Unhappy with the results of the SdJ award?  Maybe you’ll feel better about an announcement made a little south of Germany.

The Spiel der Spiele, which is Austria’s national game of the year prize, was awarded a couple of weeks ago to Abluxxen, the tricky card game designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and published by Ravensburger.  This title was an early favorite to win the SdJ, but it didn’t even get a recommendation from the Jury.  Hopefully, the announcement will reduce the sting of what many viewed as something of an injustice.

The SdS awards began back in 2001 and this is Kramer and Kiesling’s third winning game.  The first two were Pueblo, from 2002, and Asara, in 2011.  Only Knizia, with four winning games, has more SdS victories.

The SdS committee also posts a list of recommended games each year, organized in various categories.  Here are the cited games this year:

Special Prize:  Raben Stapeln

Games for Experts:  Caverna; Russian Railroads

Games for Friends:  Blood Bound; Concept; Norderwind

Games for Families:  Camel Up; Tortuga; Voll Schaf

Games for Children:  Die verrückte Vogelscheuche; Flizz & Miez; Geisterei; Hetzen nach Schätzen; Speed Cups

Yes, the gaming award season is now upon us.  Next on the docket is the DSP award, which is usually announced sometime in September.  This tends to be won by heavier games and Russian Railroads, the only game of any complexity mentioned by both the SdJ and SdS, might well be the favorite.  Can it bring home the prize?  We’ll soon know!