Double victory for game designer Reiner Knizia: His game “Keltis” released by Stuttgard-based Kosmos Publishing wins the “Game of the Year 2008” award. The eighth “Children’s Game of the Year” award winner “Wer war’s?” (Ravensburger) is just another creation by Reiner Knizia.

"Game of the Year" is "Keltis" by Kosmos.

Keltis Designer: Reiner Knizia Publisher: Kosmos In 2000 Knizia was already awarded the special prize “Best Use of Literature in Games” for his “Lord of the Rings” family board game. But, despite countless nominations, he has never won the coveted “Game of the Year” award – until this year! Knizia’s “Keltis” invites players to an exciting race on five different stone paths. Winner is who is able to move their pieces most steps from the starting points. Players play colour cards corresponding to the different paths to move their pieces. “Keltis is such an exciting game, players can hardly wait to have their turn”, said Stefan Ducksch, spokesman of the jury Game of the Year, at the awards ceremony in Berlin. He also praised the short, easy-to-understand rules. “When you win Keltis, you claim to be a good player. If you loose, it’s - of course - due to the unfortunate distribution of cards and you may ask for a rematch.” And there’s always time for that at an average playing time of 30 minutes. Ducksch emphasized, that 2008 was a well-balanced year of equally strong candidates nominated for the annual Game of the Year award.

“Children’s Game of the Year” is “Wer war´s?” by Ravensburger.

Since 2001 the jury presents outstanding children’s games with the coveted “Children’s Game of the Year” award. “There have always been good and very good games among nominees and winners, but there have never been so many excellent games released in the same year”, said Wieland Herold, jury coordinator for the Children’s Game of the Year award. 2008 publishers and designers perfectly met assessment criterions and complied with all high quality standards the jury wants to see: well-structured rules, a quick start, appealing design and a focus on the target group. In most cases designers used state-of-the-art materials for high appeal and best play fun. Most decisive are original ideas that inspire children to play the game again and again. “This year children may expect gourmet dishes – not quickly made pizza delivery food but meals designed by a ‘Harald Wohlfahrt’ of gaming business!” said Herold.

Wer war´s? Designer: Reiner Knizia Publisher: Ravensburger The coveted “Children’s Game of the Year” award goes to Reiner Knizia’s Wer war´s? by Ravensburger. It’s not for the first time that designer and publisher use electronic controls for a board game. Their first two games rather appealed to teenage or grown-up players, but in Wer war’s? the new technique has finally found the adequate target group. Children as young as five or six are fascinated by this cooperative detective adventure and experience success or failure together as a team. “It’s interesting to see how parents get captivated by this game and join in the exciting hunt for the criminal“, said Herold.

Both, the Game of the Year and the Children’s Game of the Year award are accompanied by a detailed list of recommendations – a real buying guide for game enthusiasts of all age groups.

The special award “Best Complex Game 2008” was presented to "Agricola" (Uwe Rosenberg) by Lookout Games.

Farming was no easy task back in the 17th century. There was loads of work to be done: herding animals, building fences and barns, farming, seeding and harvesting. In addition, the farmstead had to be extended for a growing family. "Agricola" is a strategic development game. After a slow start soon a great variety of possibilities will open up. Players may benefit from specialization in different professions or certain purchases and investments. But only those who are able to feed their family and run their farm until the end have the chance to win the game. Due to a wealth of materials and complex rules the game is a real challenge for advanced gamers. However, the always fascinating game world is an ample reward for all players.

Also nominated:

Spiel des Jahres

• Suleika (Dominique Erhard) by Zoch Spiele
• Wie verhext (Andreas Pelikan) by alea/Ravensburger
• Stone Age (Michael Tummelhofer) by Hans im Glück
• Blox (Wolfgang Kramer, Jürgen P.K. Grunau, Hans Raggan) by Ravensburger

Children’s Game of the Year

• Didi Dotter (Ariel Laden) by Zoch Spiele
• Capt´n Sharky - Abenteuer auf der Schatzinsel (Autor: Kai Haferkamp) by Die Spiegelburg Coppenrath
• Geisterjäger (Andreas Frei, Ueli Frei und Lukas Frei) by Haba
• Fluss der Drachen (Inka und Markus Brand) by Kosmos