The 2023 Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) winner has been been announced as the cooperative campaign game, Dorfromantik: The Board Game which is based on the video game of the same name.  Players work together to together to lay hexagonal tiles to create a beautiful landscape trying to make the train track and river as long as possible while also fulfilling the orders of the population.  There is a legacy element where points earned can be used to access new tiles that are hidden in locked boxes, which give new, additional tasks and make higher and higher scores possible.  The game is very simple (as draw a tile, place a tile, fulfill tasks), but the hook is the changing strategy that comes with the expanding pool of tiles.

– Adapted by boardGOATS from image by BGG contributor Rugerfred

The winner of the Kennerspiel des Jahres, the “Expert” or “Connoisseur’s” game was announced at the same time and was Challengers!.  This is a sort of “capture the flag” tournament game where players first draw cards and build a deck, then shuffle and duel against another player.  The winner of the match takes the trophy and points, and at the end, the players with the most points duel in the final to decide the overall winner.  Although this is supposed to be a more advanced, it is not in the same league as previous winners of the Kennerspiel award like Village or Wingspan, or even previous Spiel des Jahres winners like El Grande and Settlers of Catan.

– Image by boardGOATS

The thing to remember though is that these games are intended to be family games and the awards are intended to cater for three different ages of families, those with very small children (Kinderspiel—this year won by Mysterium Kids); those with young children (Spiel des Jahres, or “Red Pöppel”), and those with slightly older children (Kennerspiel des Jahres, sometimes known as the “Grey Pöppel”).  This doesn’t mean these games are not suitable for more dedicated gamers, just that they not the target audience, so they should not be surprised if they are not a great fit.  This situation is not going to change in the near future, as the ultimate purpose of these awards is to sell games and advertise them to the general (German) public.

– Image from spiel-des-jahres.de

That said, with the right mindset, anyone can enjoy all these games, and they are some of the best of their type available.  So, as usual, congratulations to all the winners and nominees.