Tournament 2024

We are now inviting entrants for the 2024 tournament. Entry is free for all club members. If you'd like to enter, please join the game entitled 2024 tournament sign-up on Looking To Play.

To vote on the games in next year's tournament, please vote using the form here.

How does it work?

The main part of the tournament is played as a league. 4 different games* will be played, to be elected by club members before the start of the year. For each game, entrants are drawn into groups of 4 players. League points are awarded according to the finishing order in each game. After the 4 rounds, the top 4 players in the league table will qualify for the Final. The Final will be a replay of one of the 4 league games, selected by the player who finished top of the league table. The winner of the Final is the tournament champion!

Each elected tournament game has its time in the limelight, as players learn and practice the game before the tournament fixtures. This is a great way to discover new games, often in genres that you wouldn't normally come across. Of course, anyone can sign up for the practice games, even those who are not entered into the tournament. So we end up with a "featured" game at the club every couple of months.

You can nominate and vote for tournament games even if you don't want to enter. But entering the actual tournament is recommended:

• Discover popular new games;

• Let the randomness of the draw introduce you to people you don't often play with;

• And there are prizes! Be in with the chance to win vouchers, and get your name on the prestigious trophy and Roll Of Honour!

See the rules and scoring system for more detail. And follow the latter stages of the 2023 tournament here.

Voting for the games

Nominations for games are now closed. The final list of games nominated is below. To vote for your preferred game in each category, please vote using the form here. Please also use this form to indicate if you own any of the nominated games. There must be at least 2 copies of a game at the club for it to be in the tournament.

Everyone in the club can vote (and indicate if they own the games), even if not taking part in the tournament. Vote for the games you would like to see "featured" at the club at some point next year - everyone is encouraged to participate in try-out / practice games.

Category: Economic & Eurogames

• Barrage

• Clinic

• Florence

• Food Chain Magnate

• Grand Austria Hotel

Category: Exploration & network-building

• Age Of Steam

• Inis

• Power Grid

• Tramways

• Yamatai

Category: Combat & war games

• Blood Rage

• Imperial

• Mosaic

• Root

Category: New releases

• Arborea

• Carnegie

• Darwin's Journey

• Horseless Carriage

• Weather Machine

2024 Tournament provisional calendar:

• 28th Sep 2023: entry list and game nominations open

• 31st Oct 2023: game nominations closes

• 1st Nov 2023: voting for games opens

• 30th Nov 2023: entry list and voting close

• 21st Dec 2023: tournament draw

• 11th Jan – 21st Mar: round 1

• 28th Mar – 30th May: round 2

• 6th Jun – 8th Aug: round 3

• 15th Aug – 24th Oct: round 4

• 31st Oct – 5th Dec: possible dates for the final.

* Changes to the format from 2023

We are proposing to reduce the number of rounds from 5 to 4, to prevent the tournament from occupying too much of the calendar. We are also removing the "F1 qualifying" rule, whereby the bottom 4 were removed prior to the final round. We are also introducing a "dropped score" system - see rules.