![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.spiel-des-jahres.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/jury-1024x637.jpg\")
The last two years have seen huge changes as a result of the pandemic: while the demand for board games has in some areas increased by up to a third, the number of new releases has declined, for various reasons. For Spiel and Kennerspiel titles, this phase is now over and we are seeing an increase of more than ten percent in the number of new releases.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a different story for children\u2019s games. There are only seven games on the nomination and recommendation list for the Kinderspiel award. In the past, a shorter list would usually have been the sign of a mediocre year, but this time there was another reason: as expected the pandemic had finally \u201ccaught up\u201d with the children\u2019s games sector and the number of new titles has dropped significantly. The temporary closure of schools and day-care centres, as well as the lack of contact opportunities to play games with children, really restricted the amount of work children\u2019s games designers and publishers could do. It takes many months and sometimes years to develop a game. During this time it\u2019s essential to play countless times with as many children as possible in order to tweak and improve the game before release. But despite these restrictions, the games of 2022 are an exciting and varied bunch: less choice doesn\u2019t necessarily mean lower quality.<\/p>\n It\u2019s especially notable that two of this year\u2019s games already have successful \u201cbig brothers\u201d who have appeared on the Kennerspiel lists and which have been expertly deconstructed for a younger audience. \u201cQuacks & Co.\u201d is a fantastic successor to \u201cThe Quacks of Quedlinburg\u201d and \u201cAuch schon clever\u201d is the junior version of \u201cGanz sch\u00f6n clever\u201d<\/p>\n The jury responsible for the red and charcoal games has selected 15 games, exactly the same number as last year.<\/p>\n From children\u2019s to expert games, animals appear to be this year\u2019s favourite subject. Particularly surprising was \u201cArk Nova\u201d, which is probably more complex than the average \u201cKennerspiel\u201d but whose central theme is so well embedded that it makes the game really accessible. While the theme of most \u201cKennerspiel\u201d games tends towards fantastical worlds, thereby avoiding real-life important subjects, \u201cArk Nova\u201d does the opposite. It\u2019s remarkable that a game modelled so closely on the day-to-day running of a zoo can show the impact of such an institution on its animals and the world at large.<\/p>\n Harald Schrapers \u00b7 Christoph Schlewinski<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This year\u2019s list of outstanding games offers huge variety. From the chaotic speed of the two-and-a-half-minute \u201cMagic Rabbit\u201d to the hours-long zoo experience of \u201cArk Nova\u201d, there\u2019s a game for every taste and every occasion on the three lists for the Spiel, Kinderspiel and Kennerspiel des Jahres award. From nearly 400 German-language new releases and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20967,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[784],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aktuelles"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.spiel-des-jahres.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/kinder-1024x637.jpg\")