The biggest honour a board game can get is to be nominated, and of course to win, the annual Spiel des Jahres Award (Game of the Year award). Well, the 2011 nominations have been announced in the three categories. For the Kid’s Game of the Year (Kinderspiel des Jahres), these games have been nominated:
- Da ist der Wurm drin (designed by Carmen Kleinert, published by Zoch)
- Magician’s Kitchen (designed by Thomas Daum and Violetta Leitner, published by Schmidt, Drei Magier Spiele and Playroom Entertainment)
- Monster-Falle (designed by Inka and Markus Brand, published by Kosmos)
This year they are starting a new category to recognize more complex board games called Kennerspiel des Jahres, and here are the nominees:
- 7 Wonders (designed by Antoine Bauza, published by Asmodée Editions and Repos Productions)
- Lancaster (designed by Matthias Cramer, published by Queen Games)
- Strasbourg (designed by Stefan Feld, published by Pegasus Spiele)
Everyone is predicting that 7 Wonders will win this one, and for good reason – it’s that good. As a reminder – it’s the only game that was voted higher than Train of Thought at BGG.con last year!
Finally, the coveted Speil des Jahres nominations are:
- Asara (designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, published by Ravensburger and Rio Grande Games)
- Forbidden Island (designed by Matt Leacock, published by Gamewright and Schmidt)
- Qwirkle (designed by Susan McKinley Ross, published by Mindware and Schmidt)
I’ve played Forbidden Island once, and though it’s a rework of Matt Leacock’s Pandemic, I do think I like it more as it feels more streamlined. I just picked up Asara yesterday and now am even more excited to play it! I haven’t played Qwirkle, but have seen it around. I’m not sure how Qwirkle qualifies as this game came out in 2006..? I predict Asara will win this one (I really love Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling games!).
What are your predictions?
-Jay Cormier
Inspiration to Publication 