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In his section on European games in Around the World in Eighty Games, Marcus du Sautoy discusses the Spiel des Jahres ("Game of the Year"), the most prestigious award in tabletop gaming, awarded annually since 1979 by a jury of journalists who write about games. The Spiel des Jahres carries no cash prize, but certainly the winners (which subsequently can feature the Spiel des Jahres logo on their box) see a huge bump in worldwide sales. The honor has been given in the past to such modern classics as The Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Rummikub, and Carcassonne.
2023's Spiel des Jahres was a game called Dorfromantik, designed by Lukas Zach and Michael Palm. The title, which might sound funny to English speakers, is an old German word; one of the original game developers, Zwi Zausch, explains, "it's usually used to describe the kind of nostalgic feeling you get when you long to be in the countryside." In this cooperative venture, up to six players work together to build an ...
