The Spiel des Jahres jury announced their nominees and recommendations this morning. Congratulations to the nominees!
We’ve listed the nominees below, but we’ve only put in the names of the German publishers (or what we assume is the German publisher).
We did pretty well with our predictions this year, calling 2/3 each of the SdJ and KdJ nominees.
Spiel des Jahres:
MicroMacro: Crime City, Designed by Johannes Sich, Published by Edition Spielwiese & Pegasus
The Adventures of Robin Hood, Designed by Michael Menzel, Published by KOSMOS
Zombie Teenz Evolution, Designed by Annick Lobet, Published by Scorpion Masqué
In an interesting twist, all three nominees are cooperative games! You can find the recommended games over at W. Eric Martin’s BGG post.
Kennerspiel des Jahres:
Paleo, Designed by Peter Rusteymeyer, Published by Hans im Glück
Lost Ruins of Arnak, Designed by Mín and Elwen, Published by Czech Games Edition
Fantasy Realms, Designed by Bruce Glassco, Published by Strohmann Games
Kinderspiel des Jahres:
Mia London, Designed by Antoine Bauza and Corentin Lebrat, Published by Scorpion Masqué
Dragomino, Designed by Bruno Cathalo, Marie Fort, and Wilfried Fort, Published by Pegasus and Blue Orange
Fabelwelten (a.k.a. Storytailors), Designed by Marie Fort and Wilfried Fort, Published by Lifestyle Boardgames
More information is available on the jury’s website. The winners will be announced on July 19 for the Spiel and Kennerspiel. The Kinderspiel winner will be announced June 14.
Was Fantasy Realms really only released last year in Germany, as BGG has it as a 2017 release and usually these are the other way around!
Yes, German publisher Strohmann Games released Fantastische Reiche in October 2020, a “delay” similar to Qwirkle’s release in Germany in 2010 following its debut in English in 2006. Sometimes a game takes a while to find new homes…
I guess I’m just s used to the German version of the game arriving first.