The German Spiel des Jahres is perhaps the world's most prestigious game award. Consider it the Oscar of this hobby. They try and focus on games that would be great for families - fun, relatively light, and not too long. I like the Spiel des Jahres award the best and have found myself collecting the awarded games. Everything about the Spiel de Jahres is right up my alley!
Spiel des Jahres: The Spiel De Jahres official website is all in German, so I like to reference the list of winners from Wikipedia or Fun Again Games. The Spiel des Jahres also recognizes good children's games by awarding them the Kinderspiel.
2009 Spiel des Jahres winners: (Description text from FunAgainGames)
Game of the Year: Dominion
Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes complete with roughly 500 cards. You select 10 of the 20+ Kingdom card types to include in any given play -- leading to immense variety.Special Award, New Game Worlds: Space Alert
Space Alert is a team survival game. Players take on the role of a crew of space explorers sent out through hyperspace to survey a dangerous sector of the Galaxy.The spaceship automatically maps the sector in 10 minutes. The crew's task is to defend the ship until the mission is complete. If they succeed, the ship brings back valuable data. If they fail... it is time to train a new crew.Special Award, Party Game: Gift Trap
GiftTRAP is a hilarious social conversation starter for people who think they know each other well or want to know each other better. Unlike other party games you don’t need skills in drawing, acting or trivia so it works well when you have a crowd of mixed ages/skills.Nominees: Fauna, Finca, Fits, Pandemic
Recommended: Cities, Diamonds Club, Einauge sei wachsam!, Maori, Mow, Poison , Baker's Dozen, Valdora , Pack & Stack
2008 Spiel des Jahres winner: Lost Cities: The Board Game (English language edition of Keltis)
Each player leads a five-member group of four adventurers and a researcher on the search for lost cities. To reach each city, the players must travel a separate path nine steps long. On a player's turn, he plays a card and moves one of his adventurers or his researcher. The color of the card played determines which path the figure moves on. The player should try to play a card of low value, because when the player wants to move this adventurer again, he must play a card of equal or higher value. Each player must send his adventurers on different paths -- no two from the same player on the same path. A player may send all his adventurers to search, but need not.
2007 Spiel des Jahres winner: Zooloretto
Each player uses small, large, wild and exotic animals and their young to try and attract as many visitors as possible to their zoo. But be careful -- the zoo must be carefully planned. Before you know it, you have too many animals and no more room for them. That brings minus points! Luckily, your zoo can expand.
2006 Spiel des Jahres winner: Thurn And Taxis
Thurn and Taxis takes the theme of the German post office and transforms it into a fascinating game. Players take turns building connecting routes of postal stagecoaches across Germany. Decisions must be made whether to build short, safer routes that may allow them to control territories, or to build longer, more lucrative routes. Fans of Ticket to Ride will enjoy the medium complexity of this game, as players may utilize one special ability each turn to help be the first to build routes in each area. Requiring planning and forethought, Thurn and Taxis is a rewarding experience for those who enjoy strategic games.
2005 Spiel des Jahres winner: Niagara
In the wild rapids of the Niagara River, fearless canoers battle the water and each other to collect gems along the riverbank. Of course, the most valuable gems are found furthest down-river, close to the waterfall. Yes, there is a waterfall, and careless canoers can fall over the waterfall. Also, players must return collected gems to land in order to be counted. At the end, the player who collects the most value in gems is the winner.
Players play on a 3D board, representing the Niagara River and the falls. Canoes float down the river as the river flows, but players can row their canoes up-river or down-river to collect gems, to return them to shore, and to avoid the waterfall. This game is great fun for the family, but is strategic and gives players the chance to plan and steal from one another.
2004 Spiel des Jahres winner: Ticket To Ride
One of the most popular games ever designed, Ticket to Ride is a simple yet strategic game of connecting cities in the United States with trains. On their turn, players simply draw train cards, claim routes on the board, or draw more destination tickets. Players must balance drawing cards into their hand with claiming routes before opponents in this friendly, yet competitive board game. The rules can be taught in only a few minutes, but games are varied enough to give the game unlimited replayability. With scores of plastic trains and a beautiful board, this is a game you'll find yourself playing time and time again with all ages.
2003 Spiel des Jahres winner: Alhambra
In Granada, one of the most impressive building projects of the Middle Ages has begun: the construction of Alhambra. A palace, fortress, and a small city -- all-in-one -- Alhambra is made up of the world's most beautiful gardens, pavilions, chambers and towers.
The most prominent builders in all of Europe and Arabia want to demonstrate their skills. Employ the most talented teams of builders to construct your Alhambra. Hire stonemasons from the north and gardeners from the south, who all want a fair wage and insist on being paid with their native currency. With their help, towers can be constructed, gardens designed, pavilions and mezzanines erected, and manors and royal chambers built. Compete against your opponents to build the greatest and most impressive Alhambra.
2002 Spiel des Jahres winner: Villa Paletti
The blockbuster European hit is now available from Wiggles 3D! Players compete to build a wooden tower without knocking it over. Always a crowd pleaser that anyone can play, Villa Paletti is the perfect building block for any party!
2001 Spiel des Jahres winner: Carcassonne
The players develop the area around Carcassonne by placing land tiles. Each turn the area becomes larger as the players expand and add roads, fields, cities, and cloisters. The players may also deploy their followers as thieves, farmers, knights, and monks to control and score points for the roads, farms, cities, and cloisters. As the players have only a few followers, the wise player will plan his moves carefully and deploy followers when and where he can earn the most points.
2000 Spiel des Jahres winner: Torress
A series of devastating tornadoes, unleashed by enemy mages in the recent war has left all the king's castles in ruin. Only the foundations of these once magnificent monuments remain. He has charged his sons with rebuilding his castles and promised the throne to the one who can rebuild the tallest and largest castles.
Each prince has 6 knights to supervise the building. Two or more princes may work together on a castle with their knights competing to control the highest towers of the castle. Once each year, the king will tour the castles, to judge the progress of each son. After he finishes the third tour, he will choose his successor and the winner!
1999 Spiel des Jahres winner: Tikal
Each player is the director of an expedition intent on exploring Tikal in search of the secret paths that lead to the temples and precious treasures that have remained hidden for over 1000 years. A player receives points during four scoring rounds for each recovered treasure and for each temple that he controls. But, both temples and treasures can change hands. The expedition that earns the most points exploring Tikal wins the game.
1998 Spiel des Jahres winner: Elfenland
Most races involve horses or cards, but in Elfenland players control young elves, who must traverse their fantasy land with all sorts of strange transportation such as giant pigs and unicorns. Each player must visit every city on the map and seek to find the best route for the modes of transportation that they use, while attempting to hinder the others in this light, interactive game. Players place tokens on routes with restrictions because of terrain and then use cards to attempt to finish quicker than the other players.
And some other great winners of the past: Settlers of Catan, Manhattan, Hoity Toity, Barbarossa, Top Secret Spies, Scotland Yard, Enchanted Forest
