The 2011 SDJ Winner!
Susan McKinley Ross has become the first woman to win Germany’s prestigious and influential Spiel Des Jahres for a solo design with Qwirkle. Qwirkle also becomes the first pure abstract game to win the award in thirty years (since Sid Sackson, another American, won for Focus). I didn’t put the effort in to playing the nominees that I do most years and Qwirkle isn’t one that I got to the table, but after some reading I’m definitely adding it to my next board game order. It seems like it will be a great game to play with the wife and kids, which is usually all I expect from the SDJ.
Additionally, the SDJ committee began this year to present a second award, the Kennerspiel, for connoisseurs of board games (which, I suppose, just means people who are familiar with a wide variety of games). This new award was desi gned to recognize great games that might be too complex or hard to learn for the average German family. The first game to win the award is 7 Wonders, a game we at Nerdbloggers really enjoy and one that I reviewed here back in February.
Since it is one of the daughter’s favorite games, I was cheering for Forbidden Island (read William's review here) to win the SDJ, but I’m still happy to see the award go to Ross, who comes across as a extremely likable and a great representative for American game designers. So, congratulations Susan. Here’s hoping Qwirkle sales get the traditional SDJ boost and then some.