Blox, designed by Wolfgang Kramer, Jürgen P. Grunau and Hans Raggan, published by Ravensburger.
For 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Blox is a construction-themed game.
Keltis, designed by Reiner Knizia, published by Kosmos.
For 2 to 4 players. Keltis is a board game with some connection to Knizia's brilliant card game Lost Cities, which has an archaeological theme. It will be published in English by Rio Grande Games.
Suleika, designed by Dominique Erhard, published by Zoch Spiele.
For 2 to 4 players, ages 6 and up. Each player is a salesperson trying to outwit his opponents. Suleika is scheduled to be published in English as Marrakech by Family Games Inc.
Stone Age, designed by Michael Tummelhofer, published by Rio Grande Games and Hans im Glück.
For 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Stone Age is an excellent middleweight strategy game set in prehistoric times. (Read a bit more in my first report from the 2008 Gathering of Friends.)
Witch's Brew, designed by Andreas Pelikan, published by Rio Grande Games and Alea.
For 3 to 5 players, ages 9 and up. Witch's Brew is a bluffing game in which the players have constantly changing roles.
The winner is scheduled to be announced on June 30, 2008.
In addition to naming the five nominees, the SdJ jury awarded Agricola, designed by Uwe Rosenberg and published by Lookout Games, a special award for "complex game." It's well deserved, as Agricola is a meaty strategy game.
The Spiel des Jahres jury also released a list of 12 recommended games:
- Big Points (Brigitte and Wolfgang Ditt, Schmidt Spiele)
- Galaxy Trucker (Vlaada Chvatil, Czech Games Edition)
- Hanging Gardens, The (Din Li, Hans im Glück)
- In the Year of the Dragon (Stefan Feld, Rio Grande Games and Alea)
- Jamaica (Sébastien Pauchon, Malcolm Braff and Bruno Cathala, GameWorks)
- Kakerlakensalat (Jacques Zeimet, Drei Magier Spiele)
- Lascaux (Dominique Erhard and Michel Lalet, Mayfair Games and Phalanx)
- Linq (Erik Nielsen, Endless Games and BeWitched Spiele)
- Metropolys (Sébastien Pauchon, Rio Grande Games and Ystari)
- Penguin (Reiner Knizia, Fantasy Flight Games and Amigo Spiele)
- Tzaar (Kris Burm, Smart)
- Wicked Witches Way (Bruno Cathala and Serge Laget, Asmodée Editions and Pro Ludo)
I'm glad to see Linq getting some more attention. Published in the U.S. by Endless Games about five years ago, Linq is an underrated game that successfully combines elements of two of my favorite genres: word games and bluffing games.
