• pathief@lemmy.worldOPM
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Their current “advanced” category is often redundant, in my personal opinion. The winner of the “advanced” category is lighter than ticket to ride.

    Jogo do Ano is an amazing award (my favorite, in fact) but it doesn’t have nearly the same exposure or impact as SdJ.

    • donio@feddit.de
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      The winner of the “advanced” category is lighter than ticket to ride.

      Challengers may have simple rules but it has plenty of strategic depth. That seems to be the sweet spot for Kennerspiel.

    • gpage@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 year ago

      I can understand that stance. I think what SdJ represents doesn’t really equate to “this is the best game” so much as “this is a game that you should pick up and play over Christmas” because of the criteria that is involved in selection. That’s why it has such sway in sales; because you have a bunch of families who are looking for a TtR level game and they run out and buy it for the rest of the year accordingly. Their advanced category is effectively “ok, you’ve already played a couple of boardgames, now here is the next level” which is still a far cry from Terra Mystica. How decipherable the rulebook is, stages at which planning for turns is done, all of that is criteria but on a culturally oriented level for just German families, not an abstract one for connoisseurs (ala BGG).

      Something a friend of mine in Germany told me; you see more people playing boardgames, but a reduction in percentage of “heavy gamers” (which is an amorphous metric anyway once we cross cultures). SdJ meets their needs because that’s what the populace by and large needs an award for (compared to heavy gamers who do their own research). That’s why I also look at the Jogo; it’s going to look at what Americans would consider “heavy” games.

      • pathief@lemmy.worldOPM
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        1 year ago

        I think what SdJ represents doesn’t really equate to “this is the best game” so much as “this is a game that you should pick up and play over Christmas” because of the criteria that is involved in selection.

        Oh absolutely. I own several SdJ winners such as MicroMacro, Just One, Azul, Codenames, Ticket to Ride… They’re great games to play with the family and most of the times they’re big hits.

        Their advanced category is effectively “ok, you’ve already played a couple of boardgames, now here is the next level” which is still a far cry from Terra Mystica

        This is where I believe they often (not always) fail. If Challengers was in the Spiel des Jahres category no one would have thought it was odd because they’re at the same level. The next level should be something around the 2.5 weight category. Even though I don’t personally enjoy Wingspan, I think it was a great choice for a next level kind of game.

        Good candidates for 2022, though I’m not sure they have a german version, would be Heat: Pedal to the Metal, Flamecraft, Turing Machine, Caper: Europe…