The cat’s out of the bag and the winners have been announced 🗄️!
Did the ceremony get snappier again? No lengthy flashbacks to previous winners (only an epitaph for Reinhold Wittig 🗄️), no detailed lectures on the jury’s work, no dragging out the announcements. The show definitely had its entertaining moments, like when Donald X. Vaccarino subverted the jury’s narrative about his game’s critical commentary (“just a bit of fun”), or when chairman Harald Schrapers forgot what year it is (“The Spiel des Jahres 2024 is…”).
But enough of that, let’s look at the winners!
Spiel des Jahres 2026
JinxO
4–7 players, 30–45 minutes, 10+ years, light (1.0)
Jinx your friend to become victorious.
I’m proud to say that I called this one correctly. 💪 In the end this clearly was the game that convinced the jury most uniformly and hence the logical winner of Spiel des Jahres 2026. After Hisashi Hayashi’s win last year with Bomb Busters, we have the second winner from Asia in a row – a great testamony to the internationalisation of the hobby.
I wish Harald Schrapers would have skipped his remark about Martin Ang being the first nominee from the “Global South” – at least to me this leave the entirely unnecessary connotation that JinxO won to fulfill some kind of quota and not on its own merits. Plus, Jordy Adan from Brazil was nominated in 2020 for Cartographers. That nomination was for Kennerspiel, not Spiel, but it contributes to Harald Schrapers’ remark feeling awkward and out of place.
Nonetheless, the thought of this design from Indonesia, half a world away, bringing joy to many German households this Christmas is a cause for celebration. Games connect people, both around the table and the globe.
Kennerspiel des Jahres 2026
Rebirth
2–4 players, 45–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.0)
Rebuild old lands in a lush, hopeful future.
Reiner Knizia, a bona fide legend of the hobby, completed the triple after winning the double in 2008: Spiel des Jahres for Keltis and Kinderspiel for Whoowasit?. I thought that his acceptance speech displayed his own brand of mixing confidence with humility when he first broke out into a lengthy lecture on game design, but then concluded with honest kindness towards his fellow nominees and appreciation for the jury’s work.
Kinderspiel des Jahres 2026
Mooki Island
2 players, 10 minutes, 4+ years, light (1.0)
Befriend adorable Mookies, but watch out for the Spider!
My daughters were right – Mooki Island is this year’s most exciting children’s game. 🤩 They were so happy about their favourite winning that they were jumping up and down the couch and asking when they get the game, so I had to order it still during the stream – before stocks run out… 😅
Overall, our family foray into the Kinderspiel proved successful, so I’ll try again next year. 🥰
Conclusion
After calling only five out of eight winners correctly in the past four year, going two for two (or three for three if I may be so bold to take credit for my daughters’ pick) certainly feels good, in particular after call 2026 the tightest race in years.
Both Spiel and Kennerspiel winning designers wrote their own personal and very different headlines — one cannot help but be charmed by them. Dr Knizia’s triple is a welcome opportunity to update my designer hall of fame, so look out for the article in the next few weeks. 🤓
Roll on next year — and maybe I’ll finally let my daughters have a say on the grown-ups’ games too. 😉