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.

• Comments Off on 2018 Spiel des Jahres Awarded to Azul, Kennerspiel des Jahres to Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg

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.

• Comments Off on 2015 Spiel des Jahres Awarded to Colt Express, Kennerspiel des Jahres to Broom Service

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.

• Comments Off on Spinderella wins Kinderspiel des Jahres 2015

The nominees for the 2015 Spiel des Jahres award have been announced!

The Nominees for the Spiel des Jahres 2015: Colt Express, Machi Koro, The Game. The Nominees for the Kinderspiel des Jahres 2015: Push a Monster, Schatz-Rabatz, Spinderella. The Nominees for the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2015: Broom Service, Elysium, Orléans.

Congratulations to all the nominees. Anyone care to start making predictions on the winners?

• Comments Off on Spiel des Jahres 2015 Nominees

Camel Up!

A big congratulations are in order for designer Steffen Bogen as Camel Up takes the 2014 Spiel des Jahres!

Camel Up sees 2-8 players betting on camels during a camel race. The game uses a pretty awesome pyramid dice shaker to release dice one at a time to move camels. Players can bid early to reap in huge rewards, or try to see how the race is playing out and play things a bit safer. Wacky hijinks ensue.

Camel Up is for players 8+, and plays in about 30 minutes.

• Comments Off on The winner of the Spiel des Jahres 2014 is…

The 2014 list of nominees for the Spiel des Jahres have been announced! For those not familiar, the Speil des Jahres is the “Game of the Year” award in Germany, and pretty much the most prestigious award in the gaming industry.

This list is as follows, taken directly off the Spiel des Jahres website. This list following the nominees is the committee’s Highly Recommended list of games for the 2014.

• Comments Off on Spiel des Jahres 2014 Nominees Announced

The 2013 Spiel des Jahres—German Game of the Year—has been awarded to Hanabi, designed by Antoine Bauza and published by Abacus Spiele in Germany. Hanabi is a cooperative card game, where each player can only see every other player’s cards.

For the main Spiel des Jahres award, the jury of German journalists selects a game that it considers outstanding for “gaming amongst family and friends,” in other words, a game that works well for people who are not dedicated hobby gamers. The Kennerspiel des Jahres, or Expert Game of the Year, award was given to Legends of Andor designed by Michael Menzel and published in Germany by KOSMOS. The jury had also earlier awarded the Kinderspiel des Jahres, Children’s Game of the Year, to Der verzauberte Turm.

In an earlier statement, the chairman of the jury, Tom Felber, had said that the value of a game “does not depend on the box size.”

• Comments Off on 2013 Spiel des Jahres