# The best Spiel des Jahres winners

Every winner of the world's most important board game award since Catan (1995), with designer and year. Which one is best? Vote!

- 14 votes · 29 items
- Jan 3, 2026 · Jasmin Schmitz
- https://even.best/en/l/53/the-best-spiel-des-jahres-winners

## Top 20

1. **Just One** (2 · ▲2 ▼0) — 2019, Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter. Co-op word guessing where duplicate clues are cancelled.
2. **MicroMacro: Crime City** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — 2021, Johannes Sich. Solve crimes on a giant hidden-picture city map.
3. **Catan** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1995, Klaus Teuber. The classic of classics: trade resources and settle an island.
4. **Carcassonne** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2001, Klaus-Jürgen Wrede. Lay tiles and build cities, roads and monasteries.
5. **Azul** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2018, Michael Kiesling. Lay Portuguese tiles (azulejos) for the royal palace.
6. **Dixit** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2010, Jean-Louis Roubira. Dreamlike picture cards and clues that mustn't be too easy.
7. **Bomb Busters** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2025, Hisashi Hayashi. Defuse bombs together by finding the right wires.
8. **Thurn und Taxis** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 2006, Andreas and Karen Seyfarth. Build postal routes across southern Germany.
9. **Tikal** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — 1999, Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. Jungle expeditions to Mayan temples.
10. **Codenames** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2016, Vlaada Chvátil. Two teams, one-word clues and secret agents.
11. **Dominion** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2009, Donald X. Vaccarino. The game that founded the deck-building genre.
12. **Kingdomino** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2017, Bruno Cathala. A kingdom made of domino tiles in 15 minutes.
13. **Hanabi** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2013, Antoine Bauza. Build a firework display together without seeing your own cards.
14. **Cascadia** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2022, Randy Flynn. Combine landscapes and wildlife of the Pacific Northwest.
15. **Camel Up** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2014, Steffen Bogen. Bet on a chaotic camel race with a dice pyramid.
16. **Dorfromantik** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2023, Lukas Zach and Michael Palm. The cooperative board game version of the video game.
17. **Sky Team** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2024, Luc Rémond. Land a plane as a pair without talking to each other.
18. **Colt Express** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2015, Christophe Raimbault. Bandits rob a 3D cardboard train.
19. **Qwirkle** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2011, Susan McKinley Ross. Line up wooden tiles by colour or shape.
20. **Kingdom Builder** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2012, Donald X. Vaccarino. Build settlements on changing boards with changing goals.
21. **Pictures** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2020, Daniela and Christian Stöhr. Recreate photos with shoelaces, blocks or pencils.
22. **Alhambra** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2003, Dirk Henn. Build the palace in Granada with four currencies.
23. **Zooloretto** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2007, Michael Schacht. Fill a zoo without overcrowding the enclosures.
24. **Keltis** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2008, Reiner Knizia. The family version of Knizia's classic Lost Cities.
25. **El Grande** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 1996, Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich. A power struggle among grandees in medieval Spain.
26. **Niagara** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2005, Thomas Liesching. Canoes on a river flowing towards the waterfall.
27. **Torres** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — 2000, Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. Build castle towers and place knights as high as possible.
28. **Ticket to Ride** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — 2004, Alan R. Moon. Claim railway routes across North America.
29. **Scotland Yard** (-1 · ▲0 ▼1) — Detective board game from Ravensburger in which players chase Mister X through London; Game of the Year 1983.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.