Spiel des Jahres Nominees Have Been Announced!

There are three different awards given, and their nominees have been announced as of Monday.

Here is the link to the official homepage.

I've played ... um ... Machi Koro.  And Elysium will be in my hands later today.


The Spiel des Jahres is the German Game of the Year.  It's a very prestigious prize, and a lot of Americans are often disappointed by the winner, because they tend to favor family games over hardcore games - a division that was made more-or-less explicit a few years back when they created the Kennerspiel des Jahres for more hardcore games.

The Spiel des Jahres nominees are:
Colt Express is published by Ludonaute, and it is distributed by Asmodee in North America. I've heard it's really good, but I haven't had a chance to try it, yet.
Machi Koro is an engine-builder published by Kosmos games (there's no drawing, so it's not really a deck-builder). It's fun, but I find it a bit too light for my tastes. There are a couple of expansions out (or coming) that improve the game for me.
The Game is not (so far as I know) available in English.

The Kinderspiel des Jahres is the Children's Game of the Year.  I don't know any of these games, and it doesn't look like any of them are available in English. So, other than titles, I know nothing of these games.
Push a Monster
Schats-Rabatz
Spinderella

The Kennerspiel des Jahres is the more hardcore category.
Broom Service hasn't been released in English yet. Looks like it's expected later this year, though.  The audience for hobby games is small enough that this nomination (unlike many other awards) can really boost sales.
Elysium is one I worked on the English translation for. It looks fun, and maybe we can try it tonight.
Orleans isn't in English, yet, either.  Tasty Minstrel ran a Kickstarter for this one, and it's rumored to be due in September.

Because of my lack of familiarity with the nominees, I can't even make an educated guess as to who the winners will be.

There are also a number of recommended games that are (essentially) runners-up.  And - again - I don't know many of the games (even though I recognizes a number of the designers and publishers).

The Kinderspiel winner will be announced in about two weeks on June 8.  On July 6th, the Spiel and Kennerspiel will be awarded, so we won't be in suspense for too long.

Origins Awards and Spiel des Jahres

One post, two sets of awards.

I'm ... not completely dissatisfied with the Origins Awards Winners. In fact, several categories turned out much better than I had expected.

This post is mostly just a list of winners, with a bit of commentary from me.

Best RPG: The Dresden Files. Good. I agree that it was the best on the list - Fiasco is really good, and I wouldn't have minded seeing it win, either.

Best Supplement: The Dresden Files RPG: Our World. The second half of the Dresden Files RPG. Once one of them won, it was almost guaranteed that the other would.

Best Board Game: Castle Ravenloft. I was right previously, even though I much prefer Fresco.

Best Traditional Card Game:  Back to the Future: The Card Game. I predicted Ascension. I'm dissatisfied with this category's outcome, as I wasn't a fan of the winner.

Best Family, Children's, or Party Game: Zombie Dice - the game on the list that ... um ... most appealed to non-children and family gamers won this category. Not surprising, considering who the voters were.

Best Accessory: I called it. The Cthulhu Dice Bag won.  But this is unsurprising. It's a weird category, as it's open to nearly everything. This is the "I can't figure out where to fit this item," category. This was the most universal of the items on the list.

Best Miniatures Rules: The winner was the new edition of Heroclix. Or, more accurately, the latest re-release of the Heroclix rules set with minor mechanical tweaks. I'm not a fan of the game.

Best Historical Board Game: I was right previously.  Catan Histories - Settlers of America won.

Best Game-Related Publication: Shadowrun: Spells and Chrome. Previously, I'd suggested that this was e-book only. I was apparently wrong - the title is slightly different on Amazon's site - Shadowrun Anthology Volume 1 - Spells & Chrome. I'm still disappointed at its win. I find myself wondering if the paperback was in the Origins swag bag this year.

As to the Spiel des Jahres - for me, this is the more important awards set. It's more relevant to me than most of the Origins Awards. And there isn't a deep list of categories - there are only three of them (one of them is new).

Their website has an interesting question in the FAQ:

Is „Spiel des Jahres" meant to provide an award for the „best" game of the year?

No - for two reasons: For one, apart from external features the quality of games is not subject to objectivity; the same applies for other cultural products like books or films. Judging a game to be "the best" remains subjective. The jury has to look at the quality with regard to the target group - which means we are talking about a very heterogeneous group where hobby gamers and games specialists form only a very small part. So what the latter might deem to be an excellent game could easily overstrain the average consumer, keep him from playing and thus do damage to the idea of playing games.

In other words, the Spiel des Jahres is for the average consumer, not for the hardcore gamers. Several games over the last few years have caused a furor over their nomination and/or victory. Dixit, for example, took a lot of flak for being too simple.


Spiel des Jahres: And the winner is ... Qwirkle. Not many people saw this coming - especially since the game has been out in the US for several years. What most people continue to forget is that SdJ isn't about the hobby market - the Jury thought that Qwirkle was a good game that deserved recognition. Was it the best game of the three nominated? I don't know - I haven't played Asara. I wasn't a fan of Forbidden Island. I did like Qwirkle.

Kennerspiel des Jahres: And the first-ever Kennerspiel award winner is ... 7 Wonders. Not surprising. It's been winning nearly everything it was nominated for. And it is as good as you hear it is - I can't wait to take Leaders for a spin ...