The winner of the 2014 Deutscher Spielepreis (DSP), the heavier of the two major German Game of the Year awards, is Russian Railroads. The game was designed by Helmut Ohley and Lonny Orgler and was published by Hans im Gluck. This is HiG’s eighth DSP award, far more than any other publisher (the only other publishers with multiple awards are Alea, with 3, and Kosmos and Ravensburger, with 2 apiece). However, this is HiG’s first DSP win since Dominion in 2009 and the first win for a title where they were the lead publisher in 10 years (St. Petersburg won in 2004). So this is a welcome end to what might be viewed as a bit of a slump by Hans im Gluck.
Here are the top 10 games in the voting:
1. Russian Railroads
2. Istanbul
3. Concordia
4. Love Letter
5. Camel Up
6. Caverna
7. Lewis & Clark
8. Rococo
9. Glass Road
10. Splendor
The prize for Best Children’s Game went to Feuerdrachen and the prize for Best Rules went to Abluxxen.
The 2014 DSP’s mark the end of a quirky, but nevertheless remarkable achievement by Stefan Feld. Amerigo was Feld’s 12th big box design in his career. The first eleven of those games all finished in the DSP top 10 in the years they were eligible! Amerigo didn’t make this year’s top 10, so that streak is broken. Despite this amazing consistency, Feld has never won a DSP award (although three of his games have finished second).
Congratulations to Ohley and Orgler, as well as to Hans im Gluck. Next on the awards bracket: the last of the three major awards, the International Gaming Awards (IGA’s), which should be announced in the next two or three weeks.
I can’t believe Russian Railroads beat out Love Letter, Camel Up, and Splendor!!!
The DSP award is suffering form a major identity crisis.
I agree that there were a few more lighter designs in the top 10 than usual this year, Curt. But the SdJ winning and nominated games usually do quite well in the DSP voting. I guess it’s not surprising, given the impact of the award and how soon the announcement comes before the end of the DSP voting deadline.
The thing is, it’s not like you can blame some jury or committee for this. The DSP results come from participation from the worldwide gaming community. The biggest portion is from internet voting from gamers like us. I voted this year and you could have as well. If the gamers who cast their ballots preferred those three light games to heavier fare, well, I guess that’s their right. There’s no identity crisis, simply a typical split in the tastes of the electorate.
and what are you like?
Male, Caucasian, 6’2″, 175 pounds.
What about The Name of the Rose? Box not big enough? :)
(I would agree that Roma I and II, It Happens…, and The Speicherstadt are not “big box”, though.)
Still, pretty amazing run, for sure.
I’ve never seen the box for Name of the Rose, Luke. Is it really a big-box game? If so, that’s too bad. I thought I’d discovered a really cool record of consistency by Herr Feld. Still, I guess 11 out of 13 ain’t too bad!
Per version section of BGG:
Size: Medium Square (e.g. Ticket to Ride)
2.87 pounds
Dutch, English, French, German, Italian