets you smite your enemies with your keyboard. Intrigued? The game is free on Steam.

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🏴‍☠️ Check out our review of Captain Blood, a game that probably should have remained in the early 2000s.. 

📱 Fortnite finally returned to Apple’s iOS store after nearly five years, and immediately became the top downloaded app.

🪖 As National Military Appreciation Month comes to a close, here’s a fun fact: the largest private funder of veteran employment in the United States is a video game.

🏆 Indiana Jones and the Great Circle wins big at the Nordic Game Awards 2025.

💵 With other console prices going up, Sony could announce discounts to its PlayStation hardware for its Days of Play event this week. 

🕹️ IGN has an in-depth interview with legendary Nintendo game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. 

🖥️ Check out everything shown at the Six One Indie Showcase. 

♟️ Board game maker Asmodee plans to continue growing, as it looks for smaller companies to purchase. 

♿ One of the biggest losers due to gaming company cutbacks: accessibility. 

👹 Blumhouse and Meta announced “Blumhouse Horrorverse,” a new immersive horror experience that features M3GAN, The Purge and more. 

🤖 Discord is considering using AI to help users catch up on conversations they have missed on the platform. 

📽️ There is a live-action movie version of Elden Ring in the works. 

⚁ Mario Kart World was originally being developed for the Switch 1, but when performance issues arose, it became the launch title for the Switch 2. 

🏚️ Board game Betrayal at House on the Hill is getting an It-themed expansion.

👋🏻 Sony is shutting down its PlayStation Stars loyalty program.

🎮 A Stellar Blade sequel has been confirmed by its developer Shift Up.

🎭 SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice claim against Epic for their use of an AI Darth Vader in Fortnite.

👹 Wizkids is offering a full refund for their Baldur's Gate 3 miniatures, as they “did not meet our expectations or that of our Wizards of the Coast partner.”

👩🏽‍⚖️ Ubisoft’s CEO Yves Guillemot will appear in court to discuss the alleged "systemic nature of harassment" at his company. 

🎞️ Actor Jason Momoa and wrestler Roman Reigns are in talks to appear in an upcoming Street Fighter film. 

🗙 Former Xbox exclusive Hellblade II is coming to the PlayStation 5 this summer.

New Releases this week: 

Check out our article on 11 New Games to Play in May.

5/28: Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
5/29: Nice Day for Fishing (PlayStation, Switch and PC)
5/30: Elden Ring Nightreign (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)

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