The 2018 Spiel des Jahres—German Game of the Year—has been awarded to Azul from publisher Plan B Games and designer Michael Kiesling. Azul is a game about decorating with the Moorish patterned tiles popular in Portugal.

The Kennerspiel des Jahres, or Expert Game of the Year award, was given to Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg from publisher Schmidt Spiele and designer Wolfgang Warsch. In Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg, players assemble quack-remedy potions by drawing ingredient tokens from individual bags. An English version of the game should be available from North Star Games in November.

This year the jury also awarded a Sonderpreis des Jahres, special prize, to Pandemic Legacy Season 2 for implementation of the Legacy system to integrate story with game mechanisms while evolving the game as it’s played.