The 2023 Spiel des Jahres: Dorfromantik

The 2023 Spiel des Jahres: Dorfromantik

This article relates to Around the World in Eighty Games

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 idealized rural landscape out of hexagonal tiles, grouping them like a jigsaw puzzle to create forests, fields, villages, rivers, and train tracks. Players try to gain a high score by meeting several objectives, for example, making the longest river possible, or the largest forest, with bonus points awarded when a tile matches adjoining tiles perfectly on all sides.

Dorfromantik is unusual in a couple of ways. In addition to being a cooperative game rather than a competitive one, it's also part of a recent trend of so-called legacy games, the components of which change over time. After you play Dorfromantik a few times, you get to open a small container with new pieces that expand the game and make it more complex; play it a few more times and get yet another container. As players' skills grow, so does the game.

That's not the only thing that's notable about Dorfromantik, however; its selection marks the first time that the Spiel des Jahres was awarded to a board game that was originally a video game! That's right—Dorfromantik was developed by German game studio Toukana and released in 2021. The board game mimics the original game's peaceful, tile-building vibe but adds the elements of cooperative team play.

When Dorfromantik was awarded the Spiel des Jahres, the jury praised its feel-good qualities and its ability to be learned quickly. According to the Spiel des Jahres website, Jury chairperson Harald Schrapers said that Dorfromanitik "takes the pressure out of everyday life." So if Monopoly and Risk lead to game night conflicts, perhaps 2023's Spiel des Jahres-winner is just the ticket for family harmony.

Michael Palm (left) and Lukas Zach (right) at 2023 Spiel des Jahres awards ceremony
Photo by Christian Linck for Spiel des Jahres e.V. (CC-BY-SA 4.0)

Filed under Cultural Curiosities

This "beyond the book article" relates to Around the World in Eighty Games. It originally ran in January 2024 and has been updated for the November 2024 paperback edition. Go to magazine.