[Headline]

The Boardgames Awards

With dozens of games being published each year, the average player rarely gets around to do enough playtesting in order to decide which games he should buy. To make the decision easier, several Boardgames Awards have been established, recommending games which are outclassing their peers...

The G@mebox Star

Well, although two official german games awards are quite well known to the public, I decided that Kulkmann's G@mebox needed an awards of its own. Thus, in the 7th year since the beginning of the G@mebox, I now have established the G@mebox Star as a mark for games which I consider as being outstanding as far as playability and design is concerned. Overall, a game which receives the G@mebox Star will be a game which I consider to be highly corresponding with the criteria which I have established for reviewing games.

The International Gamers Awards was created to recognize outstanding games and designers, as well as the companies that publish them. The awards are truly international in scope, with committee members representing countries throughout the world. The goal of the IGA is to select games that are truly the 'best of the best', helping lead to greater exposure for these wonderful games and help spread the word of the "wonderful world of gaming" on a global scale.

Although the IGA-jury is still small (19 people), all the jury members (which were especially selected and invited) stand for substantial knowledge in the field of boardgames.

  • 2015 (multiplayer): The Voyages of Marco Polo by Simone Luciani & Daniele Tascini
  • 2015 (2 player): Wir sind das Volk by Richard Sivél & Peer Sylvesterg
  • 2014 (multiplayer): "Russian Railroads" by Helmut Ohley and Leonhard Orgler
  • 2014 (2 player): Limes by Martyn F
  • 2013 (multiplayer): Terra Mystica by Jens Drögemüller & Helge Ostertag
  • 2013 (2 player): Le Havre: The Inland Port by Uwe Rosenberg
  • 2012 (multiplayer): Trajan by Stefan Feld
  • 2012 (2 player): Agricola: All creatures big and small by Uwe Rosenberg
  • 2011 (multiplayer): "7 Wonders" by Antoine Bauza
  • 2011 (2 player): A few Acres of Snow by Martin Wallace
  • 2010 (multiplayer): Age of Industry by Martin Wallace
  • 2010 (2 player): Campaign Manager 2008 by Christian Leonhard & Jason Matthews
  • 2009 (multiplayer): Le Havre by Uwe Rosenberg
  • 2009 (2 player): Day & Night by Valentijn Eekels
  • 2008 (multiplayer): "Agricola" by Uwe Rosenberg
  • 2008 (2 player): 1960 - The Making of the President by Christian Leonhard & Jason Matthews
  • 2007 (multiplayer): "Through the Ages" by Vladimir Chvatil
  • 2007 (2 player): "Mr. Jack" by Bruno Cathala & Ludovic Maublanc
  • 2006 (multiplayer): "Caylus" by William Attia
  • 2006 (2 player): Twilight Struggle by Jason Matthews and Ananda Gupta
  • 2005 (multiplayer): "Zug um Zug Europa" by Michael Tummelhofer
  • 2005 (2 player): "Der Ringkrieg" by Roberto Di Meglio, Marco Maggi & Francesco Nepitello
  • 2004 (multiplayer): "Sankt Petersburg" by Michael Tummelhofer
  • 2004 (2 player): "Memoir `44" by Richard Borg
  • 2003 (multiplayer): "Age of Steam" by Martin Wallace
  • 2003 (2 players): "Lord of the Rings - The Confrontation" by Reiner Knizia
  • 2002: "Puerto Rico" by Andreas Seyfarth

The Deutscher Spiele Preis is awarded yearly in October , at the evening before the SPIEL games convention takes place at Essen / Germany.

Actually, the awards is not restricted to state borders, but instead it unites different initiatives of the games-sector which were established since the end of the 1970's in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Actually, the awards unites a broad international knowledge from different areas connected with gaming.

  • Thousands of gamers will be asked through polls.
  • Readers of the magazine Fairplay are asked to vote.
  • Chosen journalists are allowed to vote.
  • Over 300 playing groups from Germany, Austria and Switzerland hand in their top-lists.
  • Some chosen game stores hand in their top lists.
  • Since 2001 voting is possible via the internet.

The independend evaluation of the votes is done by a specialized institute. Here, a top-ten ranking is established from the different votes outlined above.

The Spiel des Jahres awards actually is the oldest of the german games awards. Each year, a jury of competent people reviews the newly released games and honors the game which they consider to be most outstanding. In 2011 the jury decided that the time had come to distinguish between family games and games for more serious hobbyists, and so the awards was split into the regular Spiel des Jahres and the Kennerspiel des Jahres.

  • 1979: "Der Hase und der Igel"
  • 1980: "Rummikub"
  • 1981: "Focus"
  • 1982: "Sagaland"
  • 1983: "Scotland Yard"
  • 1984: "Dampfross" by by David G. Watts
  • 1985: "Sherlock Holmes Criminal Cabinet"
  • 1986: "Heimlich & Co.
  • 1987: "Auf Achse" by Wolfgang Kramer
  • 1988: "Barbarossa" by Klaus Teuber
  • 1989: "Cafe International" by Rudi Hoffmann
  • 1990: "Adel Verpflichtet" by Klaus Teuber
  • 1991: "Drunter & Drüber" by Klaus Teuber
  • 1992: "Um Reifenbreite" by R. Bontenbal
  • 1993: "Bluff"
  • 1994: "Manhattan" by Andreas Seyfarth
  • 1995: "Die Siedler von Catan" by Klaus Teuber
  • 1996: "El Grande" by Wolfgank Kramer & Richard Ulrich
  • 1997: "Missisippi Queen" by Werner Hodel
  • 1998: "Elfenland" by Alan R. Moon
  • 1999: "Tikal" by M. Kiesling and W. Kramer
  • 2000: "Torres" by Wolfgang Kramer
  • 2001: "Carcassonne" by Klaus Jürgen Wrede
  • 2002: "Villa Paletti" by Bill Payne
  • 2003: "Der Palast von Alhambra" by Dirk Henn
  • 2004: "Zug um Zug" by Alan R. Moon
  • 2005: "Niagara" by Thomas Liesching
  • 2006: "Thurn & Taxis" by Karen & Andreas Seyfarth
  • 2007: "Zooloretto" by Michael Schacht
  • 2008: "Keltis" by Reiner Knizia
  • 2009: "Dominion" by Donald X. Vaccarino
  • 2010: "Dixit"
  • 2011 - Spiel des Jahres: "Qwirkle" by Susan McKinley Ross
  • 2011 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "7 Wonders" by Antoine Bauza
  • 2012 - Spiel des Jahres: "Kingdom Builder" by Donald X. Vaccarino
  • 2012 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Village" by Inka & Markus Brand
  • 2013 - Spiel des Jahres: "Hanabi" by Antoine Bauza
  • 2013 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Legends of Andor" by Michael Menzel
  • 2014 - Spiel des Jahres: "Camel Up" by Steffen Bogen
  • 2014 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Istanbul" by Rüdiger Dorn
  • 2015 - Spiel des Jahres: "Colt Express" by Christophe Raimbault
  • 2015 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Broom Service" by Andreas Pelikan and Alexander Pfister
  • 2016 - Spiel des Jahres: "Codenames" by Vlaada Chvatil
  • 2017 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Isle of Skye" by Alexander Pfister & Andreas Pelikan
  • 2017 - Spiel des Jahres: "Kingdomino" by Bruno Cathala
  • 2017 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Exit" by Inka & Markus Brand
  • 2018 - Spiel des Jahres: "Azul" by Michael Kiesling
  • 2018 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Die Quacksalber von Quedlingburg" by Wolfgang Warsch
  • 2019 - Spiel des Jahres: "Just One" by Ludovic Roudy & Bruno Sautter
  • 2019 - Kennerspiel des Jahres: "Flügelschlag" by Elizabeth Hargrave


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Copyright © 2003 Frank Schulte-Kulkmann, Trier, Germany