Spiel Des Jahres Announces Their Nominations For Best Tabletop Games Of 2018
As Summer approaches I always get that same feeling in the pit of my stomach. Gen Con is just around the corner, and I'll soon be immersed in four days of non-stop board gaming fun. Before that though, there's the Spiel des Jahres which is the most prestigious tabletop award a game can get. Put simply, the games that get these awards sell well, and are always a blast to play. Without further ado, here are the nominations for this year's top contenders coupled along with links to buy in case you were interested in trying a few of them out!
Spiel des Jahres award: This is usually the award for the game that's the most family-friendly and or accessible to people who don't typically play tabletop games.
• Azul, by Michael Kiesling from Next Move Games
• Luxor, by Rüdiger Dorn from Queen Games
• The Mind, by Wolfgang Warsch from NSV
Kennerspiel des Jahres: This is the award for the game for people who are more than familiar with the modern world of tabletop, and probably don't need someone describing to them what the Kennerspiel des Jahres is.
• Ganz schön clever, by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele
• Heaven & Ale, by Michael Kiesling and Andreas Schmidt from eggertspiele
• Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg, by Wolfgang Warsch from Schmidt Spiele
Two German games this year, although I'd expect an English adaptation to be released sooner than later now that both are nominated.
Kinderspiel des Jahres: Games geared towards children. These games are still usually pretty fun, but the emphasis is that most young children can play them with ease.
• Emojito!, by Urtis Šulinskas from HUCH!
• Funkelschatz, a.k.a. Dragon's Breath, by Lena and Günter Burkhardt from HABA
• Panic Mansion, a.k.a. Shaky Manor, by Asger Harding Granerud and Daniel Skjold Pedersen from Blue Orange Games
I usually make a point to try and play every Spiel Des Jahres nominee when I get to Gen Con in addition to the stuff I think you guys would be interested in, so keep it here with GeekTyrant in August to see what we think of the games!