Spiel des Jahres Winners Announced

The Spiel des Jahres voting is done and the winners were announced this week.
And the winner is:

Qwirkle

This year there was also a new category this year – the Kennerspiel des Jahres. It’s an award meant to highlight a game aimed at more experienced gamers. And the winner of that award is:

7 Wonders

While we recognize that Qwirkle is a good family board game. We must admit that we’re disappointed that Forbidden Island didn’t win the top prize. Between Qwirkle and Forbidden Island, we’ll pull out Forbidden Island more often for a couple reasons. The first is that it’s a cooperative game and we think working together as a family to beat a game is great. Good bonding as you work together.

The second reason is that we feel more tension in the game which keeps us engaged in the outcome. As island pieces start to disappear from the play area, you can feel the energy pick up as you don’t know it you’ll make it through to the end. Great stuff.

That being said, Qwirkle is a very good family game. It’s an abstract game that keeps you thinking. So while it may look simple with just colors and shapes, it’s the choices you make on where to place them that will put you in the lead or drop you to the bottom. And it’s that thinking through choices these choices that creates a good learning environment at the same time you’re having fun.