Tag Archives: Maracaibo

Deutscher Spiele Preis – 2020

This year is very different in so many ways, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the announcement of the Deutscher Spiele Preis list. This award is the result of an open vote by games clubs, gamers and people in the industry. It typically rewards slightly heavier games than the Spiel des Jahres awards, but as the top ten list is published, a range of tastes and complexities often feature. The list is usually announced in the run-up to “Essen“, but with the cancellation and then virtualisation this year, the feeling is very different: instead of stoking the fire of anticipation, it is a sort of sad echo of what might have been.

– Image by BGG contributor kalchio

In general, this year the games on the list are definitely on the heavier side with the winner amongst the lightest in the top ten list. As last year, the winner of the Deutscher Spiele Preis was also awarded the Kennerspiel des Jahres Award i.e. The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine (known as “Die Crew: Reist gemeinsam zum 9. Planeten” in Germany). This is a co-operative trick-taking game which is played as a campaign over fifty missions. With each mission, the game becomes more difficult, but it is not the amount of tricks the team takes, but taking the right tricks at the right time that counts.

– Image by boardGOATS

Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale, was second on the list. It seems appropriate that it did well this year as it is one of the best “Roll and Write” games available and they play so well remotely, which has so often been the only way to play this year. Other games in the top ten list include Maracaibo, Crystal Palace, PARKS and Paladins of the West Kingdom (the sequel to Architects of the West Kingdom which featured in last year’s prize list). There have also been a lot of reimplementations released in the last year or so, and these were also well represented in the list, namely by Glen More II: Chronicles and Marco Polo II: In the Service of the Khan.

– Image from
spiel-messe.com

Deutscher Spiele Preis 2020 – Time to Vote

Although the convention season has been severely disrupted this year, the awards are carrying on as usual. The best known of these is probably the Spiel des Jahres: this year’s nominations were announced earlier this week. The Deutscher Spiele Preis, or German Game Prize, is slightly less well known, but arguably better reflects the slightly more advanced, “Gamers Games”, with the results usually more in line with Kennerspiel des Jahres category rather than the family Spiel des Jahres award, or “Red Pöppel”. Recent winners of the Deutscher Spiele Preis include Wingspan, Azul, Terraforming Mars, Mombasa, and The Voyages of Marco Polo.

– Image by boardGOATS

The Deutscher Spiele Preis (which is awarded at the Internationale Spieltage, in Essen), is selected by a general vote which is open to anyone, players, journalists and dealers alike. The incoming votes are evaluated by an independent institute and only votes with details of the full name and address are valid (any duplicates are removed). All votes are treated the same with games placed first receiving five points, those placed second receiving four, and so on.

– Image by boardGOATS

Only new games from the previous year are included in the ranking, so this year that’s games released since May 2019. Thus anything new at Essen last year or the Spielwarenmesse (Nürnberg) this year, is eligible. This includes: Alubari, Maracaibo, Point Salad, Tiny Towns, Isle of Cats, Wavelength, Jaws, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Azul: Summer Pavilion, Fast Sloths, or any of the games nominees or recommended for the Spiel/Kennerspiel des Jahres awards.

– Image from spiel-messe.com

Voting is open until 31^st July; it’s not necessary to submit a full list, so why not take the opportunity to vote for your favourite release of the year?

Essen 2019 – Update

Sunday was the last day of this year’s Internationale Spieltage, the largest games fair in Europe (and arguably the world), known to gamers worldwide simply as “Essen”. Although there was a lot of buzz about some of the hot games like Maracaibo and Cooper Island, it is the smaller, less well-known games that really make the fair what it is. For example, Firefly Dance, is a fun little memory game with gorgeous little light-up fireflies activated with a wooden magic wand.

– Image by boardGOATS

Some games sold out within minutes: the last copy of Tapestry went in less than half an hour, and other early sell-outs included Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea, A Fistful of Meeples and Point Salad. There were lots of good deals to be had, including Passing Through Petra, one of the hot games from last year which was reduced from €60 to just €15. Part of this might have been to attract attention to the Renegade Games stand because according to staff their entire supply of this year’s releases were “stuck in customs”. This included their copies of Paladins of the West Kingdom (the sequel to last year’s smash hit, Architects of the West Kingdom).

Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 7 – Japan & Italy

– Image by boardGOATS

There were also a number of other unusual games available, for example, Wsiąść do Pociągu: Polska, the new Poland map for Ticket to Ride, as well as the more widely available new Japan/Italy Map Collection. There were other expansions as well, including the European Birds expansion to Wingspan, Sagrada: The Great Facades – Passion and Terraforming Mars: Turmoil. In addition to expansions, there were several stand-alone re-implementations of old favourites, including the new 6 Nimmt! Brettspiel (boardgame), Glen More II: Chronicles and Azul: Summer Pavilion.

– Image by boardGOATS

Games fairs are also about demonstrations of games that have not yet been released. There were many of these, but one of the highlights was perhaps Namiji which is the sequel to Tokaido and will be the subject of a crowd-funding campaign in a month’s time. So there is much to look forward to from the Essen haul, old games as well as new, which will make the coming months very exciting indeed.

– Image by boardGOATS

Essen 2019

This week, the Internationale Spieltage, the largest games fair in Europe (and arguably the world), is being held in Germany. Known to Gamers worldwide simply as “Essen”, the fair runs Thursday to Sunday in late-October every year with many new releases timed to coincide with the event. It is one of the biggest and most significant of all the boardgame conventions; according to convention organizer Friedhelm Merz Verlag, this year there will be more than one thousand two hundred exhibitors offering more than one thousand five-hundred new games, from fifty-three countries.

– Image from spiel-messe.com

A couple of people from the group are going this year and will no doubt come back with a selection of the latest new and exciting games, as well as some older games that are new to the group and expansions for other well-loved games. This year, the new releases include Cooper Island, Maracaibo, ECOS: First Continent, Alubari: A Nice Cup of Tea, Tapestry, Deep Blue, Paladins of the West Kingdom, Glen More II: Chronicles, the Japan and Italy map pack for Ticket to Ride, and the new European birds expansion for one of the Kennerspiel Des Jahres winner, Wingspan.

– Image by boardGOATS