October 2, 2021 – The Juego de Año, Spain’s 2021 board game of the year nominations announced. The organization that has been going strong since 2005 recognizes all tiles that debut in Spain in that given year. The final award will be announced online at the award ceremony of the XVI Festival Internacional de Juegos Córdoba on October 9th at 11.00 am local time.
2021Juego de Año Nominees
- Kingdom builder by Donald X. Vaccarino (Devir)
- MicroMacro: Crime City by Johannes Sich (SD Games)
- Paleo by Peter Rustemeyer (Devir)
- The Red Cathedral by Sheila Santos & Israel Cendrero (Devir)
- Unmatched by Rob Daviau & Craig Van Ness & JR Honeycutt & Justin D. Jacobson (TCG Factory)
SEE ALSO: 2021 International Gamer Awards Winners | 2021 Mensa Select Winners | Winner of the Spiel des Jahres 2021 | Winner of the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2021
Kingdom Builder
Players create their own kingdoms by skillfully building their settlements, aiming to earn the most gold at the end of the game. Nine different kinds of terrain are on the variable game board, including locations and castles. During their turn, a player plays their terrain card and builds three settlements on three hexes of this kind. If possible, a new settlement must be built next to one of that player’s existing settlements. When building next to a location, the player may seize an extra action tile that he may use from his next turn on. These extra actions allow extraordinary actions such as moving your settlements. For 2 – 4 players, games run about 45 minutes.
FOR MORE: Kingdom Builder Page | Games Like Kingdom Builder | Buy Kingdom Builder on Amazon
MicroMacro: Crime City
Crimes have taken place all over the city, and you want to figure out exactly what’s happened, so you’ll need to look closely at the giant city map (75 x 110 cm / 29.5 x 43 inches) to find all the hidden information and trace the trails of those who had it in for their foes. The game includes 16 cases for you to solve. Each case includes a number of cards that ask you to find something on the map or uncover where someone has gone or otherwise reveal relevant information. For 1 – 4 players, games run 15 – 45 minutes.
FOR MORE: Buy MicroMacro: Crime City on Amazon
Paleo
Players start the game with a couple of humans, who each have a skill and a number of life points. On a turn, each player chooses to go to one location — possibly of the same type as other players, although not the same location — and while you have some idea of what you might find there, you won’t know for sure until you arrive, at which point you might acquire food or resources, or find what you need to craft a useful object, or discover that you can aide someone else in their project, or suffer a snakebite that brings you close to death. For 1 – 4 players, games last 45 – 60 minutes.
FOR MORE: Buy Paleo on Amazon
The Red Cathedral
Players can carry out one of these three actions: assign a section of the cathedral, send resources to that section to build it, or go to the game board to achieve more resources. When the sections of the cathedral are assigned the players take possession of the spaces in each of the columns that make up their section. The more sections built and the completion of each with its own tower, the more points the player will be given at the end of the game. The players can send resources to the cathedral sections that they have claimed. When they complete each of those sections they will obtain rewards in money and prestige points. For 1 – 4 players, games run 30 – 120 minutes.
FOR MORE: Buy The Red Cathedral on Amazon
Unmatched
The game is a highly asymmetrical miniature fighting game for two or four players. Each hero is represented by a unique deck designed to evoke their style and legend. Tactical movement and no-luck combat resolution create a unique play experience that rewards expertise, but just when you’ve mastered one set, new heroes arrive to provide all new match-ups. There are a variety of different characters and settings available that utilize this core system. For 2 – 4 players, games go about 20 – 40 minutes.
FOR MORE: Buy Unmatched on Amazon
2021 RECCOMENDATIONS
In addition to the nominees vying for the major award, the organization also puts out a list of special game recommendations that just missed out but are still quality games that you should check out.
The list:
- Amanecer Rojo by Jamey Stegmaier & Alexander Schmidt (Maldito Games)
- Calico by Kevin Russ (Maldito Games)
- El dilema del rey by Hjalmar Hach & Lorenzo Silva (Horrible Guild – Asmodee)
- High society by Reiner Knizia (SD Games)
- Iwari by Michael Schacht (TCG Factory)
- Las Ruinas Perdidas by Arnak de Min & Elwen (Devir)
- Lucky numbers by Michael Schacht (Tranjis Games)
- Maharajá by Kramer & Kiesling (Maldito Games)
- Marvel United by Andrea Chiarvesio & Eric M. Lang (CMON – Asmodee)
- My City by Reiner Knizia (Devir)
- Pistas cruzadas by Grégory Grard (Maldito Games)
- Renature by Wolfgang Kramer & Michael Kiesling (Ediciones MasQueOca)
- The Key by Thomas Sing (Haba)
- Unánimo by Ora & Theo Coster (Zacatrus! & Brain Picnic)
- Western Legends by Hervé Lemaître (Maldito Games)
- Yedo by Thomas Vande Ginste & Wolf Plancke (TCG Factory)
THE 2021 JURY
The jury is made up of people who are specialists in board games and independent from the entertainment industry, with a special interest in making people play and play with a wide variety of people.
Jury members include: Cati Hernández, Francisco José Gómez Domínguez, Javier Álvarez Cabrera, Joaquín Gómez Sanz, Patricia Lérida Obiols and Sonsoles Fernández Navarro.
Find Out More Info On Them Here
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION
The Juego de Año was born as an initiative to spread the culture of board games and its recognition as a form of social and cultural leisure for all audiences.
The JdA prize is in line with the leading European prizes, such as the Spiel des Jahres from Germany, the As d’Or from France or the Spiel der Spiele from the Viennese Academy of Games in Austria. They all share objectives and an operation based on strict independence from the games industry.
All games automatically enter as candidates for the JdA Award, which, adjusting to the bases, have an edition date (going on sale to the public) in Spain between September of the previous year and August of the year of the name of the award.
For the selection of the winning games, the bases of the JdA Award include criteria based on the suitability of the candidate games for the Spanish public, originality, theme, playability and the evaluation of the playful experiences in the games, as well as on the quality of the components, the clarity and correctness in the regulations, and in general, the usefulness of the games themselves as a tool for disseminating modern board games and their social recognition.
Source: http://premio-jda.es/
