The As D’Or Nominations 2025 Are In!

Written by George Chrysostomou

The As d'Or-Jeu de l'Année, often shortened to As D’Or, can be roughly translated as Golden Ace, and represents a vital tradition in the modern tabletop gaming landscape. With the nominations announced for this prestigious competition, we examine which games made that all-important shortlist. 

As D'Or 2025

It’s that time of year again, when awards season for As D’Or gets that much-deserved spotlight. The industry accolade, which is given out at the Festival International des Jeux in Cannes, France, was initially set up all the way back in 1988. But it has changed tremendously since those early days and now has a more jury-focused approach in its most modern form. 

The 2025 jury for the event consists of critical players in the industry, who both have a passion for tabletop gaming and an understanding of the inner workings of the field. The jury this year includes Pénélope, a known Twitch streamer, RPG designer Damien Desnous, avid player Vincent Dedienne, social media and community expert Marie Giordana, author Sandra Lebrun, game cafe influencer Nathalie Zakarian, Bingo! co-founder Eva Szarzynski, store owner Boris Courtot, and streaming star Pierre-André Joly.

This year, there are four categories for nominees to enter, and those include the Casual, Children, Intermediate, and Expert fields. Each comes with a very specific criteria limiting the titles that may be recognised. Nominees have been announced in all of those categories in January, and the winners are set to be celebrated on Thursday the 27th of February at 8.00pm. The event will be hosted in the Grand Auditorium in Cannes. 

The As D'Or Nominees 

Of course, with all that being said, you’ll likely want to know what games have been nominated in this culturally significant milestone for tabletop developers. Well we have the full breakdown below! 

The Casual Category

 

 

First up is Captain Flip, a title where you are asked to ‘hoist your flag, recruit a colorful crew, and earn as many gold coins as you can.’ The PlayPunk title is distributed by Asmodee and is designed by Remo Conzadori and Paolo Mori with art from Jonathan Aucomte.

Then there’s For A Crown, the deck-building game where ‘Noble families squabble for the crown, sometimes in nefarious ways.’ The Asmodee and Repos Production title comes from Maxime Rambourg and artist Paul Mafayon.

Finally, there’s Odin where players ‘Collect the right cards to rule Valhalla,’ while trying to empty their hand as fast as possible. This comes from Helvetiq and Wilson Jeux, and was designed by Yohan Goh, Hope S. Hwang, and Gary Kim with art from Crocotame. 

 

The Children Category 

 

 

Over to the Children Category now and the first title nominated is Les Éclairtout, a French search-and-find game from Loki and Iello. It was designed by Hjalmar Hach and Lorenzo Silva, with illustrations from Annachiara Rossi, Giulia Ghigini and Fábio Frencl.

Mimose & Sam et le Voleur de Fruits is also getting recognition as a family-friendly deduction game where players find the fruit thief.  Edited by Locomuse and published by Neoludis, the game comes from designer Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance and artist Cathon.

 

And the collaboration game Opération Noisettes, where players retrieve the squirrel’s acorns from thieving weasels, also gets the nod. It comes from Auzou and Interforum, and is designed by Jérôme and Emilie Soleil, with illustrations by Marko Renko. 

 

The Intermediate Category 

 

 

Behind gets the first nomination for the Intermediate Category, where players will  ‘Solve the three scenes in this puzzle/deduction/observation game.’ The Asmodee and KYF Edition title comes from designer Cédric Millet and artists Maud Chalmel, Pierô, and Martin Vidberg.

Its competition is Harmonies where you ‘Create your own landscape and habitats to welcome animals. That comes from Asmodee and Libellud, with design from Johan Benvenuto and art from Maëva da Silva.

Elsewhere, Kronologic: Paris 1920 is taking a shot at the prize, which offers the tagline ‘Be the first to crack the case by interrogating suspects and deducing the culprit.’ This Origames & Supermeeple and Neoludis title has the design of Fabien Gridel and Yoann Levet, with the illustrations of Arch Apolar and Yann Valéani.

 

The Expert Category 

 

Last but not least is the Expert Category, a particularly tough area to win in. Daybreak, where ‘Cooperatively decarbonize the planet and create resilient societies,’ is trying its luck, from Novalis and CMYK. The title was designed by Matt Leacock and Matteo Menapace and boasts an art team too large to mention. 

Kutná Hora will also be featured, from Czech Games Editions and Iello. The game invites players to ‘Smelt precious silver, develop a medieval city, but mind the ever-changing economy!’ and was designed by Ondřej Bystroň, Petr Čáslava and Pavel Jarosch with art from Roman Bednář, Štěpán Drašťák, Dávid Jablonovský, Jakub Politzer and Milan Vavroň.

And finally there’s Sankoré from Supermeeple and published by Neolupis. The game’s premise is to interestingly ‘Compete to manage the best school of a university in 14th-century Timbuktu,’ and that came from the minds of Mandela Fernandez-Grandon and Fabio Lopiano, accompanied by art from Ian O'Toole. 

This extensive list features a cavalcade of fantastic titles, each of which is deserving of the win. Stay tuned to the official As D’Or site and Tabletop Gaming Magazine to find out who won!