In the summer of 2025, the Summit Award judges rolled out 2025 Summit Award information to the public and began accepting nominations for games published in 2024 that fit that criteria. The judges—which included the SDHist board, the SDHist advisory committee and any honorary members as agreed to by the SDHist board—met in August to discuss and narrow down the game nominations. These are the four finalists they selected (in alphabetical order):

GHQ: A two-player abstract battle game designed by author Kurt Vonnegut throughout 1956, published in 2024 by Geoff Engelstein (who served as editor and developer) and Mars International, with art from William Bricker and Ryan Goldsberry.

Operation Bøllebank: A solitaire game covering a UN task force’s attempt to relieve a base in Bosnia during the Serbian War in 1994, designed by Nicola Saggini with art by Nils Johannson and development by Marc Figueras and Òscar Oliver. Published by SNAFU Design, this was the most-selected game by the public during the award nomination process.

Vijayanagara: The Deccan Empires of Medieval India, 1290-1398: A 1-3 player game that depicts the rise and fall of medieval kingdoms in India over two dynastic periods, designed by Cory Graham, Mathieu Johnson, Aman Matthews, and Saverio Spagnolie with development by Joe Dewhurst. Published by GMT Games, it features art from Mathieu Johnson and Kurt Miller.

War Story: Occupied France: A 1-6 player cooperative narrative game about Allied agents in German-occupied France in 1944, designed by Dave Neale and David Thompson. It features art from Kwanchai Moriya and development from Rhys ap Gwyn and Jordan Wheeler, and is published by Osprey Games.

The judges also selected two honorable mentions: A Gest of Robin Hood, designed by Fred Serval and published by GMT Games, and and Arabian Struggle, designed by Nick Porter and Tim Uden and published by Catastrophe Games.

At SDHistCon Summit 2025, War Story: Occupied France was announced as the winner of the 2025 Summit Award. Judges praised its its unusual innovative mechanics, fresh approach to a well-covered topic, ease of teaching, uniqueness of play, approachability, and feel for the importance of every individual counter.

GHQ was selected as 2025’s second-place winner, with judges praising Engelstein’s work developing and presenting Vonnegut’s game, the way the design invites players to engage with it, and the way the community has adopted and played with that finished design.