Spiel des Jahres

The Spiel des Jahres (German for "Game of the Year") is a prestigious award for board and card games.

The award was created in 1978 to reward excellence in game design, and to promote top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality of games coming out of Germany. A Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500-3000 copies to around 10,000; and the winner can usually expect to sell 300,000 to 500,000 copies. [cite web
url=http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comments/scott_tepper_sdj_by_the_numbers/
title=SDJ By The Numbers
author=Scott Tepper
work=Boardgame News
accessdate=2007-05-30]

Award criteria

The award is given by a jury of German boardgame critics, who review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months. The games considered for the award are family-style games; wargames, 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. 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 will be evaluated are, generally speaking:
# Game idea & originality
# Rule structure & clarity
# Presentation (art and parts)
# Game mechanics

2008 awards

The nominations for the 2008 award were released on 25 May 2008. The five games nominated were:
* Stone Age - Michael Tummelhofer, Hans im Glück
* Keltis - Reiner Knizia, Kosmos
* Witch's Brew - Andreas Pelikan, alea/Ravensburger
* Blox - Wolfgang Kramer, Jürgen P.K. Grunau, Hans Raggan, Ravensburger
* Suleika - Dominique Ehrhard, Zoch Spiele

Keltis was announced as winner on 30 June, 2008.

Along with the nominations, the jury also awarded a special prize:

* "Best complex game": Agricola - Uwe Rosenberg, Lookout Games

2007 awards

The nominations for the 2007 award were released on 20 May 2007. The five games nominated were:
* The Thief of Baghdad - Thorsten Gimmler, Queen Games
* Zooloretto - Michael Schacht, Abacus Spiele
* Jenseits von Theben - Peter Prinz, Queen Games
* Arkadia - Rüdiger Dorn, Ravensburger
* Yspahan - Sébastien Pauchon, Ystari|linkZooloretto was announced as winner on 25 June, 2007.

2006 awards

The nominations for the 2006 award were released on 28 May, 2006. The five games nominated were:
* Seeräuber - Stefan Dorra, Queen Games
* Aqua Romana - Martin Schlegel, Queen Games
* Just 4 Fun - Jürgen P.K. Grunau, Kosmos
* Thurn and Taxis - Karen & Andreas Seyfarth, Hans im Glück
* Blue Moon City - Reiner Knizia, KosmosThurn and Taxis was announced as winner on 17 July, 2006.

Along with the nominations, the jury also assigned two special prizes for games which it felt were too demanding to count as 'family style' games.cite web
url=http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comments/spiel_des_jahres_nominees/
title=Boardgame News article
accessdate=2006-05-30]
*"Best fantasy game:" Shadows over Camelot - Serge Laget and Bruno Cathala, Days of Wonder
*"Best complex game:" Caylus - William Attia, Ystari|link

2005 awards

The nominations for the 2005 award were released on 8 May, 2005. The five games nominated were:
* Niagara - Thomas Liesching, Zoch Verlag
* Verflixxt - Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, Ravensburger
* Around the World in 80 Days - Michael Rieneck, Kosmos
* Jambo - Rüdiger Dorn, Kosmos
* Himalaya - Régis Bonnessée, Tilsit Editions

Niagara was announced to be the winner on 27 June, 2005.

Previous winners

Game of the year

ee also

*Deutscher Spiele Preis
*International Gamers Award
*Jeu de l'année
*Origins Award

References

External links

* [http://www.spiel-des-jahres.com/ Spiel des Jahres] official website
*bgg par|geeklist|629|Spiel des Jahres winners|2430|Kinderspiel des Jahres winners