Spiel Des Jahres Nominations – Boy Were We Wrong

Well, that did not end well. 

I threw Mitchell a curveball right before we started the podcast, with a simple premise. If you could only pick one game that you would *guarantee* would be nominated for the 2026 Spiel des Jahres and another to be nominated for Kennerspiel, which two games would you pick? 

Based on the internet chatter, I felt sure that Toy Battle would be nominated by the committee, while Mitchell was positive Hot Streak would get the nods. They were both on the “long list” — nothing to sneeze at, of course — but neither got the nomination. Instead, these three games were nominated:

— Cozy Sticker Ville
— Dito / Jinxo 
— Morty Sorty Magic Shop

As for the Kennerspiel, Mitchell went with The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, while I went with Saltfjord. Mitchell was worried that Fate of the Fellowship would be too heavy for the committee, but I was positive Saltfjord was in. Nope! Neither game was even long-listed! Here were the three nominations:

— Boss Fighters QR
— Moon Colony Bloodbath
— Rebirth

I’ve been following this award for over twenty years, and this is the first time that I have only played ONE of the six games nominated for the two awards. The good news is that I am really HIGH on Moon Colony Bloodbath. (Spoiler alert: it’s a finalist for my game of the year). I would love to see this innovative tableau destruction-but-not-on-purpose game win. 

Could two cardboard aficionados who play hundreds of different board games each year get anything more wrong? Probably not, but the flip side is that now I have a dozen games to track down and play over the next few months. 

I’m curious as to how many other BGGers are scratching their heads over these nominations, or in the alternative, how many are overjoyed by the choices. 

Until next time, laissez les bon temps rouler! 
— BJ from Board Game Gumbo