Jump to:
- 1 Quarter Final Results
- 2 The Quarter Final Talking Points
- 3 The Upset of the Tournament: Cascadia Beats Terraforming Mars 75-25
- 4 7 Wonders Beats Wingspan
- 5 Lords of Waterdeep Beats Forest Shuffle
- 6 Root Beats Pandemic in the Closest Quarter Final
- 7 The Semi Final Draw
- 8 Semi Final 1: 7 Wonders vs Cascadia
- 9 Semi Final 2: Lords of Waterdeep vs Root
- 10 Related
Four games left. None of them are the ones most people would have predicted at the start of this tournament.
Wingspan is out. Terraforming Mars is out. Root and Pandemic have played their quarter final and Root came through. What we are left with is 7 Wonders, Cascadia, Lords of Waterdeep, and Root. I would not have called this lineup before the tournament started. I do not think many people would have.
Just want to vote? They’re at the bottom of this page
Quarter Final Results
| QF | Winner | Vote % | Loser % | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 Wonders | 66.7% | 33.3% | Wingspan |
| 2 | Cascadia | 75.0% | 25.0% | Terraforming Mars |
| 3 | Lords of Waterdeep | 60.0% | 40.0% | Forest Shuffle |
| 4 | Root | 57.1% | 42.9% | Pandemic |
The Quarter Final Talking Points
The Upset of the Tournament: Cascadia Beats Terraforming Mars 75-25
I said in the quarter final preview that I thought Terraforming Mars would win, and that Cascadia was the kind of game people adore rather than merely enjoy. I was right about the second part and completely wrong about the first.
Cascadia beat Terraforming Mars 75-25. Three quarters of the votes. That is not a close run thing. That is a statement. Terraforming Mars has been on the BGG top ten for nearly a decade. It is a deeper, longer, more complex game. Cascadia came out in 2021 and plays in 45 minutes. It won by fifty percentage points.
I think what this tells us is that in a community vote, warmth beats depth. People adore Cascadia. They respect Terraforming Mars. Those are different relationships and in a popular vote, adoration wins.
Cascadia is in the semi finals. I did not see that coming.
7 Wonders Beats Wingspan
7 Wonders beat Wingspan 67-33. Wingspan had been the dominant force in this tournament up to this point, winning every match comfortably. The bird game that introduced a generation to the hobby ran into the ancient civilisation builder that introduced the generation before them, and lost by 34 percentage points.
7 Wonders goes on to face Cascadia in the semi finals. Two accessible, widely played games that both win on warmth rather than complexity. That semi final is going to be very interesting.
Lords of Waterdeep Beats Forest Shuffle
Lords of Waterdeep beat Forest Shuffle 60-40. I said thirteen years of Lords of Waterdeep fans might have something to say about Forest Shuffle’s momentum, and they did. Forest Shuffle had been one of the stories of this tournament, not dropping below 78% in any previous round, but it ran into a game with a deeper history and a larger installed base.
Lords of Waterdeep is in the semi finals. It faces Root, which is the match I am most looking forward to of the two.
Root Beats Pandemic in the Closest Quarter Final
Root beat Pandemic 57-43. That is 14 percentage points, the closest result of the quarter finals. I said I was voting for Root and that I thought personality would beat reach, and Root won, but it was closer than the other results suggest it would be.
Pandemic pushed Root closer than any other game has managed since the Round of 32. The cooperative classic has been in more homes than Root by a significant margin and it showed in the vote. Root is through but Pandemic made it work for the result.
The Semi Final Draw
Two matches. Two finalists. The World Cup of Board Games final is one step away.
| SF | Game A | vs | Game B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 Wonders | vs | Cascadia |
| 2 | Lords of Waterdeep | vs | Root |
Semi Final 1: 7 Wonders vs Cascadia
This is the match I least expected when this tournament started.
7 Wonders has been the gritty survivor. It came through Azul 55-44 in the closest match of the tournament (at that point), beat Wingspan 67-33 in the quarter finals, and has now made the semi finals without ever being the favourite in a match.
Cascadia has been the revelation. It came in as seed 25 and has beaten everyone put in front of it, including Terraforming Mars by fifty percentage points in the last round. It is accessible, it is beautiful, and people who play it tend to love it.
Both games win on warmth rather than weight. Both have large audiences of casual to mid-weight players. This is the semi final that is hardest to predict because the voters for both games probably overlap significantly: these are games that the same type of person tends to own.
Semi Final 2: Lords of Waterdeep vs Root
This is the semi final that interests me more.
Lords of Waterdeep has been the steady accumulator. It has not dominated any match but it has won every one. It beat SETI , came through Harmonies , and then beat Forest Shuffle . It is a gateway worker placement game with thirteen years of players behind it and a D&D brand that resonates.
Root has been the personality vote. It beat Everdell, knocked out Ark Nova (BGG number two), and came through Pandemic in the closest quarter final. It wins because people feel strongly about it, not because it has the broadest audience.
Lords of Waterdeep has more players. Root has more passionate players. That is the same dynamic as Root vs Pandemic and Root won that 57-43. Whether it can replicate that against a game with even broader reach is the question.
VOTE NOW
Semi Final voting is live below. Individual matchup posts for both semi finals are going up shortly. Vote on the blog link below.
Four games left. 7 Wonders, Cascadia, Lords of Waterdeep, Root. One of them is going to be the World Cup of Board Games 2026 champion.
I did not predict any of these four games making the final four when this started. That is either a sign that popular votes are unpredictable or that I am a bad predictor. Probably both. Semi Finals end 13/08.