To earn the title “_______ of the Year” is always impressive, and there is likely a category for almost anything you can think of, including board games. In 1978 Germany created the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award in an effort to promote game design and reward games who have achieved excellence. Originally starting with just the one award of Game of the Year, the Spiel des Jahres has expanded to have three categories now: in 1989, the children’s category was created for games designed specifically with children as the main player, and in 2011 the connoisseur/enthusiasts award was created for complex games. 

Games that want to be considered for the award will have been released in the past twelve months from the last year’s award in Germany. Games are then judged on their concept, rule structure, design, and layout. The Spiel des Jahres has helped inspire the renaissance of board games the world is currently enjoying, helping raise the standard of what is considered a good game. 

In anticipation of 2019’s award winners being announced on the July 22, here are a few highlights from winners past!

1. 1985: Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective

If you could go toe-to-toe with Sherlock Holmes to solve a case, would you? The core theme of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective is attempting to do just that – match him at his own game, by trying to solve the case as efficiently as possible. The catch? Sherlock’s score is nigh impossible to beat. In each case you walk the London streets, looking for clues by interviewing people and thumbing through newspapers, gleaning various bits of information. Utilizing this information, you must figure out where to go next, who to interview, and what truly matters to the case. The game is afoot!

2. 1995: Catan

A classic game already, The Settlers of Catan (rebranded now as just Catan) changed the gaming world for the better. Lauded for revitalizing the board game landscape, Catan has become one of the go-to games to introduce to people. Your goal is to score ten victory points, achieving them by building settlements, cities, purchasing development cards, and creating the longest road and longest army. Each element nets you between 1 to 2 victory points. Getting them, however, is a mix of skill and chance. Every turn two dice are rolled, and you collect resources based on where you have settlements surrounding that number. It takes a knowledgeable eye to place your starting settlements well and some superb social skills in order to trade for what you need. Love or hate it, Catan is a landmark game. Spawning national and international competition, you can check out Hexagon Calgary on July 28th and Hexagon Edmonton on August 11th for the Canadian Catan National Qualifier!

3. 2004: Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride has also chugged and whistled its way straight into the hearts of board gamers everywhere. Simply designed with tactical decisions being made each turn, Ticket to Ride lends itself to any age as a great gateway game. Each turn you have one action to spend, and you can take ticket cards that will give you goals to complete, train cards which give you the ability to lay trains, or lay trains by playing train cards, which allows you to complete a route. Tickets will earn you points if you complete destination goals, but lose your points if you fail them. There’s only a limited amount of routes per city, so every decision you make will impact the game. Ticket to Ride is a wonderful addition to any shelf – especially once you start adding the variety of map expansions and versions published by Days of Wonder!

4.  2015: Colt Express

With this platform, I’m going to indulge in some personal favouritism and highlight one of my favourite games from the list of winners that I find is often overlooked. In Colt Express you’re bandits. Robbing a train. You’re not in it together, you’re in it to win it. And the bandit with the most money in the end? Wins. You’re punching, shooting, moving, and looting all over a 3D train while avoiding the Sheriff. Over five rounds each bandit plays actions cards from their hand into the middle, building a deck together. After all the cards have been played, the deck is flipped over, and the cards start playing in order all at once. As you build the deck you need to remember what you’ve played as well as what others have played so you can react properly! A hectic, exciting, Wild West showdown of a game, Colt Express is a riot. Definitely recommend checking it out next time you’re in the cafe.

As excited as I am to find out who wins the award for 2019 (my personal bets are on Werewords and Wingspan), we can’t forget about the games who have paved the way. If you’re ever looking for a new game to try, the winner’s list is a pretty solid place to start.