The Spiel des Jahres is considered by many to be the most prestigious award in the tabletop gaming world. It’s the German “Game of the Year” award, picked by a jury and awarded in three categories. The Spiel des Jahres is the overall game of the year, and typically takes into consideration games with a fairly broad target audience (around “8 and up”). The Kinderspiel des Jahres is for children’s games. The Kennerspiel des Jahres is a little trickier to define, because it has been used for heavier strategy games, but can be translated as “connoisseur” or “expert,” and the nominees have not always been more difficult or complex games.
The nominees for 2022 (chosen from games published in 2020 and 2021) were announced this week, and thanks to a different nominating schedule from GeekDad, three of their nominees are GeekDad Approved, with two of them being GeekDad Game of the Year winners.
Here are the GeekDad-Approved games from the list:
Dune Imperium
Our GeekDad 2021 Game of the Year, Dune: Imperium is a worker placement/deck building hybrid game that was designed by Paul Dennen, creator of the Clank! series of games. It is nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022. You can read Paul Benson’s original review here.
Cascadia
A close runner-up for 2021 GeekDad Game of the Year, Cascadia is an abstract tile drafting and laying game designed by Randy Flynn. It is nominated for the Spiel des Jahres 2022. You can read Jonathan Liu’s original review here.
Cryptid
The GeekDad Game of the Year winner from 2018, Cryptid is an abstract logic and deduction game designed by Hal Duncan and Ruth Veevers, It is nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2022 (it was just released in Germany in 2021, so is eligible for the award despite a 2018 release in the United States). You can read James Floyd Kelly’s original review here.
Full List of 2022 Spiel des Jahres Nominees
Kinderspiel des Jahres
Auch schon Clever, Designed by Wolfgang Warsch, Published by Schmidt Spiele
Magic Mountain, Designed by Jens-Peter Schliemann und Bernhard Weber, Published by Amigo
Quacks & Co., Designed by Wolfgang Warsch, Published by Schmidt Spiele
Spiel des Jahres
Cascadia, Designed by Randy Flynn, Published by Flatout Games
Scout, Designed by Kei Kajino, Published by Oinnk
Top Ten, Designed by Aurélien Picolet, Published by Cocktail Games
Kennerspiel des Jahres
Cryptid, Designed by Hal Duncan und Ruth Veevers, Published by Osprey Games
Dune Imperium, Designed by Paul Dennen, Published by Dire Wolf
Living Forest, Designed by Aske Christiansen, Published by Pegasus Spiele
Congratulations and good luck to all of this year’s nominees! You can also find more information on all the nominees at the Spiel des Jahres website.
