Spiel des Jahres 2015 Winners & Nominees
2015 was a year of wizards, gods, pirates, and knights, as well as trains, ships and cheese factories. The best games of this year were recognised at the Spiel des Jahres 2015 awards, where Germany’s top board game critics judge and award excellence in family-friendly game design.
Alongside the 2015 Spiel des Jahres winners, the victors for the Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children’s Game of the Year) and Kennerspiel des Jahres (Connoisseur’s Game of the Year) awards were also announced. The ceremony also highlights other exceptional nominees in each category, showcasing the best game design and mechanics on the market.
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Spiel des Jahres 2015
Winner
Colt Express
The winner of the grand prize at the 2015 Spiel des Jahres, Colt Express sees you play as a bandit robbing a train at the same time as other bandits. The goal is to become the richest outlaw of the Old West. The game consists of five rounds, with two phases in each round, schemin’ and stealin’. The game takes place on a 3D board shaped like the train you are robbing, as you make your way through the board using your special power and backstabbing the other bandits.
Average Playtime: 40 minutes
Recommended Age: 10+
Number of Players: 2-6
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 1.83/5
Nominees
Machi Koro
Welcome to the city of Machi Koro. Yippee! You have just been elected mayor and it’s time to get to work. The citizens are demanding jobs, a theme park, a couple of cheese factories, and more! A tricky task considering the city is currently just a wheat field and a bakery, and you are equipped with a single die. This fast-paced game sees player compete to build the city they want, with each dice roll giving a benefit to the player whose building matches the number. It’s a race to construct your landmarks and build the city of your dreams.
Average Playtime: 30 minutes
Recommended Age: 10+
Number of Players: 2-4
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 1.53/5
The Game
Sorry, but you just lost The Game… but not this one. Players in The Game are trying to discard all 98 cards in the deck onto four discard piles to win, but it needs to be done in the right way. The Game starts with 6-8 cards in players hands and four discard pile prompt cards on the table, with two showing “1” and an up arrow and two showing “100” and a down arrow. Each turn, a player must discard at least two cards from their hand onto one or more discard piles, with cards on the 1 pile being placed in ascending order and cards on the 100 piles being placed in descending order.
Average Playtime: 20 minutes
Recommended Age: 8+
Number of Players: 1-5
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 1.24/5
Kinderspiel des Jahres 2015
This award recognises the year’s best board games that are made for children in its own category alongside the 2015 Spiel des Jahres award.
Winner
Spinderella
Spinderella wrapped up the 2015 Kinderspiel des Jahres awards with a win. In this game players race to get their three ants across the forest floor as fast as possible, but spiders await in the branches above. With a little influence from your opponents, one might swoop down and take your ant back to the starting line. It’s all about acting at the right time and knowing when to hide.
Average Playtime: 20 minutes
Recommended Age: 6+
Number of Players: 2-4
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 1.19/5
Nominees
Push a Monster
Monsters have been let loose in the arena! They are teasing, taunting, and tussling with the other monsters. They are pushing, squeezing, and throwing elbows! Sometimes even poking. Players in Push a Monster take turns doing exactly that, pushing a monster, with them trying to push that monster onto an elevated platform without off any monsters already there. If a monster falls, each of the other players get a token, with the person with the longest line of tokens at the end winning!
Average Playtime: 15 minutes
Recommended Age: 5+
Number of Players: 2-4
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 1.17/5
Schatz-Rabatz
Cap’n Snaggletooth has had enough of being a pirate and wants to retire, handing over his ship, The Golden Flounder, to one of his crew members. The crew member who can give the Cap’n the most treasure wins the ship. The goal of Schatz-Rabatz is to hand over the most treasure but beware the lid must fit. The game is divided into rounds, with each round awarding the player with the most treasure a part of the ship, with the first player to receive four parts taking the win.
Average Playtime: 14-20 minutes
Recommended Age: 5+
Number of Players: 2-4
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 1.50/5
Kennerspiel des Jahres 2015
This award recognises the year’s best games aimed at more experienced gamers who favour more complex gameplay, alongside the 2015 Spiel des Jahres award.
Winner
Broom Service
Broom Service took home the 2015 Kennerspiel des Jahres award. In this card-based game, players must combine luck and skill to score the most victory points by delivering potions via Broom Service throughout the magical realm. To win you better be able to time a bluff and manage your cards cleverly. Over seven rounds, players take turns rolling for the brave, yet risky, action on their cards, or the cowardly, yet safer, action. How well can you lie to your opponents?
Average Playtime: 30-75 minutes
Recommended Age: 10+
Number of Players: 2-5
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 2.41/5
Nominees
Elysium
You are a demigod in mythic Greece trying to earn the favour of the Olympians and become a legend yourself. Elysium is a game of set collecting and combinations where players recruit cards representing heroes, items, powers, and gods. These cards have different powers and can create powerful combinations earning you gold and victory points. Transfer your cards to Elysium and write your own legend to beat out your opponents and stand alongside Zeus.
Average Playtime: 60 minutes
Recommended Age: 14+
Number of Players: 2-4
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 2.77/5
Buy the Orleans Board Game
Orleans
Set in medieval times, you must recruit followers and put them to work making use of their abilities as farmers, merchants, knights, monks, etc. The way to gain supremacy is through trade, science, and construction in Medieval France. You will always want to take more actions than possible, as there are many paths to victory. The challenge is to combine all elements as best as you can to execute your strategy to secure your dominance.
Average Playtime: 90 minutes
Recommended Age: 12+
Number of Players: 2-5
Difficulty (BGG Weight): 3.03/5
Add the Best Games from the Spiel des Jahres 2015 Awards to Your Collection Today!
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