Belratti

Michael Loth | Recommendation list Spiel des Jahres | 2019

Art on the production line: in the co-operative association game Belratti, players have to send their artworks to one exhibition after another. But don’t be scared! You don’t have to paint anything yourself. Each player has a hand of completed artworks which they can donate to try and meet the sometimes absurd-sounding wishes of the

Just One

Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter | Spiel des Jahres | 2019

“Box”, “dice”, “play”, “fun”. What could these words possibly be describing? Easy: a board game! In the co-operative game Just One, one player has to guess a word. The clues aren’t provided by the game but by the rest of the players. Without discussing it with their teammates, each player writes down a clue they

L.a.m.a.

Reiner Knizia | Nominated for Spiel des Jahres | 2019

Everyone likes llamas! In the speedy card game Lama, the llama isn’t just the mascot for the game but also provides the German acronym “Lege alle Minuspunkte ab” (something like “Leave All your Minus points Aside”). Behind this slogan lies a simple principle for how to play your cards. You can only play a card

Krasse Kacke

Jonathan Favre-Godal | Recommendation list Spiel des Jahres | 2019

The name of this game (“Who did it”?) and the cute animal illustrations are definitely aimed at children. But Who Did It? can be fun for grown-ups too, especially grown-ups who are still children at heart. Which means us. We have to free our own pets from the suspicion of having left a little present

Bauernhofbande

Justin Lee | Recommendation list Kinderspiel des Jahres | 2019

It’s anarchy on animal farm – Farmer Fridolin and guard dog Lilli are having difficulties keeping the cheeky piglet and the rest of its animal friends under control. With a little bit of luck from cards and dice, children can work together to help the farmer out. You can attract the mouse with a tasty

Concept Kids – Tiere

Gaëtan Beaujannot and Alain Rivollet | Recommendation list Kinderspiel des Jahres | 2019

Moo – Meow – Baa! Cow – Cat – Sheep! It’s easy to recognise animals from the kind of noise they make. But what if you had to guess an animal just from its different characteristics – whether it’s big or small, where it lives and what it eats? In “Concept Kids Animals” the board

Monster-Bande

Florian Biege | Recommendation list Kinderspiel des Jahres | 2019

Help, the monsters are loose! 54 unique creatures are bustling around the centre of table. Some monsters are yellow, others are red, some have six eyes, others have sharp teeth and horns. There are 12 such characteristics which define this wild bunch but each monster has an identical twin. These are hiding in the face-down

Monster Match

Ken Gruhl and Quentin Weir | Recommendation list Kinderspiel des Jahres | 2019

Eek! Ravenous monsters are invading Donut City. They are looking for sweet treats to feed their enormous appetites. Ten different creatures lie face-up on the table – one is staring at you with five eyeballs, another waving with four arms or balancing on just one leg. Two dice determine what number of which feature the

Octopus

Grégory Kirszbaum and Alex Sanders | Recommendation list Kinderspiel des Jahres | 2019

Be careful, little fishes! If you get too close to the octopus you’ll be in deep trouble. The angry kraken will spray its ink and turn the sea into a murky soup. Then only the skilful fishermen will be able to save you. Two children will carefully pick up a fish with their fishing rods