All you gamers know
about the Spiel des Jahres. For those who
don’t know, this is a big deal. It is the Acadamy Awards of board and card
gaming!
Here’s some background
quoted from the Spiel des Jahres English translation for those who are
unfamiliar with the Game of the Year Award.
[It is] an award for board and card games in German-speaking countries
that started in 1979. Eligible are German-speaking games of the
present year and the year before. In the year 2001 the award “Kinderspiel des
Jahres” (children’s game of the year) and since 2011 "Kennerspiel des
Jahres" were established as other principal awards. The awards do not come
with pecuniary grants. Awards, i.e. corresponding logos, may be used for
advertising purposes and are subject to licence fees. These serve for defraying
expenses. “Spiel des Jahres” works as a registered association with its office
based in Düren.
Today they announced this year’s Spiel
des Jahres winner is Kingdom
Builder by Donald X. Vaccarino of Queen Games. The other nominees were Vegas by Rüdiger Dorn of
alea/Ravensburger, and Eselsbrücke by Stefan Dorra and Ralf zur Linde of
Schmidt Spiele.
The first time I played Kingdom Builder
was at the Xmas Edition of Club Fed.
I instantly fell in love with this complex game. Not only does it have a
high replayability, but it had different terrain control mechanics. The randomly generated board and cards
add to the fun. To me it was the
perfect mix of strategy and luck. I have only played this game a few times
total. It still makes my buy list. There are two expansions, Capitol and
Nomads, available. I have yet to play either of those.
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