Game German

My family's first copy of Settlers of Catan was in German.  Fortunately one of my uncles knows German, so we had a personal translator for all our imported games. From that time onwards I started to pick up what I like to call Game German- German words like Spiel, StartSpieler, Spiel des Jahres or Straße. As time went on I began to pick up more and more of these words. Of course I am not [yet?] fluent in German, but I joke with my uncle that he should teach a continuing education course in Game German.  I think I at least know enough German to play Settlers entirely in German... though I might need a refresher on the Development Cards given they are a little bit more complex German for me.  Of course when I actually do need to play a German game with Germans in Germany, they will probably all speak English. Or at least that is what my sister's boyfriend reported when he went to Essen (OMG so jealous).  Maybe that's what I will do when I retire (in hopefully 30ish years), is move to Germany and play German board games all the time!      

2012 Spiel des Jahres

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.