Top Board Games of the Year
Have you ever heard of the “Spiel des Jahres”? If not, you are not alone. I hadn’t heard of this prestigious award until I bought my first “eurogame”. This relatively new genre of board games coming out of Europe tend to be very fun, strategic, board games for families. The first game of this type that I bought was a Carcassonne game called New World. (You can view my post about how we modified this Carcassonne game to work for our preschoolers.) When we opened the box there was a little flyer in it listing other Rio Grande Games that had won the Spiel des Jahres award. (Carcassonne won in 2001). I decided to learn a little more about the Spiel des Jahres as we started to enjoy many of the games that were listed in this brochure.
Spiel des Jahres (game of the year)
The Spiel des Jahres is a German award that is given out each year to outstanding family board games. All of the award-winning games tend to be be strategic, not too complicated, and directed at a main stream audience. The Spiel des Jahres was established in Germany to promote top board games in the German market. This is probably a big factor in how many fabulous games are now coming out of Germany on a regular basis. Of all the Spiel des Jahres games I’ve tried, I haven’t been disappointed in the level of entertainment provided. Here is a list of past winners that you can try out for yourself. You won’t be disappointed!
2009 Dominion by Donald X. Vaccarino
2008 Keltis by Reiner Knizia
2007 Zooloretto by Michael Schacht
2006 Thurn and Taxis by Karen and Andreas Seyfarth
2005 Niagara by Thomas Liesching
2004 Ticket to Ride by Alan R. Moon
2003 Alhambra by Dirk Henn
2002 Villa Paletti by Bill Payne
2001 Carcassonne by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
2000 Torres by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling
1999 Tikal by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer
1998 Elfenland by Alan R. Moon
1997 Mississippi Queen by Werner Hodel
1996 El Grande by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich
1995 The Settlers of Catan by Klaus Teuber
1994 Manhattan by Andreas Seyfarth
1993 Call My Bluff by Richard Borg (for a very similar game see Perudo)
1992 Um Reifenbreite by Rob Bontenbal
1991 Drunter und Drüber by Klaus Teuber
1990 Hoity Toity by Klaus Teuber
2005 Niagara by Thomas Liesching
2004 Ticket to Ride by Alan R. Moon
2003 Alhambra by Dirk Henn
2002 Villa Paletti by Bill Payne
2001 Carcassonne by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
2000 Torres by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling
1999 Tikal by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer
1998 Elfenland by Alan R. Moon
1997 Mississippi Queen by Werner Hodel
1996 El Grande by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich
1995 The Settlers of Catan by Klaus Teuber
1994 Manhattan by Andreas Seyfarth
1993 Call My Bluff by Richard Borg (for a very similar game see Perudo)
1992 Um Reifenbreite by Rob Bontenbal
1991 Drunter und Drüber by Klaus Teuber
1990 Hoity Toity by Klaus Teuber
1989 Café International by Rudi Hoffmann
1988 Barbarossa by Klaus Teuber
1987 Auf Achse by Wolfgang Kramer
1986 Top Secret Spies by Wolfgang Kramer
1985 Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective by Raymond Edwards, Suzanne Goldberg and Gary Grady
1984 Railway Rivals by David Watts
1983 Scotland Yard by Werner Schlegel, Dorothy Garrels, Fritz Ifland, Manfred Burggraf, Werner Scheerer and Wolf Hoermann
1982 Enchanted Forest by Alex Randolph and Michel Matschoss
1981 Focus by Sid Sackson
1980 Rummikub by Ephraim Hertzano
1979 Hare and Tortoise by David Parlett
As we get reviews written about each of these games we will link to them from this post so stay tuned for more info on all these top board games!
