Petiquette, Thomas Sellner’s card game of picking out patterns among hat-wearing animals, has been named game of the year at this year’s Golden Box Awards.

The Oink Games-published design fought off competition from 2025 winner Isao Mukai, who was nominated for Banana Governance – a card-based drafting and bidding game which sees players attempt to satisfy the needs of hungry monkeys better than their opponents.

A comment from the selection committee about Petiquette called the title “a brilliant and sharp work typical of Oink”.

It said, “I’ll never forget the shock I felt the first time I played it. The rules are simple: just give the answer that fits in the single ‘?’ on the cards laid out.

“But… the eyes of those who give the same answer feel friendly. The mouths of those who give a different answer seem to twist. The loneliness of desperately trying to explain when you’re the only one who gives a different answer.

“A mix of various emotions. The unique experience of this game really stands out.”

The annual Golden Box contest was launched four years ago, modelled on the American film industry’s Academy Awards. More than 40 industry professionals from within the Japanese board game sphere voted on this year’s award.

In addition to ‘Best Picture’ for the overall game of the year, the awards also celebrate the best in game design, art, graphic design, production and rulebook work through individual awards.

Eve Inc-designed Nusutto Cat – also known as Meow Heist – triumphed in this year’s Game Design Award, while best art went to Totsuca Chuo’s Sweet Lands, which was illustrated by Tatsuki Asano and Broni120.

Moyuki Adisawa’s animal jet ski racing game Tornado Splash picked up the Graphic Design Award thanks to the work of iD Creative Co, while the Production Award went to National Economy and Toshinori Iwai.

The selection committee said of the Production Award win: “It’s great when a great game is revived. It’s even better when a great game is revived in the best possible form.

“This new edition not only makes the seemingly impossible revival of this masterpiece a reality, but also reinterprets it in a more refined way.

“The ‘box within a box’ structure, combining the three parts, is exciting even before you start playing, and the ‘household budget’ mechanism that characterizes this game is implemented clearly and beautifully as a ‘safe’.

“This masterpiece hasn’t lost its appeal even after ten years, and this new edition will be loved for even longer.”

The Rulebook Award, meanwhile, was bestowed upon ForGames-published Down Down Dungeon – a reimplementation of Reiner Knizia’s Cucina Curiosa/Mysterious Dungeons.

Yoshihiko Koriyama worked on the rulebook for that title, with proofreading from Shota Okano and DTP work from Makoto Takami. The selection committee said, “The fact that you can essentially understand the game rules by reading just one page is excellent.” 

A special award was also presented this year to Hisashi Hayashi, after his co-operative bomb disposal game Bomb Busters won last year’s Spiel des Jahres – beating the much-fancied push-your-luck card game Flip 7 to the high-profile award.

The win marked the first Spiel des Jahres triumph for an Asian designer in the prize’s 46-year history, and underscored the huge rise in tabletop designs making their way across from Asia to Europe and North America in the past decade.

Each winner will receive a golden board game box as a trophy.

Last year’s Golden Box Award game of the year prize was won by Isao Mukai and Napopora’s design Umataka, a worker placement game centred around hunter-gatherers making traditional pottery in ancient Japan.

The 2025 Golden Box Board Game Awards in full:

Best Picture

Winner: Petiquette, designed by Thomas Sellner (Published by Oink Games)
Banana Governance, Mukai (Mukai)
The Match Girl Millionaire (Hey!)

Outstanding Game Design

Winner: Nusutto Cat, Eve Inc (Ibuink)
Storm in a Teacup, Kyashi/Ikumo Tasaka (Gomi Kokusai/Waste International)
Switch To: mor! (Yontousei)

Art Award

Winner: Sweet Lands, Totsuca Chuo (Uchibacoya) – art by Tatsuki Asano and Broni120
A Boar, Crab, Dung Beatle, Takuya Iwamura (Kyuhachi Dog) – art by Takuya Iwamura
Ghost Lift, Onegear (Engames) – art by Sai Beppu

Graphic Design Award

Winner: Tornado Splash, Moyuki Adisawa (ArcLight Games) – graphic design by iD Creative
Vidro, Keita Kasagi (Bamboo Games) – graphic design by Kakuzato
Shady Lady, Kaya Miyano (Mob+) – graphic design by Sai Beppu

Best Production

Winner: National Economy, Hiroshi Nishimura (Korokorodou)
Down Down Dungeon, Reiner Knizia (ForGames)
Pose Mania!, Suitashi (Avignon Games)

Best Rulebook

Winner: Down Down Dungeon, Reiner Knizia (ForGames)
Electra Select (The Society for Appreciating Swaying Buds)
Snowp, Eisuke Fujinawa, Kazunori Hori (SzpiLAB)

The post Hat-wearing animal game Petiquette wins latest Golden Box Awards, voted on by members of Japan’s board game industry first appeared on .

Several years ago, we posted an interview with Matt White, who is a very talented graphic artist and budding game designer, that focused on his artistic talents and love of tanks. He has since designed several very interesting small scale wargames, with his most recent series being a World War II tactical wargame series for 1-2 players pitting the British Airborne versus the German Wehrmacht called Until the Bitter End. He then designed the next entry in that series called Until the Bitter End – US Airborne followed by Until the Bitter End – Tanks. He has also done a few others including Would Be Aces, Operation Biting and Today Another Battle that have done very well. Recently, a new game appeared on Kickstarter from Matt called Saving Angels WWII Solitaire Wargame Print and Play, which is a wargame based on the American and guerrilla raid of the Japanese held Los Baños prison camp in World War II. We reached out to Matt and he was more than willing to share on the project.

If you are interested in Saving Angels WWII Solitaire Wargame Print and Play, you can back the project on the Kickstarter website at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1564988876/saving-angels-ww2-solitaire-wargame?

Grant: What is your new project on Kickstarter?

Matt: My new Solitaire game is called Saving Angels and it covers the bold US Airborne and allies, raid of the Japanese held Los Baños prison camp during WWII.

Grant: What was your inspiration for the name? What do you want it to convey about the design?

Matt: I came across the history of this subject, whilst researching the Operation Biting game (which is also an Airborne raid, only British) and the name refers to the US 11th Airborne Division, as they were described by the prisoners, who they rescued.

The main element of the design is that you command the paratroopers and guerrillas on this daring rescue mission. With most wargames, the mission is often defeat the enemy or hold a point, etc., but with this design the rescuing of the prisoners is your objective.

Grant: What about this historical event made you want to create this game?

Matt: The main inspiration really was the story, but from the prisoners point of view. They had been treated terribly, for the most part, from their captors. The prisoners were from all walks of life, civilians rather than soldiers who had been captured. I felt it was important to cover this story from WWII, which has not really been covered before. 

Grant: What research did you do on the subject?

Matt: I read a lot of history subject books so naturally I read as much as I could on the subject. There are also a few really good videos on YouTube that are also well worth watching.

Grant: Is this the start of a new series of games?

Matt: This is my third game in my Raid Series – the other games covering the British paratroopers, with this one being the first game in that series featuring US forces and where the main objective is the rescue.

Grant: What games have inspired your design?

Matt: To be honest, the biggest inspiration really is the history side rather than other wargames. I think also the first two games in the series was a natural source.

Grant: I know the design is a Print and Play offering. Why do you feel this model is best suited for your designs?

Matt: I like making print and play games as it forces you, as the designer, to make every component count and making the most of the physical space on a sheet of paper. I find that challenge one of the most interesting parts of the creative process.

Grant: I know you are not only the designer but you do the art as well. Please show us a few examples of your great art.

Matt: Here are several different pieces from the game.

Grant: How do you create your art? What is the process and what graphics tools do you use?

Matt: I use a variety of tools such as Sketchbook and Photoshop. I pretty much draw in a traditional method, just using a Wacom pen and laptop.

Grant: What difficult decisions do players have to make in the game?

Matt: The player must try and maximize their units to the best of the counter’s abilities. Each unit will have strengths and weaknesses so coordinating your units is crucial for success.

Grant: What dangers and threats meet the players with their airborne and amphibious landings?

Matt: As the player pushes towards the prison they may encounter Japanese enemy threat but also the risks associated with such landings.

Grant: What objectives does the player have to accomplish?

Matt: The player’s goal is to get to the camp, free the prisoners and then escort them back to the pick-up zone to make good their escape. This was a daring mission as the Japanese defended the area and the player will have to fend off Japanese reinforcements as the player makes good on their escape.

Grant: What is the purpose of the 2 different maps?

Matt: The game comes complete with 2 maps. The first map is for the approach to the Prison Camp and features both Airborne and amphibious landings. The second map is the Prison Camp itself where the player must locate and rescue the prisoners before escaping back across the first map.

Grant: How do players control these units and give commands?

Matt: During the game’s turn the player controls movement of their Units whilst the game’s AI will control the enemy Japanese.

Grant: What is the goal of the game?  How is victory obtained?

Matt: Get to the camp, rescue the prisoners and escape, whilst fending off the Japanese enemy. It will take co-ordination of the player’s units, using them to the best of their abilities and a bit of luck!

Grant: What are you most pleased about with the design?

Matt: I really wanted to create the strong narrative experience, that’s quite tense, of having multiple objectives (with rescuing all the prisoners) whilst dealing with an unrelenting enemy.

Grant: What kind of an experience does the game create?

Matt: For me, the game creates the idea that sometimes you have to be bold, push your luck and try and achieve success by utilizing the resources you have to the best of their abilities.

Grant: What other designs are you currently working on?

Matt: I have a plate of other games I am working on, mostly WWII! I’d like to cover more of these historical daring raids whether they are land, sea or air. 

Thanks to Matt for his time in answering our questions and for his great little print and play games. I love it when one of these new games is brought to light as I get to oodle over the art and see what new things he has created!

If you are interested in Saving Angels WWII Solitaire Wargame Print and Play, you can back the project on the Kickstarter website at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1564988876/saving-angels-ww2-solitaire-wargame?

-Grant