The jury for the most prestigious of the international game awards has announced the winners for 2017.  Bruno Cathala’s Kingdomino will be the Spiel des Jahres, while Inka & Markus Brand’s Exit:  Das Spiel takes home the Kennerspiel des Jahres.

The Spiel des Jahres (or “Game of the Year”) winner, Kingdomino, was published by Pegasus Spiele, and is distributed in the U.S. by Blue Orange.  This game combines elements of traditional Dominoes with tile-laying style games.

The Kennerspiel des Jahres (or “Enthusiast Game of the Year”) is actually a series of three games:  the escape room inspired Exit:  Das Spiel, published by Kosmos.  It uses a “decoder wheel” and cards to challenge players with a series of puzzles (see “Thames & Kosmos Reveals 2017 Games”).

Last month, the Kinderspiel des Jahres (“Children’s Game of the Year”) was awarded to the dexterity based IceCool (see “2017 ‘Kinderspiel des Jahres’ Winner Announced”).  This year’s nominees for all three awards can be seen here: “2017 ‘Spiel des Jahres’ Nominations.”