In the year 2023 board games find a larger audience today than they did just a few years ago. But they are not an uncontested shared experience. Rather, they must compete against other recreational activities and cultural events that we engage in with family and friends. The games released in the last twelve months easily manage to keep up with this competition: This is because there are a number of outstanding new releases.
The nominated and recommended games 2023 ➜
Christoph Schlewinski and Harald present the the best games of the year at the board game café „Playce“
Approximately 440 new releases were played by the two juries – one for Spiel and Kennerspiel, one for Kinderspiel – during the year, about ten percent more than in the previous year. Nevertheless, the number of new releases in the children’s game sector is noticeably lower than in the years before the pandemic. What is noticeable is that the current new releases are dominated by a long-established genre: the memory game, which reminds us of the classic game “Memory”. But just when you think that no one can come up with anything new in the genre, there are a large number of really sophisticated variants. Above all, “Gigamon” was able to inspire the children in the jury members’ play sessions. Nevertheless, it would be desirable for a greater variety of mechanisms to be taken up again in the coming years. There is hope that this can be realized, because authors can now play and test their prototypes again without being restricted by the pandemic. Since the development of good games does not happen in an annual rhythm, but takes much longer, this will only reach the market with a time delay. The “memory” trend is also leaving its mark on games for adults and older children. The Spiel des Jahres recommendation “That’s Not a Hat” is a very special memory game challenge for all age groups.
“Mysterium Kids” belongs to the “party game” genre, which until now has rarely been found in remarkable quality among children’s games. For adults, on the other hand, it is well established. Not surprisingly, “Hitster,” which requires a paid or ad-supported Spotify account, was longlisted for Spiel des Jahres. “Fun Facts” was even nominated for Spiel des Jahres. It’s noticeable that, going beyond the “party game” genre, several titles stand out among the new releases that are playable with more than four people. This is particularly unusual in the Kennerspiel-area with the tournament game, “Challengers,” which is especially fun in large groups with up to eight players.
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“Mysterium Kids” belongs to the “party game” genre, which until now has rarely been found in remarkable quality among children’s games. For adults, on the other hand, it is well established. Not surprisingly, “Hitster,” which requires a paid or ad-supported Spotify account, was longlisted for Spiel des Jahres. “Fun Facts” was even nominated for Spiel des Jahres. It’s noticeable that, going beyond the “party game” genre, several titles stand out among the new releases that are playable with more than four people. This is particularly unusual in the Kennerspiel-area with the tournament game, “Challengers,” which is especially fun in large groups with up to eight players.
The jury for Spiel and Kennerspiel 2023: Stephan Kessler, Udo Bartsch, Maren Hoffmann, Manuel Fritsch, Tim Koch, Martina Fuchs, Bernhard Löhlein, Karsten Grosser, Julia Zerlik, Harald Schrapers (Chairman) and Nico Wagner
In the children’s games, French-speaking game authors dominate – in addition to an Austrian author. In the game and connoisseur’s game category, on the other hand, it’s mixed: a Dane, Kasper Lapp, is mentioned twice. Otherwise, the German-, English- and French-speaking authors as well as a Japanese author share the places on the lists.
Kinderspieljury 2023: Volker Römke (Beirat), Oliver Gumbrich (advisory board, Christoph Schlewinski (Coordinator), Johanna France, Swetlana Zeiser (advisory board), Stefan Gohlisch and Jessica Ferg (advisory board).
This year, a unique honor has been awarded to “Unlock!”, the story-telling puzzle adventures based on an idea by French author Cyril Demaegd. The first “Unlock!” cases appeared back in 2017, and the series is modeled on “Escape” games without being limited to the “escape” motif. The quality of the “Unlock!” series has grown steadily over the years. The special award – the Sonderpreis – goes to the current cases “Unlock! Game Adventures” and “Unlock! Kids: Detective Stories” – this child-friendly adaptation was particularly convincing. For this reason, the special prize is awarded in two versions: in anthracite for the Kennerspiel “Unlock” and, for the first time, in blue for the Kinderspiel “Unlock! Kids”.
Switching off and being allowed to forget everything around you for a moment – that is even more important in troubled times. You can do this with the “Unlock!” adventures just as you can with the other 21 titles selected by the Spiel des Jahres juries
Which of the games nominated in the respective categories will be chosen as the winner will be decided by the jury members on Sunday, July 16, immediately before the big awards ceremony which will be broadcasted as a livestream on Youtube. as a livestream on YouTube and spiel-des-jahres.de from Berlin.
Harald Schrapers · Christoph Schlewinski
Fotos: Spiel des Jahres CC BY-SA 4.0
