It’s been quite the year for SETI. Tomáš Holek’s ambitious space exploration eurogame has added another major accolade to its growing list of achievements, taking home the 2025 Deutscher Spiele Preis, Germany’s most prominent community-voted board game award.
The award places SETI ahead of some serious competition. Second place went to Endeavor: Deep Sea, fresh off its win as this year’s Kennerspiel des Jahres, while Bomb Busters – the 2025 Spiel des Jahres winner -took third. It’s a strong field by any measure, and SETI’s continued success across different award circuits shows just how widely it’s resonated with players and critics alike.
This victory adds to an already packed trophy cabinet. Earlier in the year, SETI picked up multiple Dice Tower Awards, including Game of the Year, Best Strategy Game, and Best New Designer. It also took home the Golden Geek Awards for Heavy Game of the Year and Best Thematic Game, and claimed Best Expert Game at the Nederlandse Spellenprijs, the Dutch-language board game awards. Not bad for a title that only launched within the last year.
Publishers Czech Games Edition (CGE) and HeidelBÄR Games had even more to celebrate on the night. Alongside SETI’s success, their collaboration Little Alchemists by Matúš Kotry won Best Children’s Game, making it a double win for the publishing partners. It’s not their first taste of success either – CGE and HeidelBÄR previously triumphed in 2021 with Lost Ruins of Arnak, and HeidelBÄR’s earlier incarnation, Heidelberger Spieleverlag, was runner-up back in 2016 with Codenames.
For context, the Deutscher Spiele Preis has been running since 1990 and tends to reflect the tastes of dedicated hobby gamers rather than the general family audience targeted by the Spiel des Jahres. Winners are determined through votes from players and retailers across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, covering games released between May and April each year. The results are revealed annually at the Spiel Essen fair – this year held from 23–26 October.
While the award sometimes leans toward lighter titles, SETI represents a return to heavier, more complex eurogames. According to BoardGameGeek’s player-weight ratings, it’s the most intricate winner since Mombasa back in 2016. In recent years, the award has gone to titles like Ark Nova, Planet Unknown, Wingspan, and Lost Ruins of Arnak – all games that blend accessibility with deep, rewarding strategy.
It’s clear that SETI has struck a chord, both mechanically and thematically. Its mix of science-driven euro strategy and grand-scale discovery has made it one of the year’s defining releases – and with the Deutscher Spiele Preis now in its orbit, its stellar run shows no sign of slowing down.
