The Board Gaming Oscars - 2026 Spiel des Jahres Nominations Revealed

The Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) awards were first created in 1978, celebrating the best in board and card game design. Even being nominated for the award can bring in a massive sales boost for the games, with the winner often selling 500,000+ copies. It is one of the few awards in the games industry that has a major effect on sales and exposure. The awards, and nominations, are usually covered in the mainstream news in Germany.

The Spiel des Jahres has had a number of different categories over the years, with the three regular awards currenty being the main Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year), Kennerspiel des Jahres (Connoisseur Game of the Year - which tends to be slightly more involved than the more family friendly main award), and Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children’s Game of the Year).

Past winners of the main Game of the Year award have included everything from Rummikub (1980) and Settlers of Catan (1995), to Carcassonne (2001), Ticket to Ride (2004) and Codenames (2016). The Kennerspiel des Jahres was first awarded in 2011, with 7 Wonders winning that year, and other winners have included The Quacks of Quedlinburg (2018) and Wingspan (2019). The Kinderspiel des Jahres was introduced in 1989 and has included winners such as Loopin’ Louie (1994), Chicken Cha Cha Cha (1998), and Mysterium Kids (2023).

This years nominations are as follows:

Spiel des Jahres Nominees

Cozy Sticker Ville by Unexpected Games

Dittto! (Same here!) by Game Factory

Morty Sorty Magic Shop by Schmidt

Kennerspiel des Jahres Nominees

Boss Fighters QR by Pegasus Games

Moon Colony Bloodbath by Alea

Rebirth by Frosted Games / Mighty Board

Kinderspiel des Jahres Nominees

Buh Party (Boo Party) by Loki

Die Insel der Mookies (The Island of the Mookies) by Kosmos / Scorpion Masque

Verflixt Verzaubert (Curiously Enchanted) by Game Factory

In addition to the nominees the Awards Committee also releases a ‘Recommedation List’ of games they feel deserve a special mention, whilst not actually making the final shortlist of the actual nomination catergories.

This years highlights include Hot Streak (Strohmann Games/CMYK), Toy Battle by (Repos Production), and Wilmot’s Warehouse by CMYK in the main Spiel des Jahres cateogory, and Sanctuary (Feuerland Spiele), Frosted Blooms (Synapses Games), Foundations of Metropolis (Arcane Wonder/Kobld Game Publisher), and Tag Team (Kosmos).

The ultimate winners of each award will be announced at a ceremony held at the Berlin Music Hall on Sunday 12th July 2026.

Images courtesy of Spiel des Jahres