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While the worldwide board gaming community has plenty of awards ceremonies, arguably the most important is still the "Spiel des Jahres" (Game of the Year) award issued by German-speaking game critics from Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Past winners have included everything from Catan to Qwirkle, and winning ensures solid sales and (very occasionally) fame and fortune.

Nominees aren't necessarily guaranteed to be everyone's favorite games from the past year. But as far as the influential German board gaming establishment is concerned, these are the best of the best when it comes to games that everyone can enjoy. We decided to put all six nominees to the test by rounding up some past coverage, adding some new reviews, and rolling the whole thing together into a massive one-stop shop for all things SdJ.

This year, the nominees for the main "Spiel des Jahres" prize, which focuses on family-friendly games, are Imhotep, Karuba, and Codenames. Fighting for the top spot in the "Kennerspiel" category, which tackles slightly more complex games that are still accessible to a wide audience, are Pandemic Legacy, T.I.M.E Stories, and Isle of Skye. If the prizes were handed out by popularity alone, Codenames and Pandemic Legacy would be shoo-ins.

But you never can tell which way the Spiel des Jahres jury will go; we'll just have to wait and see when the winners are announced on July 18. (The winner of the children's "Kinderspiel" category was already announced; the award went to the kiddie version of the worker placement classic Stone Age. Leo and Mmm! were the other finalists.)

If you're interested in digging deeper than the three finalists for each prize, the jury also released lists of additional "recommended" games for the Spiel des Jahres and the Kennerspiel. The Kennerspiel list in particular is full of games we love, including the Viking smash-'em-up Blood Rage, which we reviewed earlier this year.

Note that all but one of the games came out in 2015; to be considered for the award, a game has to have been released in Germany within the past 12 months. Also, many of these games are hot commodities at the moment and are thus in short supply at many online retailers. Your best bet for out-of-stock games (and for games in general) is to head to your local game store.