The nominations have just been announced for the 2026 Spiel des Jahres, as well as those for the Kennerspiel. If you're not aware of what this means, these are the biggest awards in board gaming, and have been going on since 1979! The annual award is made by a panel of German board game critics, with the Spiel award aimed at family friendly games, and the Kennerspiel at heavier games.
Last year saw Bomb Busters win the Spiel, and Endeavour Deep Sea with the Kennerspiel, which are both brilliant games if you haven't tried them yet, and previous winners have included Catan, Ticket to Ride, Dominion and Azul!
So who is up for the award this year! Well the three Spiel des Jahres nominations for this year are Cozy Stickerville, Ditto! and Morty Sorty Magic Shop with the recommended games being Hot Streak, Master Makatsu, Take Time, Toriki, Toy Battle and Wilmot's Warehouse.
In the Kennerspiel category we have Boss Fighters QR, Rebirth and Moon Colony Bloodbath. The recommendations in this category are Species Garden, Frosted Blooms, Foundation Stone of Metropolis and Tag Team.
Now that they've been announced, who do you think should win? I've played a few of the games on both lists, and they've all been fantastic, and now I've got a few more recommendations to try out!
