21
Award Winning Games 2015
Award WinningGames2015
Table of Contents Preface
once again played hundreds of new games. Since the perfect game for all tastes and situations doesn‘t exist, we have compiled a new recommendation list with a number of different titles, so that all players can find a game on the list that is the perfect fit for them.
25 games, all of which have something special about them, have made it onto the list. We have separa-ted them into three categories: Red indicates games suitable for the casual player. Charcoal-grey refers to games for players who have a little more experience in learning rules. And blue is for children‘s games.
We have tried to make the list as diverse as possible, so that there really is something for everyone. The list is a perfect example of what a broad spectrum of experiences games – as a cultural asset and home entertainment medium – make possible.
All the games introduced here have two things in common: They are still interesting even after count-less plays and they have the potential to bring com-pletely different types of people together around one table, creating experiences which will stay in their memories.
In this spirit we wish you lots of fun!
Tom Felber, Chair of the “Spiel des Jahres” committee
Preface by Tom Felber 3
Spiel des Jahres 4 - 5Colt Express Nominated Machi Koro 6The Game 7
Recommended 8 - 13
Kennerspiel des Jahres 14 - 15 Broom Service NominatedElysium 16Orléans 17
Recommended 18 - 20
“Spiel des Jahres” 21incentive program 2015
Kinderspiel des Jahres 22 - 23Spinderella
NominatedPush a Monster 24Schatz-Rabatz 25
Recommended 26 - 32
The 2015 Juries 33 Previous award winners 34 - 35Find a game 36 - 37Games Designer Grant 38Index/Impressum 39About “Spiel des Jahres” 40
Dear games fans,in their search for exceptio-nal gaming experiences, the “Spiel des Jahres” jury has
32
54
Spiel des Jahres: Winner
Colt Express
We are bandits in the Wild West, robbing a three-dimensional train on a daring journey over switching points, bridges and through tunnels. Revolvers smoke and fists fly as we race from carriage to carriage, robbing the passengers and beating our rivals. Watch out, the marshal’s coming! The outlaws quickly flee onto the roof, where the action continues as before. We take turns to play action cards onto a com-munal stack – sometimes face-up, sometimes face-down, sometimes two at a time, depending on where we are on the track. But it’s only at the end of the round that we see the results of what we’ve programmed in: fistfights, trigger fingers and the dreaded marshal ensure surprises and laughter. With its simple rules, “Colt Express” scripts a fast and furious adventure, the envy of any film director.
The jury’s explanation:
This plays like a Western parody! It´s almost slap-stick, the way the outlaws get into fistfights and lose the stolen money purses they thought were safe, or else just end up shooting into the air. Even as you start to smile because you´ve managed to thwart
the plans of the other ban-dits, you know you´ll soon fall into a trap yourself. This mixture of planning and chaos has charm and a lot of humour. The locomotive and carriages form a three-dimensional game board, making “Colt Express” particularly eye-catching.
• 2 - 6 players *
• age 10+
• about 40 minutes
• about 30 Euros
by: Christophe RaimbaultPublisher:LudonauteDistributor:AsmodeeArtwork / Illustration:Jordi Valbuena
* Our recommendation: 3 - 6 players
76
Spiel des Jahres: Nominated
Machi Koro
The objective of “The Game” soon becomes clear: players co-operate to correctly discard all the cards which have values of between 2 and 99. On two of the piles the cards have to be played in ascending order, on the other two in descending order. On your turn you must play at least two cards and then refill your hand. The game is over if anyone ever has to pass. The gap between two cards can be of any size but any giant leaps in number reduce the possibi-lities of winning. If only you knew what cards were in everyone else’s hand! You’re all allowed to communicate but it’s forbidden to name actual numbers. Despite this, there are often lively dis-cussions punctuated with emotional outbursts. This is sometimes caused when you experience setbacks but mostly when you manage to work out this simple but engaging form of patience.
Spiel des Jahres: Nominated
• 2 - 4 players
• age 8+
• about 30 minutes
• about 13 Euros
Our little town is ready to grow. Where at first only wheat fields and the village bakery slept the day away, soon the urban sprawl will give rise to shops, factories and cafés. Each player is the new mayor of one such mini-metropolis and wants to construct the four landmarks: train station, ra-dio tower, amusement park and shopping mall. Players take turns to roll (at first) one die, then all players check whether their buildings produce any income. Some buildings only bring in money on the active player’s turn, others when it’s someone else’s go too. This money is in turn invested in new enterprises – or in one of the important landmarks. “Machi Koro” is a quick and light strategic building game for little and large town planners, who live in little and large towns.
The Game *
by: Masao SuganumaPublisher:KosmosArtwork / Illustration:Noboru Hotta
1 - 5 players •
age 8+ •
about 20 minutes •
about 8 Euros •
by: Steffen BenndorfPublisher: Nürnberger-Spielkarten-VerlagArtwork / Illustration: Oliver & Sandra Freudenreich
* In Switzerland „The Game“ was published with a different box cover. The publisher is Game Factory.
98
Spiel des Jahres: Recommended Spiel des Jahres: Recommended
Cacao
by: Phil Walker-HardingPublisher: AbacusspieleArtwork / Illustration: Claus Stephan
• 2 - 4 players
• age 8+
• about 45 minutes
• about 25 Euros
Cacao is called the “fruit of the gods” because it was considered by the Aztecs to be so valuable they were even paid in cocoa beans. In “Cacao,” players settle an unexplored jungle with their tri-be. They create plantations, sell their harvests, dig for gold and carry water for their village. Powerful temples and sun-worshipping sites bring the favo-ur of the gods as well as points at the end of the game. Players take turns to play one worker tile in the jungle and then make use of the neighbouring spaces, creating a chessboard pattern with ever-changing possibilities. Quick turns, bittersweet de-cisions and long-lasting planning delight hold the balance in this tactical game made from at least 70% cocoa.
2 - 5 players •
age 8+ •
about 20 minutes •
about 25 Euros •
With its bright colours, crazy landscapes and cartoony characters, “Loony Quest” resemb-les a video game – just without the electronics. Players can now follow in the footsteps of Mario and Sonic! Armed with a pen and clear plastic, players have to find the ideal path to the goal through each level. Hitting walls, bombs or the crazy Loonies is bad but coins and bonus tiles are good. In order to gain valuable experience points, you’ll need to have a steady hand to draw a precise path on the plastic, while staring at the level in the middle of the table, all against the clock. Caution is advised, especially on the final level of each world, where the end of level boss is waiting and your opponents will choose to play their dirtiest tricks...
Loony Quest
by: Laurent Escoffier und David FranckPublisher: LibelludDistributor: AsmodeeArtwork / Illustration: Paul Mafayon
f f
1110
Spiel des Jahres: Recommended Spiel des Jahres: Recommended
It’s the final wizard studies exam: you’ll need to summon a dragon, conjure up spirits or impress the competition with storms and fireballs – the necessary repertory in “Simsala... Bumm?” is made up of eight magic spells. But which one is next? Each player has five personal spellstones showing this but you can only see the back of your own stones. The apprentices can receive hints by drawing conclusions from their oppo-nents’ visible stones, spells that have already been cast and the behaviour of their fellow play-ers. If you cast a wrong spell you lose life points. If you’re right, you heal yourself or make other players lose life. True masters clear up all their own stones, in order to get to the magic number of eight in the final round of scoring.
Simsala… Bumm?Patchwork
It’s all coming together: In “Patchwork,” two play-ers create a quilt out of fabric off-cuts, patches and buttons – all through the technique suggested by the title. Is it art? Of course. But the main task of these tailors is to fill the play area with fabric tiles in many different shapes and sizes. This jigsaw puzzle requires a keen sense of tactics, as the choice of a patch influences the rest of your turn and also the choice of patches your opponent will have on their next turn. Everything has to be paid for and buttons are the currency in this game. The more buttons there are on the tiles already sewn in, the more income is paid out. Whoever has gai-ned the most buttons at the end of the game wins this smart sewing competition.
• 2 players
• age 8+
• about 30 minutes
• about 20 Euros
2 - 5 players •
age 8+ •
about 30 minutes •
about 25 Euros •
by: Gary KimPublisher:Pegasus SpieleArtwork / Illustration:Marie Cardouat
by: Uwe RosenbergPublisher: Lookout SpieleDistributor:ASS AltenburgerArtwork / Illustration:Klemens Franz
f f
1312
Spiel des Jahres: Recommended
Ugo!
There are werewolves in the village. But who-se face are they hiding behind? The objective of the communication-based bluffing and party game “One Night Ultimate Werewolf” is to find out. At the beginning of the game each player is secretly assigned a character. Then night draws in and all players close their eyes. A games mas-ter or the companion app wakes up some of the villagers. Characters such as the robber, troub-lemaker or seer create chaos or receive infor-mation. Once dawn breaks, not every character knows who they are anymore. Now it’s time for discussion, bluffing, lying and speculation. The werewolves want to divert suspicion away from themselves, the villagers want to uncover the werewolves. In the final vote one character dies. If it’s a werewolf, the village wins. Otherwise the werewolves will howl with victory.
• 3 - 10 players
• age 8+
• about 10 minutes
• about 13 Euros
by: Ted Alspach und Akihisa OkuiPublisher: Bézier GamesDistributor: Spiel direktArtwork / Illustration: Gus Batts
f f
Spiel des Jahres: Recommended
The King wants revenue. In order to provide it, the players in the card game “Ugo!” have to take the right tricks in the right order. There are five suits, each with the numbers zero to eight. Each player begins the round with ten cards in hand. If you can, you must follow suit. The trick is won by the player who contributes the highest number, regardless of suit. This player sorts the cards by suit and places them onto their estates, covering up cards from previous tricks. There’s a mischie-vous sense of joy when someone has to place a zero on an eight, since at the end of the game every farming estate is worth the points shown by the top card. Whoever hires too few farmers on each trick gains minus points in this refined trick-taking game.
Vollmondnacht
2 - 4 players •
age 10+ •
about 40 minutes •
about 13 Euros •
by: Ronald Hoekstra,Thomas Jansen und Patrick ZuidhofPublisher:KosmosArtwork / Illustration:Franz Vohwinkel
1514
Kennerspiel des Jahres: Winner
Ding dong, your elixir is here! Anyone who’s an-yone in the world of wizardry lets speedy witches or bearded druids deliver freshly-brewed potions straight to their door. The players assume the role of one of these flying delivery services on the hunt for points and magic wands. Every round they choose four out of ten different roles, in order to produce potions and deliver them to castles. Each card shows an action which has two types: brave or cowardly. The brave action is more rewarding but also riskier: a later player may steal it away from you. Is it better to play it safe, choose the cowardly option and be satis-fied with less? “Broom Service” is a trick-taking game which rewards planning, intuition and bra-ve (and sometimes cowardly) play.
The jury’s explanation:
To be brave or cowardly? This question runs through a game of “Broom Service” like a red thread. You constant-ly have to decide whether you want to take a risky but much more profitable action or whether you prefer to be cautious and take the safe
option, creating a real sense of tension and excitement. Breaking an opponent´s spell and removing their tactical advantage can lead to truly magical moments. Especially nice: additional advanced va-riants add even more variety.
Broom Service
• 2 - 5 players
• age 10+
• about 75 minutes
• about 40 Euros
by:Andreas Pelikan und Alexander PfisterPublisher: alea/Ravensburger Distributor: Heidelberger SpieleverlagArtwork / Illustration:Vincent Dutrait
1716
Kennerspiel des Jahres: Nominated
Elysium
Orléans in the middle ages. Merchants strive for fame and fortune in the Loire Valley. At their side are an illustrious carousel of a wide range of professions. Knights, craftsmen, sailors, monks, farmers and scholars are hired over the course of the game. What makes this different is that they firstly go into a bag from which the players draw new character tiles each round, in order to combine them with actions on their tableau. In this way, players travel through the region, collect goods, open new offices, expand their following, erect buildings in and around Orléans or use their works to serve the common good. There are numerous strategies and paths to vic-tory: whoever has the most points at the end of the game will go down in history as the most in-fluential merchant of Orléans.
Kennerspiel des Jahres: Nominated
Orléans
Welcome to mythic Greece. As demigods, the players try to collect allies of different families of gods over five epochs and transfer them to their Elysium. To gain a card from the centre of the board and then use its power, players must have an equal number of columns in the depicted co-lour. Since after every action, players have to remove one of these columns, the possibilities gradually become more limited. If players fail to complete a quest at the temple they may only transfer the minimum number of family cards to their Elysium. They lose their effects but this is the only way combinations of cards can earn points at the end of the game. So when should players dismiss which cards? Different strate-gies lead to Olympus.
2 - 4 players •
age 12+ •
about 90 minutes •
about 50 Euros •
• 2 - 4 players
• age 14+
• about 60 minutes
• about 50 Euros
by:Reiner StockhausenPublisher: dlp gamesDistributor: Heidelberger SpieleverlagArtwork / Illustration:Klemens Franz
by:Brett J. Gilbert und Matthew DunstanPublisher: Space CowboysDistributor:AsmodeeArtwork / Illustration:various
1918 Auf den Spuren von Marco Polo Arler Erde
Starting in Venice, players retrace “The Voyages of Marco Polo.” The shrewd navigators travel to-wards the east by camel, establish trading posts, gain goods and privileges, fulfil assignments and pursue their own personal goals. To control the action, every player rolls their own set of dice at the beginning of a round. The number of dice rolled in each round and their results show how often an action can be taken or how much in-come is earned. Money must be paid to use an action space that is already occupied. So they don’t have to rely exclusively on the luck of the dice, each player takes on the role of a unique character with individual abilities. Whoever uses this to the best effect proves themselves to be Marco Polo’s best travelling companion.
Did you know, Arle is a village in East Friesland, north-west Germany. It is here that both play-ers attempt to run their own farm over nine half-years, between summer and winter. Players cut peat, rear cows and sheep, build dykes, harvest crops but also sew clothes, build carts and travel through the region between Dollart and Jadebu-sen. And these are just a few examples of all the outstanding tasks to do. Players take turns to place their four family members on spaces – which change according to the season – and carry out the related action. The strategy game “Arler Erde” recreates the life of hard-working farmers in this area of the country and every game recounts the history of this unique coastal region in the 18th century.
Kennerspiel des Jahres: Recommended Kennerspiel des Jahres: Recommended
1 - 2 players •
age 14+ •
about 90 minutes •
about 50 Euros •
• 2 - 4 players
• age 12+
• about 100 minutes
• about 39 Euros
by: Uwe RosenbergPublisher:FeuerlandArtwork / Illustration:Dennis Lohausen
by: Daniele Tascini und Simone LucianiPublisher: Hans im GlückDistributor:SchmidtArtwork / Illustration: Dennis Lohausen
f f
2120 Deus
Ancient Rome is the backdrop for the civilisation game “Deus,” which crowns players as leaders of an emerging empire. Cities grow with vari-ous buildings, resources are mined and legions march through the land to surround barbarian villages. Players play building cards from their hand onto their tableau and can in this way im-prove their empires in terms of their economic, technological or military reputation. If a new card expands a set of the same suit, the effects of all the other cards happens too – which can be used very cleverly. You mustn’t forget the gods, however. Sacrificing cards to Jupiter, Minerva and co. can bring players great rewards that are indispensable for eventual victory.
Kennerspiel des Jahres: Recommended
• 2 - 4 players
• age 14+
• about 90 minutes
• about 50 Euros
by: Sébastien DujardinPublisher: Pearl GamesDistributor: Heidelberger SpieleverlagArtwork / Illustration: Ian Parovel
f
The “Spiel des Jahres” committee supports projects re-lated to gaming, such as events, games promotions, ex-hibitions, book publications and media projects. Anyone interested can make an application with a project and request an incentive grant.
Since the start of the incentive programme in 2012, 105 projects in Germany, Austria and Switzerland have been given over 180,000 Euros in financial support, for ex-ample the following projects in 2014:
The incentive programme will be continued in 2016. Funding priority will be given to gaming projects at day schools. Details and an application form can be found on our homepage under the menu tab “Wir fördern.”The deadline for applications is 30.11.2015
The event “Römerberger Spieletage”
Bad Nauheim plays
Spiele-Café, Alte Feuerwache Köln
The “Spiel des Jahres” incentive programme
22 23Kinderspiel des Jahres: Winner
The jury‘s explanation:
There’s a lot of activity on the forest floor – and abo-ve it too. The multi-laye-red magnetic mechanism exerts a magical attraction over the players. The desi-gner Roberto Fraga adds a new level to the classic
race game. The spider lurking directly above the ants’ path creates a creeping sense of peril. Do I attack my opponents? Or do I try to get my own ants safely home? This exciting game concept oversha-dows the quality compo-nents every time: it’s no gimmick.
Spinderella
Speedy ants flit over the forest floor. But above them lurk three fat spiders in their web. This is shown on a second game map, hovering over the forest floor. Magnets mean that when two spiders move, the third can abseil down to the forest floor on a long thread to catch one of the ants. Lucky dice rolls and smart thinking decide whether players move one of their ants or move both the spiders in the web – or even whether an ant should be protected by placing a hollow tree stump over them, preventing the spider from catching them but also stopping the ant from moving forward. An extraordinary three-dimensi-onal game that uses a mixture of luck and tactics to create real tension, for older players too.
• 2 - 4 players
• age 6+
• about 20 minutes
• about 30 Euros
by: Roberto FragaPublisher: ZochArtwork / Illustration:Doris Matthäus
24 25Kinderspiel des Jahres: Nominated Kinderspiel des Jahres: Nominated
Stealing and stacking treasure – that’s what “Schatz-Rabatz” is all about. When the timer starts, players have to snatch precious items from the middle of the table and stack them in their treasure chests until they’re full to the brim. If the lid doesn’t close then you’ll have to make some more room. Once the sand ti-mer runs out, players count up their spoils. And that’s where Jewels Jack comes in: every round a card shows which type of treasure in which colour this sneaky buccaneer demands as tri-bute. These treasures are then taken away. The best strategy is not to blindly grab for treasure but to try and collect as many different types as possible. Each round the most successful player receives a piece of their own pirate ship. Once this is completed, they have won – and can set sail for new adventures with the game’s more tactical variant.
Schatz-Rabatz
2 - 4 players •
age 5+ •
about 20 minutes •
about 20 Euros •
Push a Monster
All sorts of monsters have come together in an arena. Space is quickly running out for the crea-tures and so each one has to work hard to de-fend their own rightful place. Players roll mons-ter symbols and try as accurately as possible to push the corresponding wooden figure onto the platform in the middle of the table. The more fi-gures gradually crowd in, the trickier it is to place monsters without others tumbling to the ground. When this happens, each other player gets a tile showing the unlucky monster. Whoever has the longest row of tiles at the end of the game is the winner. You’ll need luck, skill as well as a good head for tactics in order to be the last monster standing.
by: Karin HetlingPublisher: NorisArtwork / Illustration:Johann Rüttinger
• 2 - 4 players
• ag 5+ *
• about 15 minutes
• about 35 Euros
* our recommendation: age 6+
by: Wolfgang Dirscherl and Manfred ReindlPublisher: Queen GamesArtwork / Illustration:Claus Stephan, Michael Hüter
26 27Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
Der verdrehte Sprachzoo
Here’s a wild tale! A crafty monkey has escaped from the zoo. Before it can re-open, players have to work together to get the monkey back into its tree. To do this, players reveal two chips and then have to make up a story based on the pic-tures shown. Gradually, the cogs move to hide the 22 pictures under the game board. Now the task is to remember the tales until the “spun” pic-tures appear again. The crazier the stories, the easier it is to remember them. A versatile story-telling game for the whole family, where children learn to express themselves, pay attention and remember details, with an unusual game board and variants for experts.
Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
Chef Alfredo
Chef Alfredo is a talented chef but unfortunately he’s also very messy. He’s always mixing up the pots on his stove which contain carrot, tomato, bean or garlic soup. Players have to remember where each ingredient belongs. A die shows whether players have to swap the pots around or whether a certain pot requires more adding to it. And if you can’t remember? Then just act as if you do and hope that your opponents fall for it, since you get points every time you correctly get rid of an ingredient or if you can prove that an opponent has made a mistake. If you’re wrong, you’ll come away empty-handed. This is a tasty treat: a smart dice game seasoned with bluffing and memory.
2 - 4 players •
age 4+ •
about 20 minutes •
about 14 Euros •
• 2 - 4 players
• age 5+ *
• about 15 minutes *
• about 35 Euros
by: Michael SchachtPublisher:Queen GamesArtwork / Illustration:Oliver Schlemmer
by: Klaus KreowskiPublisher: RavensburgerArtwork / Illustration: Gabriela Silveira
* our recommendation: age 6+, about 20 minutes
f f
28 29Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
Fliegenschmaus
Hot dogs and ice cream, toilets and rubbish bins. That all smells delicious – if you’re a fly. In this humorous race game, the track is studded with all sorts of tasty treats and at the very end is a nice brown pile of, erm… mouse droppings. It’s a dream feast for the four flies that each player has to get to the end of the race. To do this, play-ers have to play cards onto different areas of the track. Sometimes they help flies of the same colour get a bit further ahead, allowing them to zoom around the track, but sometimes they represent danger, like the fly-swatter which can bring players back to the start, or the sweeping card which lets players swap places. The most important thing is: don’t kick up a stink. You have to learn how to annoy players and leave them behind.
Fröschlein aufgepasst!
Don’t be a frog! It’s a dangerous life. There’s always one hopping around the swamp. That’s where two to four hungry storks are waiting, on the lookout for a slippery meal. The die shows players whether they can rush towards their prey, whether the frog hops away onto a lily pad or whether they can take a risk and take an action card. These can bring you up to four spaces closer to your prey – or send you back to the start. Alternatively you can just move one space ahead. This is how you reach your goal: the flower on which the frog is hiding. The most successful – but not necessarily the quickest – stork will win this sophisticated racing game.
Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
by: Manfred LudwigPublisher:NorisArtwork / Illustration:Johann Rüttinger
by: Dietmar KeuschPublisher: HabaArtwork / Illustration: Kai Pannen
2 - 4 players •
age 4+ •
about 15 minutes •
about 25 Euros •
• 2 - 4 players
• age 6+
• about 20 minutes
• about 13 Euros
f f
30 31Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
Joe’s Zoo
Is the tiger hiding with the anteaters? Or the zebra with the flamingos? Things have got all mixed up at Joe’s zoo. Maybe the players can sort them out. There are ten animal cards on the table. Joe moves through them according to the roll of the die. Players need to know (or take a lucky guess) which animal is on the reverse of the card Joe stops at. Whoever guesses right gets a treat. Contrary to other memory games, all players play at once: they all use their hint card to bet on the correct animal, placing it face-down in front of them. Then the card is turned over and scored. It’s a constantly changing situ-ation – at least a little. There’s wild times to be had at Joe’s zoo.
Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
Honigbienchen
Buzz, buzz, buzz – bees are buzzing around! The insects work hard to gather honey then dis-appear into their hives. But which bees are hi-ding where? When will the bear appear to swipe the golden nectar? Six different coloured bees are covered with identical hives then the player draws a card from a face-down deck. If the card shows a coloured bee, the player must find the hive where that bee is hiding. If they lift the cor-rect hive, they place it in front of them, along with the bee. But if they reveal a bear card they’re in trouble! The sneaky bear steals one of their hives. You’ll need to keep an eye on the cons-tantly changing game position to win this tricky memory game.
by: Wolfgang DirscherlPublisher:PiatnikArtwork / Illustration:unknown
by: Reiner KniziaPublisher: AmigoArtwork / Illustration: Michael Menzel
2 - 5 players •
age 4+ * •
about 15 minutes •
about 11 Euros •
• 2 - 5 players
• age 4+
• about 15 minutes
• about 16 Euros
f f
* our recommendation: age 5+
32Kinderspiel des Jahres: Recommended
Schau mal! Was ist anders? *
Was the dolphin jumping out of the water or into it? Was the traffic light red or green? Wasn’t the snowman wearing sunglasses? Was it a long or short pencil? 32 playing cards show an almost identical symbol on each side. Depending on the number of players, each child receives between four and six cards, then five are dealt out in the middle of the table. While the other players close their eyes, one child turns over a card in the middle. Everyone else now has to try and work out as quickly as possible which of the five cards was turned over. This is more or less difficult de-pending on which card it was. Whoever is first to discover the correct picture can place their own card in the middle. An eye for detail and a good memory are needed for this quick card game.
by: Haim ShafirPublisher: AmigoArtwork / Illustration: Karen Craig
• 2 - 6 players
• age 4+
• about 10 minutes
• about 8 Euro
33
The “Kinderspiel des Jahres” Jury
The “Spiel des Jahres” and“Kennerspiel des Jahres” Jury
The “Kinderspiel des Jahres” jury and advisory panel 2015:From left to right: Stefan Gohlisch, Tina Kraft, Stefanie Marckwardt, Cordula Dernbach, Sabine Koppelberg, Christoph Schlewinski
The “Spiel des Jahres” and “Kennerspiel des Jahres” jury 2015 From left to right (standing): Bernhard Löhlein, Wieland Herold, Martin Klein, Tom Felber, Udo Bartsch, Chris MewesSeated: Karsten Grosser, Guido HeineckeMissing: Sandra Lemberger
The “Spiel des Jahres” critics’ award has been awarded since 1979. Since 2011 the “Kennerspiel des Jahres” prize has also been given. The nine-person jury res-ponsible for both awards consists of games journalists and is independent from the industry and trade.
The critic’s award “Kinderspiel des Jahres”, which has existed since 2001, is awarded by a jury that works in-tensively with children’s games. In 2015 the jury consis-ted of three members of the “Spiel des Jahres” commit-tee and three advisors.
The Jury 2015
f
* In Switzerland “Schau mal, was ist anders?” was published under the name “Vice Versa”
35Kinderspiel des Jahres2001: Klondike2002: Maskenball der Käfer2003: Viva Topo!2004: Geistertreppe2005: Das kleine Gespenst2006: Der schwarze Pirat2007: Beppo der Bock2008: Wer war‘s?2009: Das magische Labyrinth2010: Diego Drachenzahn2011: Da ist der Wurm drin2012: Schnappt Hubi!2013: Der verzauberte Turm2014: Geister, Geister, Schatzsuchmeister!2015: Spinderella
Kennerspiel des Jahres2011: 7 Wonders2012: Village2013: Die Legenden von Andor 2014: Istanbul2015: Broom Service
Previous award winners34
Spiel des Jahres1979: Hase und Igel1980: Rummikub1981: Focus1982: Sagaland1983: Scotland Yard1984: Dampfross1985: Sherlock Holmes´ Criminal-Cabinet1986: Heimlich & Co1987: Auf Achse1988: Barbarossa und die Rätselmeister1989: Café International1990: Adel verpflichtet1991: Drunter & Drüber1992: Um Reifenbreite1993: Bluff1994: Manhattan1995: Die Siedler von Catan1996: El Grande1997: Mississippi Queen1998: Elfenland1999: Tikal2000: Torres2001: Carcassonne2002: Villa Paletti2003: Der Palast von Alhambra2004: Zug um Zug2005: Niagara2006: Thurn und Taxis2007: Zooloretto2008: Keltis2009: Dominion2010: Dixit2011: Qwirkle2012: Kingdom Builder2013: Hanabi2014: Camel Up2015: Colt Express
Award Winners Kinderspiele 201536
Find a game
Age Title Difficulty Players
Play-ingtime(min)
Page
4 Honig-biechen + 2 - 5 15 30
4Schau mal!
Was ist anders?
+ 2 - 6 10 32
4Der
verdrehte Sprachzoo
++ 2 - 4 20 27
4 Fröschlein aufgepasst! ++ 2 - 4 15 29
5* Joe‘s Zoo + 2 - 5 15 31
5Schatz
Rabatz n++ 2 - 4 20 25
6*Push a
Monster n+ 2 - 4 15 24
6* Chef Alfredo ++ 2 - 4 20* 26
6 Fliegen-schmaus ++ 2 - 4 20 28
6 Spinderella +++ 2 - 4 20 22
+ = easy to learn++ = normal+++ = challenging++++ = especially challenging* = our rating varies from that of the publisher
highlighted in blue: = Kinderspiel des Jahresn = Nominated gameshighlighted in red: = Spiel des Jahresn = Nominated games highlighted = Kennerspiel des Jahresin charcoal-grey:n = Nominated games
The tables are sorted in ascending order by age and difficulty.
37
Age Title Difficulty PlayersPlaying
time(min)
Page
8 Simsala… Bumm? + 2 - 5 30 11
8 The Game n + 1 - 5 20 7
8 Cacao ++ 2 - 4 45 8
8 Loony Quest ++ 2 - 5 20 9
8 Machi Koro n ++ 2 - 4 30 6
8 Patchwork ++ 2 30 10
8 Vollmond-nacht ++ 3 - 10 10 13
10 Colt Express ++ 3 - 6* 40 4
10 Ugo! ++ 2 - 4 40 12
Award Winners Spiele 2015
Find a game
Age Title Difficulty PlayersPlaying
time(min)
Page
10 Broom Service +++ 2 - 5 75 14
12 Orléans n +++ 2 - 4 90 17
12Auf den
Spuren von Marco Polo
++++ 2 - 4 100 18
14 Deus +++ 2 - 4 90 20
14 Elysium n +++ 2 - 4 60 16
14 Arler Erde ++++ 1 - 2 90 19
Award Winners Kennerspiele 2015
Games Designer Grant Index / Impressum
38 Games Designer Grant IndexThe Games Designer Grant is intended to give up-and-coming designers an insight into the varied areas of the gaming scene. It is not just intended to enhance the focus on the unique ac-tivities of the designer but also includes insights on the consumer perspective and the field of game theory. A sum of 3,000 Euro is available to cover the grant holder’s travel costs and ex-penses. Several work placements are envisa-ged, including in a games publishing house and with a specialised games merchant. The grant is awarded every year at the game designer mee-ting in Göttingen.
Sophia Wagner, from Potsdam in Germany, was awarded the grant for 2015/16 by the “Spiel des Jahres” committee. The 30 year-old geoscientist won the coveted incentive award at the game designer meeting in Göttingen on 6th-7th June 2015. For further information, go to: www.spiel-des-jahres.com
Arler Erde........................................................19Auf den Spuren von Marco Polo .....................18Broom Service................................................14Cacao.........................................................8Chef Alfredo....................................................26Colt Express......................................................4Deus.........................................................20Der verdrehte Sprachzoo................................27Elysium.........................................................16Fliegenschmaus............................................28Fröschlein aufgepasst!....................................29Honigbienchen...............................................30Joe‘s Zoo........................................................31Loony Quest......................................................9Machi Koro........................................................6Orléans.........................................................17Patchwork.....................................................10Push a Monster..............................................24Schatz Rabatz................................................25Schau mal! Was ist anders?............................32Simsala...Bumm?...........................................11Spinderella....................................................22The Game.........................................................7Ugo!.........................................................12Vollmondnacht.............................................13
1st Edition 2015
Editorial Office: Spiel des Jahres e. V. Gr. Rurstraße 30 - 32, 52428 Jülich Telefon: 02461 93868-25 [email protected]: temedes gmbh, 52428 JülichPrint: Prost Druck GmbH, 52428 JülichCopyright Photos: Spiel des Jahres e. V. and the publishers for their cover shotsTranslation: Andrew Wormald
Further informationen at: www.spiel-des-jahres.com
Impressum
39
Presented with the compliments of
