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Spiel des Jahres 2022 winners

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 19:00:00 +0200

The cat’s out of the bag and the winners have been announced! As mentioned before, this year was the first time the ceremony was held on a Saturday evening and I had the immense pleasure of attending it in person. In case you missed my very profesional live coverage on Twitter, here’s a summary of the event.

But without further ado, here are the winners of Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022!

Spiel des Jahres 2022

Cascadia

1–4 players, 30–45 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (1.9)

In the end, it was the favourite that won Spiel des Jahres 2022. It’s the first award I called wrong in three years – still not a bad quota I guess. 🤷 Somewhat ironically, Cascadia remains the only game of the six nominees I haven’t played yet, but after playing SCOUT and Top Ten, I do see how those games might not be for everyone. On the other hand, the positivity towards Cascadia was overwhelming – it’s rare to see the ‘geek crowd being so enthusiastic about the jury’s decision. All in all, it appears Cascadia will make a great ambassador for the hobby board gaming.

Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022

Living Forest

1–4 players, 40 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2)

This award I got right, and as you could read from my previous post, I very much agree with this decision. Similar to the red award, I could see good reasons why the other Kennerspiel nominees Cryptid and Dune: Imperium have a bit narrower audiences, but I think Living Forest hits the sweetspot of a games that’s “one step up” from a Spiel whilst still remaining fairly accessible. I’m certain many many people will enjoy planting those trees and extinguishing those forest fires as much as I do.

Conclusion

I feel like I say this every year, but I think we’ve had another very strong year with six excellent nominees that also were very different from each other. I blame the uniform strength on my first wrong call since I started these predictions. 😉

Attending the award ceremony will make this a very special year for me, and I hope I’ll soon find the time to write a little article about my experience in Berlin.

As always, this has been great fun and I hope to be back with my predictions for Spiel des Jahres 2023!

Spiel des Jahres 2022 predictions – Part 2!

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 00:00:00 +0300

The waiting is finally coming to an end! On Saturday, July 16, the jury will announce the winners of Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022. We’re blessed with another year of very strong games and I’m certainly very excited to learn what games will win the two awards.

I’m proud to say that I’ve called both awards correctly for two years running, so there is a bit of pressure to keep up the streak. 😅 So without further ado, let’s look at the nominees.

Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2022

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
Cascadia	8.1	8.0	7.6	77.8%
SCOUT	6.9	7.7	6.5	13.6%
Top Ten	7.2	7.6	6.2	8.6%

No doubt, the numbers are in favour of Cascadia. But will the jury agree? Let’s look at the nominees in a little more detail.

Cascadia

1–4 players, 30–45 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (1.9)

As mentioned, Cascadia was high on everybody’s list from the beginning. This tile-laying game of creating landscapes filled with animals certainly hit a nerve with the geek community: it’s currently ranked #68 overall on BGG and #1 in abstract games.

Despite these high praises and the strong numbers, I feel like there are a lot of caveats here. First, our Kennerspiel score was a little undecided as to what award it should be nominted in, so that speaks for a Spiel on the heavier side. Not a negative per se, but the jury did favour very light games over the past years for the family award. Also that classification as an abstract game isn’t particularly favourable: it exposes the fact that the setting is nothing but an excuse to draw cute animals on the tiles.

None of this matters if the gameplay was an overwhelming experience. But when reading through the jury’s reviews, the tone isn’t exactly enthusiastic. While everybody seems to have a good time, Cascadia doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

When you think of Spiel des Jahres as an ambassador for the hobby board gaming, I don’t think Cascadia is the best game for this job. Overall, it might be a fun, clever puzzle, but it also has a slightly dry and geeky aura to it that might fail to pull in new players.

SCOUT

2–5 players, 15 minutes, 9+ years, light (1.4)

As soon as the nomination for SCOUT was announced, the jokes started to come in where on the tiny box the publisher would even put the red meeple. There certainly was a time when a small box card game would have been considered without chances of winning Spiel des Jahres, but Hanabi proved that this certainly isn’t the case anymore.

Card games do have some advantages: they’re cheap, portable and don’t intimidate anyone. But all accounts, SCOUT also has some very clever mechanisms going for itself.

Still, I would consider this to be the dark horse in this year’s race, though it would be a great service to the hobby if the jury showcased this gem from Japan to the Western markets.

Top Ten

4–9 players, 30 minutes, 14+ years, light (1.1)

Top Ten was the nominee that filled the “not another party game” square in the annual Spiel des Jahres bullshit bingo. I got the impression most geeks saw this as another variation of Wavelength and glanced over it. But when reading through the reviews, they’re full of testimonies of joy and laughter. What better motivation to get people to the table?

Of course, there are always caveats. Maybe most importantly, a game like this requires the group to come together and bring the game alive with their creativity. That’s not to everyone’s liking, but the fact that the people around the table matter more than the mechanics is still a plus in my book.

The other, more formal, concern is that this would be the first Spiel des Jahres that doesn’t (claim to) work for three players. I’ve stipulated years ago that a Spiel des Jahres must work for three and four players, full stop. But the jury stated that MicroMacro doesn’t work for four players, and claiming games like Codenames and Just One can be played with three players is just a lie publishers habitually print on boxes. This didn’t stop the jury then and it shouldn’t stop them now.

Who will win?

I guess you don’t need to read between the lines above, my favourite for Spiel des Jahres 2022 is Top Ten. It just fits best in line with past winners: approachable, quick, fun – the best games of the three to bring all kinds of people together around the table. By all means, Cascadia and SCOUT seem strong games that definitely have their fans, but my feeling tells me that Top Ten is the kind of game the jury is after.

Nominated for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022

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

Game	R.G	Average	Bayes	Poll
Cryptid	8.6	7.5	7.2	25.0%
Dune: Imperium	6.9	8.3	8.0	52.5%
Living Forest	7.3	7.4	6.3	22.5%

The recommendation algorithm picks Cryptid as its favourite, whilst the geeks choose Dune: Imperium. Or maybe Living Forest will surprise everyone in the end? Let’s take a look at the candidates!

Cryptid

3–5 players, 30–50 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2)

This still is an interesting nomination to me. Logical deduction games haven’t received much attention by the jury in the past, so it’s quite nice they highlight this genre as well. It’s still a tough sale for the general audience: essentially, you’re trying to solve a very cerebral puzzle, and there’s plenty of people who don’t particularly enjoy that kind of pastime.

But even within the genre, I have some reservations about Cryptid: I’ve played it twice, and both times someone at the table understood their clue wrong, which meant the game just completely fell apart. It feels in a way “irresponsible” to “unleash” this game to a wide audience that often will play fast and loose with the rules.

Finally, in the very same genre we’ve also had The Search for Planet X released in Germany recently which I consider to be the stronger game.

Don’t get me wrong, I actually quite like deduction games and Cryptid in particular. Lots of people do – there’s a lot of positive ratings of this relatively old game, so the strong performance for the recommendation algorithm is partially explained by that.

Dune: Imperium

1–4 players, 60–120 minutes, 14+ years, medium (3.0)

There have been much discussions beforehand if the jury would nominate a franchise game. They obviously did, and to paraphrase the jury’s chairman Harald Schrapers, they simply don’t care about these things, only if the game is fun. Many people will agree that Dune: Imperium is – it’s currently ranked as the 15th best game of all times on BGG.

Does this make it the favourite to win Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022? Not necessarily. For starters, it is pretty complex for an award that’s meant to take gamers one (and only one!) step further than the typical Spiel. There’s also some consideration if this combination of deck building and worker placement is too similar to last year’s nominee Lost Ruins of Arnak. I don’t think the jury cares - they might’ve, if Arnak had actually won.

In the end what we have is a fairly complex game with lots of high praises that might be just out of reach for the main award.

Living Forest

1–4 players, 40 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2)

Living Forest has received wider distribution only quite recently, so hasn’t gathered too many ratings and is hence not strongly represented in the recommendations yet. But the jury has given almost unanimously high praises, so don’t make the mistake of overlooking this one.

The mixture of deck building and push-your-luck isn’t particularly new – it’s the same receipe behind Kennerspiel des Jahres 2018 winner The Quacks of Quedlinburg. But Living Forest still manages to create its very distinct spin on those ingredients and adds a pleasant dose of player interaction on top of that.

I’ve heard many experienced games being somewhat lukewarm on Living Forest after a game or two. I obviously don’t want to deny them their opinions, but I believe some of them aren’t quite open to the wonderful journey that the game takes you on as you explore the Living Forest deeper and deeper. During the first game, you might just be happy to draw some cards and build some trees. Then you discover the synergies and create a more efficient engine. Finally, you realise how ever decision you make affects the other players and become fiercely competitive.

I’ve played dozens of games on Board Game Arena and I’m still looking forward to many more!

Who will win?

Again, I think it’s pretty clear from the above that my money is on Living Forest to win Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022. It just hits the sweet spot of a fairly approachable game that offers enough challenges for those who are ready for a bit deeper experience. Cryptid and Dune: Imperium are clearly very strong games in their own right, but both the jury’s and my own enthusiasm quite clearly point towards Living Forest.

So it appears that for both awards I picked the nominee the community considers the least likely. We’ll know more on July 16. This award ceremony will actually mark the first time it’s being held on a Saturday evening and I have the immense honour to be in Berlin for the event. Needless to say, I’m very excited about this. Follow me on Twitter for some live coverage! 😎

Spiel des Jahres 2022 nominations

contact@recommend.games (Recommend.Games) — Tue, 24 May 2022 17:04:17 +0300

Nominations are out! The jury selected a total of fifteen games for their longlist, nine for Spiel des Jahres and six for Kennerspiel des Jahres. Out of these games, three games each are nominated for the two awards and can hope to get the coveted meeple added to their covers on July 16.

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

Nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2022

Cascadia

1–4 players, 30–45 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (1.9), 53% Kennerspiel

It’s probably safe to say this was the most mentioned game for a nomination. The question wasn’t so much if Cascadia would be nominated, but where: our algorithm classified it as a Kennerspiel (just about, more on this below), but the jury put it on the Spiel list in the end. The game has been discussed now so much that many consider it the favourite for the win, but I think the competion is very strong.

SCOUT

2–5 players, 15 minutes, 9+ years, light (1.4), 98% Spiel

SCOUT was one of the game I really had to mention because there were some strong reviews, but the algorithm didn’t quite pick it up. (It was #39 on my predictions list.) Availability seems very patchy and a significant number of commentators could have seen it on the Kennerspiel list instead, so this getting nominated is still a bit of a surprise in the end.

Top Ten

4–9 players, 30 minutes, 14+ years, light (1.1), 98% Spiel

While not entirely new in its core concept, the jury’s reviews of Top Ten were so strong that I was the most certain about this one being nominated. There’s plenty of people who seem unhappy about the prospect of “yet another party game” winning Spiel des Jahres, but I’m sure the jury has a much better insights into what the market craves for than anybody else.

Spiel des Jahres recommendations

7 Wonders: Architects: One of the more expected recommendations. A crowd pleaser without being very exciting or new either.
echoes: The Dancer: I’ve definitely had this series on my radar (if you pardon the pun), but the algorithm put echoes: The Cocktail as the highest bet on #46. By the way: this recommendation “proves” that the jury doesn’t shy away from app assisted games. They care much more about spreading board gaming to wider circles than gatekeeping “the pure lore”.
Magic Rabbit: Every year, the jury has some surprises in store, and this is definitely one of them. According to BGG, it was first released in 2020, and the lack of mentioning it elsewhere meant that our algorithm completely missed it. 🤷 A super quick co-operative deduction game does sound like an intriguing proposition though.
My Gold Mine: The other big surprise on the list. It seems on the border to Kinderspiel, which might partially explain why the algorithm placed it only at #49.
So Clover!: I even saw this as a candidate for a nomination, so the recommendation is well expected.
Trek 12: Himalaya: At #15 on the predictions, I’d call this a near miss. The jury has given the spotlight to many roll & write games over the year, and it appears this one offers enough new ideas to the genre for a recommendation.

Nominated for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022

Cryptid

3–5 players, 30–50 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2), 74% Kennerspiel

Cryptid was the #1 candidate for the algorithm, so the nomination does not come as a surprise from that perspective, though deduction games haven’t received that much recognition by the jury lately.

Dune: Imperium

1–4 players, 60–120 minutes, 14+ years, medium (3.0), 100% Kennerspiel

The possibility of a nomination for Dune: Imperium was heavily discussed beforehand, but less because of the actual game and more about the question if the jury would give recognition to a game with a strong franchise. Indeed, this hasn’t really happened since The Lord of the Rings more than two decades ago, so this alone speaks volumes to the quality of this game.

Living Forest

1–4 players, 40 minutes, 10+ years, medium light (2.2), 77% Kennerspiel

Following the enthusiastic reviews by jury members, anything but a nomination for Living Forest would have been a surprise. As it stands, these praises also make it the early favourite to win Kennerspiel des Jahres, but there’s still plenty of time until the final decision in July.

Kennerspiel des Jahres recommendations

Ark Nova: As expected, this heavyweight got the “Barrage treatment” – a place on the longlist, but the jury made it clear that this game is outside the scope of a Kennerspiel.
Khôra: Rise of an Empire: While frequently mentioned by other pundits, our algorithm only gave it outsider chances at #38. The theme seems quite bland, but that never stopped the jury before.
Witchstone: At #11 on the predictions list, I’m going to call this one a very near miss. It’s been on many other lists too, so no surprise it got recommended by the jury.

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

Out of fifteen games on both longlists, our algorithm classified fourteen in agreement with the jury – that’s 93% accurate. Only Cascadia was marked incorrectly as a Kennerspiel, but its score was merely 53%. So really, the algorithm considered this as a coin toss, as did most commentators, so I’d say that’s a pretty good result for the Kennerspiel score.

Longlist

Overall, I called nine out of fifteen games on the longlist correctly, which matches the result of two years ago and is two short of last year. Five out of nine correct for Spiel (four if you don’t count Cascadia on the wrong list, or even only three since SCOUT didn’t come out of the algorithm) and four out of six for Kennerspiel is a fine result, but clearly this year was less predictable than last.

Shortlist

Just like the past two years, I predicted four out of six nominations correctly in total – I think 67% accurate is a result to celebrate. Even if you don’t count Cascadia, 50% is still pretty good and I’m glad it worked out fine – when I saw the longlist with its numerous surprises, I was afraid I’d be way off this year. 😅

That’s it for now, we’ll be back in July with a little more in-depth analyses on the six nominees and their chances of winning an award.