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.[1]
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:
Keltis was announced as winner on 30 June, 2008.
Along with the nominations, the jury also awarded a special prize:
2007 awards
The nominations for the 2007 award were released on 20 May 2007. The five games nominated were:
Zooloretto 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:
Thurn 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.[2]
2005 awards
The nominations for the 2005 award were released on 8 May, 2005. The five games nominated were:
Niagara was announced to be the winner on 27 June, 2005.
Previous winners
Game of the year
Children's game of the year
Special awards
See also
References
- ^ Scott Tepper. "SDJ By The Numbers". Boardgame News. Retrieved on 2007-05-30.
- ^ "Boardgame News article". Retrieved on 2006-05-30.
External links
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