Just One, L.A.M.A. and Werewords in running for Spiel des Jahres 2019

The games in the running for this year’s Spiel des Jahres awards have been revealed.

Spiel des Jahres is known as the industry’s most prestigious award for board and card games and is awarded annually by a jury of Germany game critics. Recent Spiel des Jahres winners include Codenames, Kingdomino and Azul.

The full list of nominees across all three categories can be found below:

Spiel de Jahres 2018

Just One (Ludovic Roudy & Bruno Sautter): Just One is a co-operative party game where players give clues to help discover as many mystery words as possible. But, each clue must be unique, as all identical clues will be cancelled.

L.A.M.A. (Reiner Knizia): In LAMA, you want to dump cards from your hand as quickly as you can, but you might not be able to play what you want, so do you quit and freeze your hand or draw and hope to keep playing?

Werewords (Ted Alspach): Werewords sees players guess a secret word by asking “yes” or “no” questions. Figure out the magic word before time is up, and you win! However, one of the players is secretly a werewolf who is not only working against you, but also knows the word. If you don’t guess the word in time, you can still win by identifying the werewolf.

Kennerspiel des Jahres (recognising excellence for more complex games)

Carpe Diem (Stefan Feld): Set in Ancient Rome, Carpe Diem sees players attempt to build a lucrative district to score as many prestige points as possible.

Detective (Ignacy Trzewiczek, Przemysław Rymer, Jakub Łapot): A co-op, crime-solving experience, Detective tasks players with solving a case, but the twist with this board game is that you can (and are encouraged to) use real world tools like the Internet.

Wingspan (Elizabeth Hargraves): Diverting from the fantasy/sci-fi themes so prevalent in the tabletop space, Wingspan sees players step into the shoes of bird enthusiasts – researchers, bird watchers, ornithologists, collectors – each seeking to discover and attract the best birds to their network of wildlife preserves.

Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children’s game of the Year)

Fabulantic (Marco Teubner): Fabulantica is a fairy-tale memory game where players have to plan exactly how they use their travel cards to get to the places where they suspect the sought-after fairy-tale characters will be.

Go Gecko Go! (Jurgen Adams): Go Gecko Go! is the roll and move game that’s all about piling smaller animals on top of larger animals while keeping an eye on the height of the next bridge that needs to be cleared.

Valley of the Vikings (Marie and Wilfried Fort): Valley of the Vikings sees players use a ball to knock down the right barrels, and cleverly position their Vikings on the dock. But the player who ventures too far and is first to fall in the water goes away empty-handed.

The Spiel des Jahres winners will be revealed on July 22nd.

More Recent News

Ravensburger details influencer initiatives for Disney Lorcana

“It’s vital to us to onboard new influencers, players and Disney fans to grow and expand Disney Lorcana in the UK,” said Lea Dillenseger, Product Marketing Manager at Ravensburger UK.

BTHA and Mojo Nation to host Inventors Lunch at Toy Fair 2025

The free Inventors Lunch will return to Toy Fair on Thursday, January 25th at 12PM, hosted upstairs on the Toy Trust Lounge (UL 161).

Hasbro launches AI-powered Game Finder tool

Game Finder’s AI knows the nuances of each Hasbro game, from the ideal play group size to features unique to each title.

Surge Brands named global licensing agent for Crazy Aaron’s

“The creativity and sensory appeal of Crazy Aaron’s products lends themselves perfectly to other consumer products categories like apparel, toys, food, home décor, and beyond,” said Aaron Muderick, Founder and President at Crazy Aaron’s.

Boyhood teams with Disney for wooden Mickey Mouse figure

“We have achieved a result that sets new standards for wooden sculptures,” said Boyhood designer and founder Jakob Burgsø.

Toy Retailers Association details DreamToys list of top toys for Christmas 2024

“More so than ever before, this year’s DreamToys list shows the incredible variety of experiences and play the UK’s vibrant toy industry has to offer consumers,” said chair of the DreamToys selection committee, Paul Reader.