The 2011 Spiel Des Jahres Nominees Are...

Matt Leacock's Forbbiden Island (Gamewright, 2010)

It is the Most Wonderful time of the year for board game designers and publishers. Today, the Spiel Des Jahres (SdJ) jury announced its nominees for the coveted German Game of the Year trophy.

...and the 2011 nominees are:
-Asra
-Qwirkle
-Forbidden Island

But wait, aren't there usually five nominees for the SdJ?

Yes, but this year the SdJ jury decided to split the nominees into three groups. The three already listed are for the regular SdJ trophy. There were three more nominated for "kinderspiel des jahres" (children's game of the year), as well as for "kennerspiel des jahres," which goes to the best complex game of the year.

You can find the full list of nominations at the SdJ website.

A list of 12 other "recommended" games was also announced by the jury. Apparently these are games that didn't make the cut, but might be worth your time and money anyways. Check out those recommended games here.

In Which I Hold My First Published Game

12 Games per box

Shrink-wrapped!

Solid European-Style game manufacturing

Love the artwork!

Drop Site and Premio Archimede Award

If you would like a copy, head over to www.bellwethergames.com where we will be selling them exclusively.

Game of the Year Nominees Announced May 23

What were the best board games of the year? You may have your own opinions about that, or you could rely on the opinions of the Spiel des Jahres jury. If you are still new on your quest for the perfect game, the Spiel des Jahres (SdJ) is the German Board Game of the Year Award, presented every year in June. On May 23, five lucky nominations for the prize will be announced.

Its kind of a big deal. The German award is considered the top in the world and SdJ winners have consistently become some of the most-famous and best-loved games on the market.

Read more about the prestigious award from wikipedia, or go straight to the source.

Above is a close-up of the actual SdJ trophy to the 2001 SdJ award-winning Carcassone (Hans Im Glueck). Note a second SdJ trophy in the background.

Drop Site in Switzerland

As part of the Premio Archimede game design contest, the prototypes of top 10 games were sent to the Musee Suisse du Jeu (Swiss Museum of Games in Vevey, Switzerland) as a temporary exhibit. Since Drop Site was in the top 10, it also made the trip.

A big thank you to Jonathan Franklin who visited the museum and took a picture of Drop Site in the exhibit. The photo appears below:



I think the set-up of the game in the exhibit display leaves a little bit to be desired (note the upside-down cards at the bottom) , but I am just glad its there!

-Dennis

Pre-Orders for Drop Site Now Possible!

Now, and for a limited time, you can now pre-order the award-winning Drop Site card game. All pre-orders (up to the first 50 orders) will receive 30% off the sale price.

When will I get my pre-order?: We can't ship your copy of Drop Site until we get them ourselves, but we plan to ship all the pre-orders by May 31 (before the official Drop Site release date of June 1).

Is there some way I can learn how to play before I buy it?: Yes! We will be putting up a video tutorial as soon as we get our shipment in. Follow us on Twitter to get the latest updates.

What payment method does Bellwether Games use?: Right now, all our orders are placed through Pay Pal, where you can use either your credit card or Pay Pal account account to make the order.

What does the game look like?: Here is a sneak peak of one of the cards. The artwork was completed by Paolo Vallerga at ScriBabs and looks incredible!

Announcing: Bellwether Games!

I am so very pleased (and thankful) to announce officially the opening of Bellwether Games!

Bellwether Games will:

-Design, develop, publish and sell new board games and card games exclusively from our website

-Be an outlet for this blog and other board game related news items

-Be a community base for board game and card game enthusiasts (like you) to post content and discuss the hobby you have come to love

In addition, Bellwether Games will sell the award-winning Drop Site, the card game the Lord enabled me to design. Pre-orders start tonight!

First 50 orders get 30% off!

So, without further adieu, check out the website here!

Drop Site to be Released June 1

Do you want to get your own copies of the award winning Drop Site soon?

You are in luck! Drop Site should be arriving by truck within two weeks!

Would you like to get your copies of Drop Site at a special pre-order discount?

You are in Luck! Starting May 15th, you will be able to pre-order Drop Site from our website for a special 30% off. This discount will only last until the official Drop Site release date, which will be...June 1!

In the meantime, take a sneak peak at some more Drop Site artwork, designed by ScriBabs.

Check back soon to place your pre-orders for 30% off!

Bueller...Bueller...Anyone...

I laughed when I saw this image from the forthcoming Small World Underground Game from Days of Wonder.

"Ferrous" refers to the presence of iron in a substance. (Hence the reference to the "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" on the Iron Dwarves card above.)

And like the versatile Ferris himself, the mechanics behind Small World have proven themselves to be versatile as well.

Small World (Phileppe Keyaertes, 2009) is simply a remodeling of Keyaertes' 1999 game Vinci, And now Underground is another reincarnation. The games play similarly, although the aesthetics are different.

The rules to Vinci exhibit some differences to Small World, but the main difference is the change of theme and the change of artwork. Underground on the other hand, is unlikely to have any major rule changes to its predecessor, but will have a completely new game board and set of player powers.

So I pose the question: What is the distinction between an existing game and a new model?

I don't think anybody would claim that Dogopoly, for instance, is really a different game than Monopoly the original (good ole Uncle Money Bags milking the brand for all its worth!), but is Vinci really something different than Small World? Is Lost Cities (Knizia, 1999) something different than the Spiel Des Jahres winning Keltis (Knizia, 2008)? It seems at least that the Spiel Des Jahres jury thought so...

What do you think? When is a new game really a new game, and when is it just being a versatile little Bueller?

More "Drop Site" Updates

Drop Site is finally in Charleston, SC after a long voyage across the Atlantic aboard a stoic vessel named, La Margarine.

While at sea, my precocious supply of games endured tossing waves, poor conversation and days without food or water, and now they must wait at the docks until they have been cleared by customs.

Be strong, Drop Site, be strong. Your journey is nearly at an end. I have a shipping company ready to take you swiftly to your final resting place, deep in the heart of the new world.

Meanwhile. back in Venice, studiogiochi hastily prepares Drop Site for the interested Turkish publisher. Change is felt in the wind. Changes to the rules are suggested by studiogiochi, some of which might improve the game play...but who can know for sure?

I have done my best to test these potential changes and respond with a good opinion, but who knows what will result. Only, be patient and wait and I will, in time, conclude this story of adventure...

PS. The ship's name was a lot less interesting than La Margarine. Pardon the embellishment.