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Spiel des Jahres e.V.
Formation
1978
Founded at
Nuremberg
Type
Association
Chairman
Harald Schrapers
General Manager
Guido Heinecke
Website
www.spiel-des-jahres.com/en
The Spiel des Jahres (German:[ˈʃpiːldəsˈjaːʁəs], 'Game of the Year') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market.[1] It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award was one of the major drivers of the quality of games coming out of Germany, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.[2] A Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500–3,000 copies to around 10,000, and the winner can usually expect to sell as many as 500,000 copies.[3]
Award criteria
The award is given by a jury of German-speaking board game critics from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland,[1] who review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months. The games considered for the award are family-style games. War games, role-playing games, collectible card games, and other complicated, highly competitive, or hobbyist games are outside the scope of the award. Since 1989, there has been a separate award for children's games. The jury is not subject to public scrutiny and members of the public are not offered the opportunity to influence the voting.
On occasion, the jury has awarded a special prize for more complex games, such as Agricola in 2008 or World Without End in 2010. Prior to 2011, this award was an exceptional award which was not necessarily awarded annually. In 2011, however, this practice was formalized when the jury created a new category for more complex games called Kennerspiel des Jahres. Along with the nominations, the jury also gives a list of recommended games, and occasionally gives out special prizes for games which will not be considered for the main award. The criteria on which a game is evaluated are:[4]
game concept (originality, playability, game value)
The nominations for the 2011 awards were announced on May 23, 2011, and the winners on June 27, 2011. This was the first year the Connoisseur-gamer Game of the Year award was given, an award for more complex games:
The nominations for the 2013 awards were announced on May 21, 2013, and the Spiel and Kennerspiel winners were announced on July 8, 2013. The Kinderspiel (Children's) Game of the Year was announced on June 12, 2013:
The nominations for the 2014 awards were announced on May 19, 2014. The Children's Game of the Year was announced on June 23, and the Game of the Year and Connoisseur's Game of the Year were announced on July 14:
The nominations for the 2015 awards were announced on May 18, 2015. The Kinderspiel des Jahres winner were announced on Monday, June 8, 2015, and the Spiel and Kennerspiel winners were announced on Monday, July 6, 2015:
The nominations for the 2017 award were announced on May 22, 2017. The winner for Children's Game of the Year was announced on June 19, 2017. The winners for Game of the Year and Connoisseur-gamer Game of the Year were announced on July 17, 2017.
The nominations and the special prize for the 2018 award were announced on May 14, 2018.[20] The winner for Children's Game of the Year was announced on June 11, 2018. The winners for Game of the Year and Connoisseur-gamer Game of the Year were announced on July 23, 2018.
The nominations for the 2020 award were announced on May 18, 2020.[29] The award for Children's Game of the Year was announced on June 15, 2020.[30] The winners were announced on July 20, 2020.[31][32]
The nominations for the 2021 award were announced on May 18, 2021.[33] The award for Children's Game of the Year was announced on June 14, 2021.[34] The winners were announced on July 19, 2021.[35]
Game of the Year
Game
Designer
Publisher
Result
MicroMacro: Crime City
Johannes Sich
Edition Spielwiese and Pegasus Spiele
Won[33][36][37]
Die Abenteuer des Robin Hood (The Adventures of Robin Hood)
The nominations for the 2022 award were announced on May 23, 2022. The award for Children's Game of the Year was announced on June 20, 2022.[39] The winners were announced on July 17, 2022.[40][41]
^ abDale Yu (20 June 2011). "Interview with Tom Werneck, Spiel des Jahres jury member – Part 1 of 3". The Opinionated Gamers. Archived from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2013-02-12.
^Werneck, Tom. "The Impact of the Award "Spiel des Jahres" on the Development of the Board Games Market in Germany" (PDF).
^Scott Tepper cited in Stewart Woods (2012). Eurogames: The Design, Culture and Play of Modern European Board Games. McFarland. p. 221. ISBN 978-0-7864-9065-3.
^"Spiel des Jahres e.V. -". Spiel des Jahres (www.spiel-des-jahres.com). Archived from the original on 24 March 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
^"Games database [Spiel des Jahres - Nominated for Spiel des Jahres]". Game of the Year (www.spiel-des-jahres.de). Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
^ ab"1998 Spiel des Jahres [Winners]". BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com). Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
^"Games database [Special Award]". Game of the Year (www.spiel-des-jahres.de). Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
^ abc"Games database [Spiel des Jahres - Nominated for Spiel des Jahres]". Game of the Year (www.spiel-des-jahres.de). Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^ ab"1999 Spiel des Jahres (Winners)". BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com). Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^ ab"1999 Spiel des Jahres (Nominations)". BoardGameGeek (www.boardgamegeek.com). Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Games database [Spiel des Jahres - Special Award]". Game of the Year (www.spiel-des-jahres.de). Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
^"Boardgame News article". Archived from the original on 2006-05-29. Retrieved 2006-05-30.
^"Die Nominierten 2016 stehen fest | Spiel des Jahres e.V." www.spiel-des-jahres.com. Archived from the original on 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2016-05-25.
^"Spiel des Jahres 2017 Announcement". spieldesjahres.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
^""Kingdomino" ist das Spiel des Jahres 2017". spieldesjahres.com (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
^"Kennerspiel des Jahres 2017 Announcement". spieldesjahres.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
^""EXIT - Das Spiel" ist das Kennerspiel des Jahres 2017". spieldesjahres.com (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-07-21. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
^"Kinderspiel des Jahres 2017 Announcement". spieldesjahres.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
^ ab"Presse - Kinderspiel des Jahres 2017 | Spiel des Jahres e.V." spieldesjahres.com (in German). Archived from the original on 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2017-06-19.
^"Spiel des Jahres e.V." Archived from the original on 2021-09-02. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
^"Hier sind die Nominierten 2019!". Spiel des Jahres (www.spiel-des-jahres.com) (in German). Archived from the original on 20 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
^"Kinder Spiel des Jahres!". Spiel des Jahres (www.spiel-des-jahres.com) (in German). Archived from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
^ abBreuer, Hendrik (July 22, 2019). "'Just One' is the game of the year 2019". Der Spiegel. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
^ abPyttlik, Olaf (July 26, 2019). "'Just One' ist das Spiel des Jahres 2019". Buchreport [de]. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
^ abcdefGorner, Thomas (22 July 2019). "Spiel des Jahres 2019 Winners Announced". Zatu. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ ab"Flügelschlag". Spiel des Jahres. Archived from the original on December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
^ abBreuer, Hendrik (24 June 2019). "Tal der Wikinger" ist "Kinderspiel des Jahres 2019". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^"Tal der Wikinger". Spiel des Jahres. 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
^"Nominierte und empfohlene Spiele 2020" [Nominated and Recommended Games 2020]. Spiel des Jahres (in German). 2020-05-18. Archived from the original on 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
^Heinecke, Guido (2020-06-15). "Speedy Roll ist das Kinderspiel des Jahres 2020" [Speedy Roll is the Kinderspiel des Jahres 2020]. Spiel des Jahres (in German). Archived from the original on 2020-09-28. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
^"Spiel des Jahres und Kennerspiel des Jahres 2020 stehen fest" [The winners 2020 have been elected]. Spiel des Jahres (in German). 2020-07-20. Archived from the original on 2020-10-25. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
^"Spiel des Jahres 2020". Spiel des Jahres. Archived from the original on 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
^ abcdefg"Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2021". Spiel des Jahres. 2021-05-17. Archived from the original on 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2021-05-19.
^"Dragomino is Kinderspiel des Jahres 2021". Spiel des Jahres. 2021-06-14. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
^"Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021". Spiel des Jahres. 2021-07-19. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
^ abcdJarvis, Matt (19 July 2021). "Spiel des Jahres 2021 winner: MicroMacro: Crime City takes home German 'Game of the Year' prize". dicebreaker.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^ abcdef"Micro Macro Crime City, and Paleo the big winners". tabletopgaming.co.uk. 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^"Dragomino is Kinderspiel des Jahres 2021". Spiel des Jahres. 2021-06-14. Archived from the original on 2021-06-14. Retrieved 2021-06-16.
^"Kinderspiel des Jahres 2022: Zauberberg". Spiel des Jahres. 2022-06-20. Archived from the original on 2023-05-20. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
^"Cascadia is Spiel des Jahres 2022". Spiel des Jahres. 2022-06-20. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
^"Award winners 2022". Spiel des Jahres. 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2022-05-25.
^ abcd""Cascadia" is Spiel des Jahres 2022". Spiel des Jahres. 2022-07-16. Retrieved 2022-07-16.
^"Kinderspiel des Jahres: "A strong year overall"". Spiel des Jahres. 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
^"Award winners 2023". Spiel des Jahres. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
^"Spiel des Jahres 2023: Dorfromantik". Spiel des Jahres. 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
^"Spiel des Jahres 2023". Spiel des Jahres. 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
^"Spiel des Jahres 2024: Sky Team". Spiel des Jahres. 2024-07-21. Retrieved 2024-07-21.
^Lundberg, Jonathan. "2016 Spiel Des Jahres Winners Announced | Dice Tower News". www.dicetowernews.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2016-08-30.