Spiel des Jahres 1999 Winner Announced
Added July 1, 1999

The jury has announced the winner of this year's competition for what may be board gaming's most prestigious award, the Spiel des Jahres. The 1999 winner is Tikal, designed by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer and published by Ravensburger. In the U.S., Tikal is published by Rio Grande Games. The special children's game award was given to Kayanak, designed by P. Joopen and published by Haba.

August will find us playing with the first expansion to Button Men, "Vampires." Six new characters will be available, all with a new type of dice: "Shadow Dice." Cheapass promises that the new dice make weird attacks. "Vampires" will be a limited expansion, to be premiered at GenCon, Aug. 5-8 in Milwaukee. The Button Men World Championships will be held at GenCon, as well.

In September, Cheapass Games releases the card game Brawl, which they expect to be their biggest game of the year. It's also "the fastest card game you've ever played," according to information at the Secret Cheapass Web site. Brawl also will be available for a sneak peek at GenCon in Milwaukee.

They already have the Spiel des Jahres for 1999, so why not add the 1998 winner? Rio Grande has agreed to publish English language versions of Elfenland and Elfengold. According to their Web site, they expect to package them together and for a September release.

Rio Grande also has announced plans to release Torres and three new wooden games from Goldsieber -- Siesta, Caprice and Cabale -- in July. Each is an international version with English text on the box and English rules inside.

English language versions of the two El Grande expansions: Konig & Intrigant and Grossinquisitor & Kolonien. They will be packaged together for an expected September release. Caesar & Cleopatra is scheduled for a September or October release. Free expansions for Samarkand and Canyon will be available in July through Rio Grande's normal distribution channels, at selected conventions, and via SASE for those who cannot find them elsewhere.

Finally, Rio Grande announced plans for five new games in October, to be released in conjunction with German versions releasing at Essen. They will be available in the U.K. at the same time as Essen, and in the U.S. and Canada 2-3 weeks later.

Mayfair Games has announced a slew of release plans for the rest of 1999. Chronological highlights include:

July

Tigris & Euphrates English Language Version

Settlers of Catan Seafarers 5-6 Player Expansion

India Rails, a game in the Empire Builder system

August and September

Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights

Settlers of Catan Cities and Knights 5-6 Player Expansion

Elixer, a card game in which players participate as malicious sprites, casting spells upon themselves and their opponents

October, November, December

Bone-Apetite, a fast-paced card game in which each player is a group of Orcs, Witches, Goblins, Trolls, Dryads, or Pumpkin Heads, competing to survive the lunch hour in the Giants Dining Room

No Official Release Date

Stadte & Ritter 5-6 Player Expansion