The most prestigious international award for tabletop board and card games marks its 27th anniversary this 2026. Spiel des Jahres focuses on friendly and accessible board games that anyone can easily learn and enjoy together. Part of this same event are the awards Kinderspiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres.
For these awards, a dedicated jury of board game critics and journalists evaluates eligible games that present new ideas or a reinterpretation of already existing experiences. If the game is captivating for the players, if it feels organic and well-rounded. Everything from the presentation, materials, design, to the game mechanics and experience is taken into account.
The nominees for Spiel des Jahres 2026 are:
Nominees for Spiel des Jahres 2026
The Spiel des Jahres award, is an award for analogue board games in German-speaking countries. The considered games for the award can be new games from that same year and the previous year.
COZY STICKER VILLE
👤Players: 1-6
🕒Duration: 30-45 min
🤝 Cooperative
Cozy Sticker Ville is a cooperative board game in which players get to build a vill with 800 stickers. The game has a campaign mode that covers 10 years of in-game story. Sessions have a duration of 30 to 45 minutes, and each one represents one year of in-game story. The players will have the power to decide which new options they unblock. How to modify the town and live the permanent effects caused by their actions during the game.
Cozy Sticker Ville approaches a legacy design with a rich narrative and gives the player the liberty to personalise their game experience.
Similar to Cozy Sticker Ville, Dorfromantik: The Board Game in which players work together to create a peaceful countryside that grows over multiple plays.
DITO!
👤Players: 3-7
🕒Duration: 30 min
⚔️Competitive
In Dito! players will try to predict what their opponents will write in response to a given category. During each round the player will have to choose between two topics on a card. For example: “Three things you wear on your face”. Every player secretly writes their answers , aiming to choose words that other players are also likely to think of. To earn points, players must match answers with others. Also, additional bonus points are earned when exactly one other player writes the same word. Aside from being a competition to score the most points, it also encourages communication and group interaction.
Similar to Dito!, in Codenames teammates connect words through clues, requiring players to think about how others interpret concepts and associations.
MORTY SORTY MAGIC SHOP
👤Players: 2-4
🕒Duration: 30 min
⚔️Competitive
You’ll become the newest apprentice in Morty Sorty’s famous Magic Shop and must organise incoming magical ingredients onto three shelves. The jars must be positioned on each shelf in ascending order. Players are free to choose where each ingredient goes. While the mechanics seem simple, the game will gradually introduce additional constraints and strategic decisions.Players must constantly evaluate whether to place a particular ingredient, or save the space for better options.
Similar to Morty Sorty Magic Shop, in Sagrada players arrange colored dice in a grid while obeying placement restrictions.
Nominees for Kinderspiel des Jahres 2026
The Kinderspiel des Jahres award is the category that covers children ‘s board games. This award was introduced in the year 2001, having been established as a separate category of the Spiel des Jahres awards.
BUH PARTY
👤Players: 2-6
🕒Duration: 10 min
⚔️Competitive
Players take on the roles of monsters who want to infiltrate the party in disguise. All except one, who plays the role of the fortune teller, who tries to identify and expose them. Each round the fortune teller reveals new information, a glimpse or clue about which disguises are currently at play. The rest of the players must choose and lock in their costumes before the fortune teller finishes observing. As the game continues, fewer costume options remain safe, increasing the pressure on the monsters to avoid predictable choices.
A similar game to Buh Party, would be Mysterium Kids. A lighter version of Mysterium in which players interpret clues to solve a Mystery together.
DIE INSEL DER MOOKIES (Mooki Island)
👤Players: 2
🕒Duration: 15 min
⚔️Competitive
A Two-player card game in which players compete to collect the most Mookies from different families. Each card of the game features different Mookies on its front and back. On each turn, a player faces two simple but meaningful choices: take a card on the left or right, and decide which side of the card to use. Every decision affects the players own collection, and also the options left available to the opponent. The chosen Mookie is added to the player’s pile, gradually building up sets of creatures from the game’s five families. The goal of the game is to have the largest collection in as many families as possible. Each family awards a trophy to the player who collected the most Mookies of that type.
Similar to die insel der Mookies, Lost Cities is a classic card duel game, in which every card played affects the plans of both players.
VERFLIXT VERZAUBERT
👤Players: 2-4
🕒Duration: 20
🤝 Cooperative
An asymmetrical deduction game, in which one player takes on the role of a mischievous ghost who has stolen four magical artifacts from a school of magic. While the other players become apprentice wizards determined to uncover the thief’s identity. The stolen items are scattered across the kingdom. Players use dice to move around the board.They can travel through the magical kingdom and interact with locations that will provide information or advance their goals. The story-driven rules and narrative help immerse players in the magical setting and make the adventure feel like a living fantasy mystery.
Similar to Verflixt Verzaubert, Spyfall is a game in which the players ask questions to uncover the outsider.
Nominees for Kennerspiel des Jahres 2026
The Kennerspiel des Jahres award was first introduced in 2011 as a new category for the Spiel des Jahres. This category covers connoisseur games aimed at experienced players seeking strategic depth and complexity.
BOSS FIGHTERS QR
👤Players: 2-4
🕒Duration: 40-60 min
🤝 Cooperative
Boss fighter Qr is a cooperative adventure that combines physical cards and the assistance of an app. Each player chooses a character, with its own personal deck to perform actions during battles. Every card has a QR code that is scanned with a tablet or smartphone running the companion app. The app processes the action, manages the boss’s response, and keeps track of the game. The game presents a series of increasingly difficult bosses. As the campaign progresses, players must discover cards, unlock new abilities, and improve their characters.
Similar to Boss Fighters QR, Mansions of Madness: Second Edition is an app-driven board game, in which the companion app manages enemies, events and exploration.
MOON COLONY BLOODBATH
👤Players: 1-5
🕒Duration: 45 min
⚔️Competitive
In this civilisation-building game, the players rapidly establish settlements on the Moon and invest in various infrastructures. The first stage of the game centres on the expansion and economic development. However, the optimistic beginning quickly gives way to a struggle for survival as the colony is hit by a constant stream of setbacks. The game emphasises the management of crises rather than pursuing endless growth. A common deck of events repeatedly introduces challenges that affect every player, forcing them to think ahead and prepare for future disasters. The victory goes to the player who retains the largest surviving population.
A similar boardgame to Moon Colony Bloodbath, but in cooperative mode is Pandemic. A game in which players must constantly react and plan ahead.
REBIRTH
👤Players: 2-4
🕒Duration: 30-60 min
⚔️Competitive
A competitive tile-placement game where players build up regions on a shared map, set either Ireland or Scotland. Players place tiles representing farms, energy farms, and settlements. These tiles are used to develop features such as castles, ports, and cathedrals. This placement contributes to the player’s overall score in different ways. The game offers a meaningful strategic depth through planning and area control. The changing maps and objectives keep each game fresh and different.
A similar boardgame to rebirth, is Carcassonne the classic tile-laying game where players build cities, roads, and fields while competing for control and points.
The Evolution of the Spiel des Jahres Over 27 Years
Over the past 27 years, the Spiel des Jahres awards have brought us such incredible games as Dixit, Ticket to Ride and Alhambra, to name but a few. These board games stand out for their fresh take on themes and mechanics, or even for the originality of the new experiences they offer. You’ve no doubt already played many of these Spiel des Jahres nominees and winners. And there are plenty more players waiting to play a new game with you!
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