SdJ 2021 on Analysis Paralysis

Spiel des Jahres 2021 winners

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0300

The cat’s out of the bag and the winners have been announced! This article is more than a week overdue, but I’ve been on my first trip¹ abroad since, you know… (In a sense that was the first time in a year and a half I wasn’t abroad. 🤷) So without further delays, here are the winners of Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021!

Spiel des Jahres 2021

MicroMacro: Crime City

1–4 players, 15–45 minutes, 10+ years, light (1.1)

MicroMacro was the favourite for many people, myself included. From the first day this was announced, it was clear that this game is special. The perfect blend of artwork and gameplay, the immediate access, the whimsical characters and storytelling… As I’ve mentioned before, I believe this game will be a great ambassador for the hobby. A deserving winner.

Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021

Paleo

1–4 players, 45–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium (2.6)

Within the geek community, Lost Ruins of Arnak was considered the favourite for Kennerspiel (perhaps unsurprising, given how it shot up the rankings), but for me Paleo has long been the frontrunner. I’ve praised before how important every single turn feels, but how quickly they play regardless. The excitement might wane a little after you’ve explored all modules, but the first big expansion has been announced, so there’s always something new in the stone ages. 😎

Conclusion

First of all, my humble brag: I did it again – I called both awards correctly. 😌 In the end, they went to the two games I had in mind for months, but it really wasn’t as obvious as it appears since all the nominees were exceptionally strong in my opinion.

As I like to point out, I really try to do these predictions “by the numbers”, i.e., let data and algorithms speak, not my personal taste. However, in this case, both winners were games that I grabbed and played through as soon as I could get my hands on them. So I feel like I “won” twice this year: not only did I predict both awards correctly, I also thoroughly enjoyed playing both winners. And I do believe these games will bring a lot of joy to the people who follow the jury’s recommendation and buy them for their families and friends.

So long, we’ll see each other again for my Spiel des Jahres 2022 predictions – hopefully COVID–19 will be nothing but a bad memory by then! 🦠

It’s weird to think that in a way, for the past 18 months or so, we had nothing to do but sit at home, but still I managed to be on the move during both livestreams last year (in a supermarket) and this (on a playground). I wonder what people where thinking of me when I was commenting and cheering into my phone… 🧐 ↩︎

Spiel des Jahres 2021 predictions – Part 2!

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 00:00:00 +0300

It’s time! On Monday, July 19, we will finally know which games won Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021. I really think this is an exciting year with six very strong nominees that all have a lot of arguments going for themselves (and a few against). Even after following the whole year releases very closely, I’m still torn as to who’d be the favourites to win. Algorithms won’t be much help here either – the sample is just too small. So I’ll have to go with my instincts instead… 🤷

Last year I manage to call both awards correctly. Quite a bar to clear again.

Let’s check out the nominees!

Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2021

Before we dive into the individual games, let’s look at some numbers to see some objective measures for them – as far as this is possible. What we’ve got at our disposal are the recommendations to the S_d_J bot, BoardGameGeek’s average rating, and the Bayesian rating. Additionally, I’ve created a poll on BGG where the geeks could have their say:

Game	R.G	Average	Bayes	Poll
MicroMacro: Crime City	8.0	7.9	6.9	61%
The Adventures of Robin Hood	7.2	8.1	6.1	32%
Zombie Teenz Evolution	2.4	8.1	6.0	7%

Overall, MicroMacro seems to be favourite, but will it survive our own scrutiny?

MicroMacro: Crime City

1–4 players, 15–45 minutes, 10+ years, light (1.1)

As has been discussed many times, possibly the greatest strength is the immediacy of this game. Better than no rules required: not even opening the box is required. Genius. Also, the jury emphasises that the winner should be ambassador for the hobby board gaming. MicroMacro would definitely broaden many people’s perception of what a modern board game can be. On top of that, it also made quite the impression amongst the more hardcore gamers, which shows its universal appeal.

But before we get too excited, there are some important caveats. The crime theme might be the most obvious – murder and other quite mature topics might not be everyone’s idea of family entertainment. The publisher certainly struggles with this: my edition says 8+ years on the box, later editions seem to say 12+. They also introduced some form of content warning for the successor, so parents can stay clear of cases that might not be suitable for their offspring. Overall, judging by their statements, the jury seems to have little objections to some comic figures being murdered, so this might not be an obstacle to the red meeple after all.

The other issue is player count. The box claims that this game is for 1 to 4 players, but the jury “corrected” this in their announcement to 1 to 3 players. Those who played the game know that sometimes even two players can be a crowd, so this game wouldn’t really be one to be enjoyed by the whole family around the Christmas tree – and candles definitely won’t provide enough light to read the details off that giant map… 🕯

Let me take this opportunity to address the “it’s not a game, it’s a puzzle” faction. First off, even if this were true, the jury clearly wouldn’t care: Already in their second year, in 1980, they awarded a special prize for the Rubik’s Cube, which undoubtably is a solitaire puzzle. An experience someone who loves games would enjoy? Bring it on…

Still, I’d like to make the argument that this is, in fact, a game. The standard version, where the game asks you to answer one question about the case after another, might present itself as a series of puzzles, with no player decisions to influence the course of the game at all. But I’d urge anyone playing this game to quickly switch to the advanced version. There, players are presented with the crime, but are then left alone to investigate the full story on their own. No guiding hand by the game, no feedback if the investigation is complete. The group needs to decide for themselves in what order to investigate the different scenes and when to call it complete. This experience differs crucially from a classic puzzle that gives you unambiguous feedback when it’s done.

But then again, it really doesn’t matter anyways…

The Adventures of Robin Hood

2–4 players, 60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (1.7)

Robin Hood has been praised for its narrative experience that perfectly blends art, mechanics and storytelling. The classic tale will draw in many people for their childhood memories. Moving around freely on a game board and opening “advent calendars” along the way just sounds like a lot of fun, and the book looks gorgeous.

Keeping in mind that there is no English edition yet and consequently only very few ratings on BGG, it is actually remarkable how highly our algorithm already rates the game. By all appearances, this is a strong contender.

If there’s one drawback, it might be the price point. It retails at around 50€, but will have run its course after a finite number of plays. This might not sit well with the very casual audience the award is aimed at.

Further, it appears the designer chose a pretty traditional set of characters. This might please fans of the original stories, but for my taste I’d appreciated the courage for a more diverse representation in 2021. The jury wants to award a game for everyone, so any player should be able to see themselves in the game.

Zombie Teenz Evolution

2–4 players, 15–25 minutes, 8+ years, light (1.3)

There’s no way around it, this is the dark horse amongst the nominations. Neither the core mechanics nor the zombie theme seem terribly exciting for hardcore gamers, but for many people that haven’t played dozens of zombie games, this is actually surprisingly appealing. The legacy elements promise an interesting and engaging story, and unlike Robin Hood, this game has been praised for its diverse cast, including a wheelchair on the cover. I imagine this must mean the world for a lot of kids who feel very empowered by this image.

The numbers don’t look very good for this game, but then again, it had just been released and it doesn’t really seem to be targeted at BGG’s core demographics. But there is a serious obstacle to winning the main award: both the cartoon artwork and the “teenz” in the title suggest that this is a family game. And while many people will refer to the red award as the “family game of the year”, the jury will go through great length to avoid this term since, again, the Spiel des Jahres is meant to be for everyone and that includes groups without children. Pinning the award on what appears to be a game for a young audience might exclude some loyal fans.

Who will win?

I’ve been going back and forth on this – as you can tell, there’s pros and cons for each of the nominees. In the end though, my money is on MicroMacro: Crime City to win Spiel des Jahres 2021, ahead of The Adventures of Robin Hood on close second, with Zombie Teenz Evolution in a respectable, but slightly more distant third place. The immediate access of MicroMacro and potential shift in the perception what a game can be is just too enticing to pass.

Still, any of the potential outcomes on July 19 wouldn’t surprise me. It’ll be exciting!

Nominated for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021

Let’s take a look at the same metrics as above, but for the Kennerspiel nominees:

Game	R.G	Average	Bayes	Poll
Fantasy Realms	6.8	7.5	7.0	5%
Lost Ruins of Arnak	7.5	8.1	7.6	79%
Paleo	7.6	7.9	6.8	16%

This promises an even closer race – the numbers certainly don’t yield any clear favourites. 🤷

Fantasy Realms

3–6 players, 20 minutes, 14+ years, medium light (1.7)

Fantasy Realms has been around internationally for some time and has garnered a loyal fanbase, though it failed to make a huge impact so far. Winning Kennerspiel could change that.

It certainly has a lot going for itself. A quick card game with lots of winning combinations to be discovered sounds like something the jury always appreciates, in particular since they clearly lean towards simpler games for both awards. The fast playing time and wide player count could make it the ideal “step up” for those who seeks the next challenge after enjoying a Spiel des Jahres winner.

There is the issue of its bland theme and artwork. It doesn’t have to be a negative though, as a generic setting might just mean lots of people will be open to playing a particular game. In this particular case, the artwork does feel pretty old-fashioned, including some of the more problematic tropes of the genre. When drawing in new gamers, appealing artwork is very important, so I really think this game could be a winner with better artwork.

Lost Ruins of Arnak

1–4 players, 30–120 minutes, 12+ years, medium (2.8)

Arnak certainly is a fan favourite (currently #63 on BGG, and climbing) – choosing this game could make the skeptical crowd on the ‘geek very happy. Probably unsurprisingly, it’s also by far the most selected option in the poll. The game does come with a broadly appealing theme, a successful merging of two evergreen mechanics (deck building and worker placement), and great development work that makes playing the game very intuitive.

It is on the pretty heavy side for the award though. There’s a lot going on in terms of different tiles, tracks, effects… If a Kennerspiel is meant to be one step up, this game might really be two steps.

It also seems to draw some lukewarm responses from critics. While the execution of the design is generally praised, it doesn’t seem to do anything special. On the other hand, this comes from people who have played hundreds of games and chase that next big innovation, while the Kennerspiel award is targeted at people who might have never played a worker placement nor deck building game and might really enjoy those mechanics here.

On that note: I’ve heard there’s another Indiana Jones movie in the making – I smell a branded version of Arnak soon… 🤠

Paleo

1–4 players, 45–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium (2.6)

Paleo was for me an early favourite and hasn’t disappointed so far. While it’s not exactly a “fresh” theme, the prehistoric setting hasn’t worn out yet, the graphics are clean and inviting and the mammoth on the cover definitely makes we want to explore more. But maybe most importantly the mechanics are the most innovative amongst the nominees – without leaving less experienced players lost. Every turn offers a quick but always interesting decision. As the Spiel nominees prove, co-operative games are in higher demand than ever, and this one has the whole table involved from the first to the last card in your deck.

As you can tell, I quite enjoyed playing Paleo and think it’s very much worthy of the Kennerspiel trophy. But it’s not just my enthusiasm, the critical response was very positive and might get second time designer Peter Rustemeyer’s hopes up.

Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s consider what could get in the way of Paleo’s victory. First off, the often criticised rule book. The jury is very harsh when it comes to judging rule books – rightfully so, as badly written rules are the biggest obstacle in the way of players enjoying a game. But they wouldn’t have even recommended Paleo if they thought the rules as printed are too obtuse, so I doubt it’s a concern now.

The game is also on the heavier side of what’s usually consider for the award, but for me it’s about the same complexity as Wingspan – if anything easier to approach as a co-operative campaign game. Talking of which, the different modules and levels make it feel somewhat finite, but then again the levels are fairly replayable and the jury doesn’t seem to mind too much anyways.

One last sticking point might be player count. It’s well compatible with usual Kennerspiel metrics as printed on the box, but the rules start by saying that under no circumstances should you try this game for the first time with four players. That first play is really critical for a game that’s supposed to reach a wide audience, so this caveat could prove costly.

Who will win?

I’ll contradict the BGG crowd and say that Arnak has the lowest chance of winning Kennerspiel – despite all its quality there seems to be no “hook” that would draw new players in. On the other hand, judging by the jury’s statements, Fantasy Realms would make a fabulous winner – if it came with a fresher, more appealing look… So, after all my praises, it’s no surprise Paleo is my favourite to win Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021. However, I really do believe that all three nominees are very strong and have a realistic chance of winning.

That’s all for now – I feel like I need to apologise since it took me over two thousand words just to express “they’re all pretty good…” 🤷 Anyways, all this makes me just more excited for the announcement on July 19. 🤓

Spiel des Jahres 2021 nominations

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Tue, 18 May 2021 23:25:00 +0300

Nominations are out! The jury selected a total of fifteen games for their longlist, eight for Spiel des Jahres and seven for Kennerspiel des Jahres. Out of these games, three games each are nominated for both awards and can hope to get the coveted meeple added to their covers on July 19.

Let’s dive straight into the nominations and recommendations, before we discuss how good (or bad) my predictions were and if the Kennerspiel score is any good.

Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2021

MicroMacro: Crime City

1–4 players, 15–45 minutes, 10+ years, light (1.1)

MicroMacro was a strong favourite of many pundits, so it is no surprise to see it nominated. The proposition of jumping straight into the game – before even unwrapping the box – is clearly something the jury values highly.

Kudos also to the publisher for timing the announcement of the sequel MicroMacro: Full House perfectly! Interestingly, the next installment will include a form of content warning that should enable parents to decide if a particular case is suitable for their children. This system might remove the main obstacle for MicroMacro to claim Spiel des Jahres.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

2–4 players, 60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (1.7)

Another game that was on everybody’s mind. It looks as though Michael Menzel managed to capture the essence of Andor’s narrative game experience with a system simple enough for the red award.

Zombie Teenz Evolution

2–4 players, 15–25 minutes, 8+ years, light (1.3)

This game completely eluded me (as pretty much everybody else) – our algorithm placed it in 345th position. 😳 In all fairness, it received very few ratings so far. Further, its younger target audience is not well represented in BoardGameGeek’s user base, so the algorithm struggles to pick up the signal amongst the noise.

Looking at the three nominations it’s worth noticing that they are all co-operative. While it may seem plausible that people seek a bonding experience while they’re locked inside due to a raging pandemic, these games have of course been in the development for years. Generally, co-operatives have been on the rise for years now, so those three nominations shouldn’t come as a surprise, but the natural crescendo of a long term trend.

Spiel des Jahres recommendations

Biss 20: This one was at least #30 on the predictions list. Another light co-operative game, very much in keeping with this year’s theme!
Chakra: Completely missed this one – BGG’s release year is 2019, but the German edition just came out, so it slipped under my radar.
Point Salad: Sometimes, when I see a game, I get the immediate impression: “This is Spiel des Jahres material!” Point Salad was one of these games…
Switch & Signal: I even had this one down as a nomination – for Kennerspiel des Jahres. Another co-operative, of course.
The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land: I had its two other cousins on my nominations list who have more ratings and hence are much more visible to the recommender. I’d like to learn the jury’s reasoning for picking this game in particular out of a series of three. (And counting?) 🤷

Nominated for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021

Fantasy Realms

3–6 players, 20 minutes, 14+ years, medium light (1.7)

Our algorithm was 100% sure Fantasy Realms wasn’t a Kennerspiel. 😅 (More on that below.) After publishing my predictions, I read more praise by jury members, and realised how well it suits their criteria, so in the end it wasn’t a surprise to see it nominated – just on this particular list.

Lost Ruins of Arnak

1–4 players, 30–120 minutes, 12+ years, medium (2.8)

Lost Ruins of Arnak has already made its way into the BGG’s top 100, and the jury clearly agrees with this assessment. While it’s quite heavy for one of the awards, it’s still lighter than some previous winners (though that hasn’t happened since 2013’s Andor), so don’t write if off just yet.

Paleo

1–4 players, 45–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium (2.6)

Not to brag, but I called this one months ago. 🧐 The jury did complain about many rule books this year not being properly tested, and while they didn’t mention Paleo specifically, after all the discussions before the announcements that one was clearly on their mind. In the end, the game’s strengths clearly outweight those obstacles.

Kennerspiel des Jahres recommendations

Aeon’s End: This game has been around for some time and earned itself a strong fan base, so a recommendation by the jury was a fairly safe bet.
Barrage: Definitely on the very heavy side even for a Kennerspiel, yet Udo Bartsch’s high praises left no doubt about a recommendation.
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion: Similar to the previous entry, I had a good feeling about a recommendation, but didn’t think it’d be actually considered for the award.
Riftforce: I completely missed this one, as did the algorithm, placing it at position 81. At least it classified it correctly as a Kennerspiel – with 51% confidence. 😰 The only pure two-player-game on either list, this proves how hard it is for lower player counts, even during a pandemic induced shortage of playmates.

How good were the predictions?

This really is a drama in three acts: the decision of Kennerspiel or not, the algorithm picking the longlist, and finally my guts picking the shortlist.

Kennerspiel score

When I introduced the Kennerspiel score a couple of months ago, I didn’t really have a good validation set to evaluate my model against. Now I do!

Out of the fifteen games on the longlist, the algorithm classified thirteen correctly. One was predicted wrong on either side of the line: The model saw Fantasy Realms as a Spiel and Switch & Signal as a Kennerspiel, but the jury saw it reversed. 87% accuracy is actually pretty decent for such a simple model trained on a small dataset, but it’s still a nagging feeling just how far off the score for Fantasy Realms was.

Anyways, we live and we learn, and the model has already been updated with the jury’s latest decisions, so hopefully next year it’ll work even better!

Longlist

I called eleven out of fifteen overall, with five out of eight for Spiel des Jahres and six out of seven for Kennerspiel des Jahres. I reward myself a point for The Key: Sabotage at Lucky Llama Land as I always treated them as a series. 🔑 Likewise I consider Aeon’s End, Barrage, and Gloomhaven as hits. Feel free to disagree.

I’d say this really is a satifying result. Last year, I only called nine out of fifteen games on the longlists, so my approach is definitely moving into the right direction.

Shortlist

Two out of three for both awards dead on, another game at least predicted for a recommendation – that’s not too bad. 🧐 I will not deny that Zombie Teenz Evolution bothers me though since I hadn’t even heard of that before.

Still, this year’s outcome sets quite a high benchmark to exceed next year. I’ll take the learnings from this year and hopefully will be able to improve my methods even further. 🤓

All that’s left to do is waiting. The jury will announce the winners on July 19, we’ll be back shortly before that with the favourites for the two awards. 🏆

Spiel des Jahres 2021 predictions

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Fri, 14 May 2021 02:30:00 +0300

It’s our favourite time of the year again: time for Spiel des Jahres nominations! On Monday, May 17th, the jury will once again announce their longlist (aka recommendations) and shortlist (aka nominations) for Spiel des Jahres, Kennerspiel des Jahres and Kinderspiel des Jahres 2021. Just like last year, I’ll try to produce a list of the most promising games to land on the longlist for Spiel and Kennerspiel. (I’ll promise to get around to Kinderspiel predictions in a couple of years.)

Unlike last year, I won’t use hard filters though to distinguish between red and anthracite games, but will rely on the Kennerspiel score I developed a couple of months back. This model tries to predict if a game is a Kennerspiel or not based on some key features, like complexity, play time, age recommendations and game type. The jury’s decision this year what list a game belongs to will be the first actual test for that model too, so let’s hope it actually made sense! 🤞

Even more so than the previous year, I’ll take an algorithmic approach. That is, I do not follow my own taste or gut feelings, but I let the numbers talk. First, I took all eligible games¹ and separated them into two lists: one for Spiel des Jahres and one for Kennerspiel des Jahres, depending on their Kennerspiel score. Then I ranked those games in a couple of different ways, and finally combined those into the final result:

Sorted by the Recommend.Games recommendation algorithm (90%). This has proven to be a powerful and reliable method to capture the jury’s taste, but it’s slow to recommend new games with few ratings.
Spiel des Jahres probability (5%). Similar to the model that calculates the Kennerspiel score, I’ve trained a model that tries to predict a game’s chances to end up on the jury’s longlist. This is particularly designed to unearth candidates with few votes, but it’s still rudimentary at this point.
Average BoardGameGeek rating (2.5%). Let the gamers speak! In order to give new games a chance, we’ll take a look at the simple average rating.
Geek score (aka Bayesian average, 2.5%). This score starts out at 5.5, and gets closer to the actual average the more ratings come in. It’s more reliable, but also strongly favours games that have been around for longer and hence gathered more ratings.

You can find the detailed analysis here and complete results here. But without further ado, here are the favourite games to win Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021.

Candidates for Spiel des Jahres 2021

#1: MicroMacro: Crime City

1–4 players, 15–45 minutes, 10+ years, light (1.1), 99% Spiel

Some games can be played without reading any rules. MicroMacro goes one step further: You can start playing the game right on the box. This alone makes it a strong contender. I wonder though if the jury will consider a game full of murders and crimes a pleasant pastime for families.

#2: PARKS

1–5 players, 30–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2), 88% Spiel

Something of a latecomer to Germany, the looks and theme of PARKS are somewhat reminiscent of the previous Kennerspiel winner Wingspan. Will this work to its advantage?

#3: Detective Club

4–8 players, 45 minutes, 8+ years, light (1.2), 100% Spiel

Light and social, just like the jury likes their red games. Detective Club requires at least four players though, and the jury generally wants three players as well.

#4: Fantasy Realms

3–6 players, 20 minutes, 14+ years, medium light (1.7), 100% Spiel

Quite an old game by international standards, but it garnered its share of positive review. A breezy card game might just be what the jury is looking for!

#5: The Castles of Tuscany

2–4 players, 45–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2), 89% Spiel

There’s no doubt that the jury is a fan of Stefan Feld’s work. The Castles of Tuscany could earn him his first Spiel des Jahres nomination.

#6: Point Salad

2–6 players, 15–30 minutes, 8+ years, light (1.2), 100% Spiel

By all accounts, this seems to be a light and fun card game that could well be in the jury’s wheelhouse. I love the self-ironic title, but will the average gamer get the joke?

#7: Trails of Tucana

1–8 players, 15 minutes, 8+ years, light (1.3), 100% Spiel

Yet another simple roll/flip’n’write. It reminds me a lot of last year’s Silver & Gold which I had high hopes for, but was completely ignored by the jury. Might not be the best omen for Trails of Tucana.

#8: The Key: Murder at the Oakdale Club & Theft at Cliffrock Villa

1–4 players, 15–20 minutes, 8+ years, medium light (2.0), 99% Spiel

One year after his smash hit The Crew, Thomas Sing might reach for Spiel des Jahres this time. A real-time deduction game sure sounds like a winning combo!

#9: New York Zoo

1–5 players, 30–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.0), 96% Spiel

Another puzzle game by Uwe Rosenberg, this time filled to the brim with cute animals. Who could resist this proposition?

#10: The Adventures of Robin Hood

2–4 players, 60 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (1.7), 99% Spiel

As a very recent release, Robin Hood doesn’t have many ratings yet, so it’s hard for the algorithm to pick up. But by all appearances, Michael Menzel of Andor fame pulled off another great story game.

My two cents

Alright, that’s what the algorithms say. But just like last year, I’d like to let my guts have some say as well. These are the three games I consider having the best shot at ending up on the jury’s shortlist:

Candidates for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021

#1: The Isle of Cats

1–4 players, 60–90 minutes, 8+ years, medium light (2.3), 94% Kennerspiel

The Internet loves cats, and, apparently, so does the BGG crowd. Card drafting and tile laying combined with lots of cats – what’s there not to like?

#2: Calico

1–4 players, 30–45 minutes, 13+ years, medium light (2.2), 62% Kennerspiel

More cats, more puzzling – I sense a theme here. Calico is held in high regards as well, even for Spiel des Jahres by some. It’ll be exciting to see if the jury has it on their list, and, if so, on which.

#3: Lost Ruins of Arnak

1–4 players, 30–120 minutes, 12+ years, medium (2.8), 100% Kennerspiel

This game seems to be on everybody’s mind, and even though nobody seems excited by it, the consensus is that Lost Ruins of Arnak perfectly executes its combination of deckbuilding and worker placement.

#4: Brass: Birmingham

2–4 players, 60–120 minutes, 14+ years, medium heavy (3.9), 100% Kennerspiel

Certainly a fan favourite, it climbed to #3 on BGG before it finally received a German release. It’s definitely way too heavy to win Kennerspiel, but that wouldn’t stop the jury from recommending it.

#5: Yukon Airways

1–4 players, 60–90 minutes, 14+ years, medium (2.7), 100% Kennerspiel

The only thing on my mind about this game: Would the jury really award a game about flying after we’ve been collectively grounded for over a year?

#6: Switch & Signal

2–4 players, 45 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2), 83% Kennerspiel

Train games have a long tradition in board gaming, but Switch & Signal is the first one I know of to approach the topic co-operatively. Colour me intrigued.

#7: Paleo

1–4 players, 45–60 minutes, 10+ years, medium (2.6), 88% Kennerspiel

Paleo already received so much love for the game, and so much criticism for the rule book. The jury is known to exclude games when they just put an undue burden on the players to learn, but in this case the qualities of the game probably win.

#8: Welcome to New Las Vegas

1–50 players, 35 minutes, 10+ years, medium (2.9), 100% Kennerspiel

The jury ignored the original Welcome To…, but will it notice this more complex version set in Nevada?

#9: Tapestry

1–5 players, 90–120 minutes, 12+ years, medium (2.9), 100% Kennerspiel

Stonemaier Games sure knows how to put out beautful products, but I think in the case of Tapestry the result is just too big and too expensive for a Kennerspiel des Jahres.

#10: Paris

2–4 players, 90 minutes, 12+ years, medium (2.7), 100% Kennerspiel

The K&K of board gaming show no signs of slowing down, and their latest brain child Paris has received a lot of love.

My two cents

Finally, here are my three top candidates for a spot on the shortlist for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021:

Again, I think this is another year of fantastic games, so competition for the awards will be fierce. I’m certainly looking forward to learning if the jury agrees with my (algorithm’s) assessment!

Honourable mentions

Last but not least I want to send you off with a couple of games that didn’t make the algorithm’s cut, but are still interesting in their own rights and might end up amongst the recommendations:

Spiel des Jahres

Paris: La Cité de la Lumière: Highly rated by the algorithm, but no chance for the main award as a two-player-game.
Aqualin: Ditto.
Krazy Pix: Not many party games on this list, so here’s one.
Abandon All Artichokes: Such a fresh and unexpected theme, would make a great entry level deckbuilder.
Cantaloop: Book 1 – Breaking into Prison: Point-and-click adventures as a board game could draw in a lot of new gamers.
The Fox in the Forest Duet: The competitive version has been recommended last year, so maybe the co-operative version has a chance this year.

Kennerspiel des Jahres

Barrage: A heavy-weight that might receive a recommendation.
Nidavellir
It’s a Wonderful World
Glasgow
Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion: This lighter and more approachable version of BGG’s #1 might be a candidate for Kennerspiel des Jahres.
Under Falling Skies: The jury loves to cover all aspects of gaming, so here’s a solo game that received a lot of praises.
The 7th Continent: Classic Edition
Faiyum
Cubitos
Anno 1800
Pandemic Legacy: Season 0: The jury has a well-documented love for this series, so it seems unlikely they’ll say goodbye silently.
Aeon’s End: Another very late arrival to Germany. Thematically probably outside the jury’s comfort zone, but they do love their deckbuilders and co-ops…

As every year, it’s not straightforward to determine what games are eligible for the awards. Generally speaking, it’d be those games release between April 2020 and March 2021 into German retail (though because of COVID–19 hitting in March last year we might see a few latecomers this year). Hence, filtering by BGG release year will exclude games that were released earlier elsewhere, but only recently in Germany, and likewise let some games pass that have not seen a German release in that time window. I did my best to catch what I could, but there’s always some that get away. ↩︎