The nominees for the 2024 Spiel des Jahres — Germany’s “game of the year” award — have been announced, along with nominees for the Kinderspiel des Jahres (KidJ) for children’s game of the year and the Kennerspiel des Jahres (KedJ) for enthusiast’s game of the year.Spiel des Jahres jury chairman Harald Schrapers and Kinderspiel des Jahres jury chairman Christoph Schlewinski announced the nominees, along with other recommended titles, on YouTube, with these three titles being nominated for Spiel des Jahres 2024:• Captain Flip, from Remo Conzadori, Paolo Mori, and PlayPunk• In the Footsteps of Darwin, from Grégory Grard, Matthieu Verdier, and Sorry We Are French• Sky Team, from Luc Rémond and Scorpion Masqué (and from KOSMOS in Germany)Aside from these nominations, the SdJ jury recommended the following six titles: Harmonies, Passt nicht!, Phantom Ink, Schätz it if you can, Trekking Through History, and Trio.Note that the Spiel des Jahres award is primarily aimed at family gamers, i.e., those who play games but aren’t heavily into the gaming scene.Nominations for the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2024 went to:• Daybreak, from Matt Leacock, Matteo Menapace, and CMYK (and from Schmidt Spiele in Germany)• The Guild of Merchant Explorers, from Matthew Dunstan, Brett J. Gilbert, and AEG (and from Skellig Games in Germany)• Ticket to Ride Legacy: Legends of the West, from Alan R. Moon, Rob Daviau, Matt Leacock, and Days of WonderThe SdJ jury recommended four other titles at the Kennerspiel level: Bier Pioniere, Botanicus, Forest Shuffle, and Ritual. The Kennerspiel des Jahres award is intended for those already comfortable with learning and playing new games.Interesting to note that no German-speaking designers are present among the creators of the six nominees above.The titles nominated for Kinderspiel des Jahres 2024 are:• Große kleine Edelsteine, from Wolfgang Warsch and Schmidt Spiele• Die magischen Schlüssel, from Markus Slawitscheck, Arno Steinwender, and Happy Baobab (and from Game Factory in Germany)• Taco Kitten Pizza, from Dave Campbell, Thierry Denoual, and Blue OrangeThe Kinderspiel des Jahres jury, which differs from the SdJ/KedJ jury, also recommended three other titles: Fluffy Valley, Lecker Lava, and Die Nadel im Heuhaufen. Schlewinski noted that memory games flooded the KidJ list in 2023, but are absent in 2024, with the games featuring new types of design for young players.Schrapers said that the two juries chose these 22 titles from a total of 475 games that they investigated, with the SdJ jury considering 351 on their own, the KidJ jury considering 83 on their own, and both juries looking at 41 games that could reasonably be placed in either category given that the gameplay was engaging for older players, yet accessible to younger ones, as with Trio.Schrapers and Schlewinski said that the KidJ jury would be working more closely with the SdJ jury in the future since those jury members are highly experienced with games across all levels and they can help monitor and advise on the ever-increasing number of games released annually. The working partnership won’t necessarily go the other way, though, as children’s games need to be played by children (along with adults who are judging whether the games are suitable for themselves). The KidJ jury has an advisory board that assists with game testing by children, and they are looking for interested parties in Germany with pedagogical backgrounds who can assist in the years ahead.As he did in 2023, Schrapers highlighted the lack of female designers across the breadth of game releases over the past twelve months. Among the 351 games that the SdJ jury examined, he said that only 2.6% of the designers of those games are women.The winners for all three awards will be announced in Berlin, Germany on July 21, 2024. Congratulations to all the nominated designers and publishers!