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.

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The 2015 Spiel des Jahres—German Game of the Year—has been awarded to Colt Express from publishers Ludonaute and Asmodee and designer Christophe Raimbault. Colt Express is a game of competitive train-robbing in the old west, played on three-dimensional rail cars. To win, one has to not only steal the most loot but also keep it away from fellow bandits. And then there’s the big bonus for firing the most bullets.

The Kennerspiel des Jahres, or Expert Game of the Year award, was given to Broom Service from publishers Alea and Ravensburger and designers Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister. A remake of the earlier Witch’s Brew, Broom Service is a game in which the players collect ingredients for magic potions. Choosing a selection of roles to act on each round, they must also choose for each role whether to go with the stronger but riskier “brave” action or the safer “cowardly” action.

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Spinderella, published by Zoch, has won the Kinderspiel des Jahres for 2015. The KdJ is the “Children’s Game of the Year”, as selected by a panel of German board game critics. Hailed for Spinderella’s use of magnets and the spiderweb pulley system, the game beat out Schatz-Rabatz by Noris Spiele (a pirate-themed game) and Push a Monster by Queen Games (a dexterity game about placing monster tokens on a small surface). The Spiel des Jahres (“Game of the Year”) and Kennerspiel des Jarhes (“Hobby Game of the Year”) will be announced on Monday, July 6, 2015.

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