Spiel des Jahres 2024: Genomineerden en winnaars!

The Spiel des Jahres , or “Game of the Year,” is an annual award that recognizes the best board games of the year. Since its inception in 1978, this prestigious award has had a major impact on the world of board games. Players, designers, and publishers from all over the world eagerly await the announcement of the Spiel des Jahres each year. But the big question is: Which games have been nominated for the Spiel des Jahres 2024? And which board games have won?

What is the Spiel des Jahres?

The Spiel des Jahres is not just any award. It is a recognition of excellence in the board game industry. The jury consists of experts who carefully assess the nominated games based on various criteria, such as game mechanics, originality, playability and accessibility. Winning the Spiel des Jahres is a sign of quality and can give a game's popularity a huge boost.

Because this is a German prize, not all games have been released in the Netherlands. Most of them can be obtained here (in Dutch or English) but sometimes a game is not available.

The winners of the Spiel des Jahres 2024

Game of the Year 2024
Jury: “Sky Team is convincing, both in terms of gameplay and in terms of atmosphere and theme. The short game sessions are very satisfying and encourage you to try again immediately after a failed landing.” – Source
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Connoisseur's Game of the Year 2024
Jury: “ Daybreak is an exciting and educational game about the climate crisis that promotes collaboration and uses real research projects as a basis, stimulating discussion and education. ” – Source
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Children's Game of the Year 2024
Jury: “The Magic Keys” is an enchanting children's game with exciting elements, beautiful material and well thought-out rules, which makes children want to play it again and again.” – Source
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The nominees of the Spiel des Jahres 2023

Every year, board games are nominated in 3 categories.

Game of the Year 2024

This is the family game of the year. The game that you can give as a gift with confidence during the holidays.

Sky Team
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Captain Flip
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In the Footsteps of Darwin
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Connoisseur's Game of the Year 2024

This is the expert game of the year. They are great games for people who regularly play a board game and like some extra challenge. (Not expert games, but connoisseur games.)