The game is nominated for a strong central theme and a few guiding stars that pave a road of order through the chaos of the fast-paced, real-time gameplay.
Shouting ‘the Queen is dead!’ into a ravaged battlefield and watching tense faces relax is always satisfying, and the Rules of Honor make sure that when things go wrong- as they always do when slinging cubes into and out of battle- you’re never in doubt about who needs to do what and where the game is heading.
The rules are quick and easy to teach, but have new depths to find in the various Special Features involved, and leave you wanting to play it again after finishing a game- though perhaps after catching your breath with a cup of chamomile tea and a blanket beforehand.

The game is nominated for a harmonious design that gets players into tense fights to the death, rolling dice with ever-increasing speed.
Age of Antpires is an hour-long war for territory, eggs, and- sometimes- wonderful wonderful sausages. It gets the adrenaline pumping, the cubes flying and the ants dying with remarkable efficiency, being easy to teach and easier to get invested in.
The game fits its hour-long game time like a glove, leaving you in a daze wondering where the time went. As the stakes increase and the Special Features complicate the game state bit by bit, the whole thing resolves into a marvellous final round where all bets are off and no ant is safe.