The second of the major Game of the Year awards has been announced.  The winner of Germany’s Deutscher Spiele Preis (DSP) is Lost Ruins of Arnak.  Arnak, which lost out to Paleo for the Kennerspiel award, this time bested both it and SdJ winner MicroMacro to take the DSP.  Arnak was designed by the husband and wife team of Min and Elwen (aka Michaela Stachova and Michal Stach).  It was published by Czech Games Edition and, remarkably, is the first DSP winner for that acclaimed publisher.

The DSP has been trending toward lighter titles lately.  Once, it was considered the heavier of Germany’s two major gaming awards (with winners like Terra Mystica, Russian Railroads, and Voyages of Marco Polo).  But these days, it’s been going to games comparable in weight to the Kennerspiel (the three previous winners were Azul, Wingspan, and The Crew), so Arnak fits in very nicely with those other middleweights.

The award for Best Children’s Game went to Dodo, by Marco Teubner and Frank Bebenroth and published by Kosmos.

Here are the top ten vote getters for the DSP, together with their designers.  Congratulations to the creative team behind Arnak, along with all the other nominated games!

1. Lost Ruins of Arnak  (Michaela Stachova, Michal Stach)
2. MicroMacro: Crime City  (Johannes Sich)
3. The Adventures of Robin Hood  (Michael Menzel)
4. Paleo  (Peter Rustemeyer)
5. Aeon’s End  (Kevin Riley)
6. Everdell  (James Wilson)
7. Fantastic Realms  (Bruce Glassco)
8. Anno 1800  (Martin Wallace)
9. Praga Caput Regni  (Vladimir Suchy)
10. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion  (Isaac Childres)

Stronghold Undead

• Designer: Ignacy Trzewiczek
• Publisher: Portal Games/Stronghold Games
• Players: 2
• Age: 14+
• Time: 90 minutes on the box, about 2-3 hours in real life
• Played with review copy from Stronghold Games

From the publisher: Stronghold: Undead is a re-balancing of the original Stronghold: Undead expansion for the second edition of Stronghold that is now a standalone game. It includes a new board with new paths to siege the castle, undead mechanisms, and more ways for both sides to secure their victory!

The Necromancer leads an undead army toward the stronghold walls. A powerful artifact lies within the stronghold. A magical item imbued with immense energy. The Necromancer’s powers are weakening, and his magical essence is fading with each passing moment. He will regain his powers if he manages to take the castle by storm and claim the artifact. Thus, if the undead army succeeds in breaching the stronghold within eight turns, it will capture the artifact and attain victory. If not…well, if not, the Necromancer’s powers will fade completely and the undead army will turn to dust.

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Brew

• Designer: Stevo Torres
• Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 10+
• Time: 45-60 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by Pandasaurus Games

From the introductory text: “Time is broken and shattered. The seasons all exist at once, and day and night have no real cycle — they rotate at the whim of the forest. This enchanted land has been driven into chaos and it’s up to you, the cunning mystics of the forest, to tame extraordinary woodland creatures and use your magic to bring back balance.

In Brew, players must choose how to use element dice, either to take back control of as many seasons as possible in an area-control game or to procure goods at the local village in a worker-placement game. Recruiting woodland creatures and brewing potions can help offset chance die-rolls or create an engine to help you tame the lands.” Continue reading →