Today in Germany the 2021 Spiel des Jahres was announced. This is one of the most influential and coveted awards in tabletop gaming. The winner, usually given out to very accessible games, regularly goes on to sell many, many copies of the game. This year’s award went to the very unique “searching game” MicroMacro: Crime City. It was designed by Johannes Sich and published by Edition Spielwiese. It beat out The Adventures of Robin Hood and Zombie Teenz Evolution.
If you haven’t played it, Micro Macro Crime City is quite a unique game. It’s a cooperative experience that has you solving murder mysteries on a large, hand-drawn map. You’ll be given a clue, and then have to follow cartoon-like characters around a city to figure out what the crime was and who was the perpetrator. There are 16 cases in the game and the complexity increases as the game progresses. It’s almost a bit of a Where’s Waldo type experience, yet with puzzle solving.
Also announced today was the 2021 Kennerspiel des Jahres winner. While the Spiel des Jahres is usually given out to accessible, family weight games, the Kennerspiel is awarded to a more hobbyist weight game. This year’s award went to Paleo, designed by Peter Rustemeyer and published by Hans im Glück. Paleo beat out Lost Ruins of Arnak and Fantasy Realms.
Earlier this year, the jury announced the winner of the Kinderspiel des Jahres award, which went to Dragomino.
