The nominees for the 2022 Golden Geek board game awards were announced on April 24, and one game has received more nominations than any other: social deduction game Blood on the Clocktower. The debut game from publisher The Pandemonium Institute has been nominated for five award categories: best artwork and presentation, most innovative game, best party game, most thematic game, and medium game of the year.
If you’re familiar with games like One Night Ultimate Werewolf, you’ll easily grasp the core premise of Blood on the Clocktower. One player in the room is secretly a demon. They (and a handful of minions they may have) can murder innocent villagers at night, and the ‘good’ characters must hunt them down, accuse them, and execute them before the entire town is wiped out.
Blood on the Clocktower differs from many other social deduction games in one core way: death isn’t the end. Deceased players can’t use their unique player ability anymore, but they can still speak and (on rare occasions) vote during an execution. Blood on the Clocktower also has a vast variety of roles that give it a different feel from other similar games out there. If Coup and Avalon aren’t meaty enough for you, turn your murderous gaze to Blood on the Clocktower.
We’re a bit ahead of the curve here at Wargamer – we were calling Blood on the Clocktower one of the best party board games long before this year’s nominations were announced. Some members of the team (read: the author of this article) might even call it one of the best board games they’ve played this past year.
Blood on the Clocktower isn’t the only tabletop title with multiple nominations, though. Restoration Game’s Return to Dark Tower is nominated in four categories, as are racing board game Heat: Pedal to the Metal and campaign game ISS Vanguard.
The Golden Geeks are awards given out by the online tabletop gaming forum BoardGameGeek. Blood on the Clocktower already won an award from BoardGameGeek in 2020, earning the title of ‘most anticipated party game‘.
Winning games are nominated and voted for by members of the community, and you can vote via the BoardGameGeek website if you’re a site member. BoardGameGeek will present the awards at BoardGameGeek.Con, an event in Dallas, Texas. The event is currently scheduled for November 15 – 19.