REVIEWS
The Spiel des Jahres nominees were revealed last week.  Below is a list of the nominees with easy links to reviews of most of them.

Spiel des Jahres
Asara
Qwirkle
Forbidden Island

Kennerspiel des Jahres nominees
Strasbourg
7 Wonders
Lancaster

Luna was also on the list of recommended titles.

THOUGHTS
As far as my thoughts go, I’d like to see Qwirkle or Asara win the SdJ because whilst Forbidden Island is a good game it didn’t satisfy me as much as the meatier Pandemic.  Choosing between Qwirkle and Asara however is a very tricky choice as they’re so different – Qwirkle is a superb abstract game and Asara is a strong eurogame.  I think I’d like to see Qwirkle win as it’s such a good entry game.

The Kennerspiel (the award for more complex games) is a tough call indeed.  Strasbourg is a very strong eurogame which I enjoyed a great deal and I’m a bit surprised Strasbourg is in this category as I don’t think it’s that complicated.  7 Wonders is fun and innovative, although it takes a first play to really understand the potential strategies (and is quite a lot to absorb for casual gamers on their first play) which is probably why it’s in this category.  Lancaster isn’t released outside of Germany yet but I have read the rules and it looks very interesting – area control to win resources, voting on laws which allow purchases of resources and VPs as well as some potential to work together too. I like Queen Games quality so I am looking forwards to playing this one.  Without playing Lancaster, I can’t decide which game I’d like to see win this category, but they all appear to be worthy winners.

James.