Worst 10 Spiel des Jahres Winners
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
- Tom Vasel takes a look at the worst SdJ Winners and gives what game he thinks should've won that year.
00:00 - Introduction
01:19 - #10
02:23 - #9
03:17 - #8
03:56 - #7
04:41 - #6
05:33 - #5
06:21 - #4
07:53 - #3
08:33 - #2
09:03 - #1
Buy great games at www.gamenerdz.com/
Find more reviews and videos at www.dicetower.com - เกม
"How often have you heard of Focus?" - Never
"How often have you heard of Can't Stop?" - Ummm Never
+Jason Grubiak haha fair enough, it sees quite a bit of play at my local gaming store.
+Jason Grubiak If you have any interest in dice games at all, you owe it to yourself to play Can't Stop. There's a reprint, a cheap iOS app, online play at boardgamearena.com...
Yeah, didn't hear about Can't stop either... before I watched Dice Tower vids. Seems like it wasn't really available in my country. The most popular roll and move game I remember was Dostihy a sazky. A horse racing themed monopoly-like game.
I owned the old Can't Stop. It never ever pleased me. So I traded it away.
Can't Stop is a great game.
I'd never heard of Focus until this video.
I agree with all your choices, Tom, except for Camel Up. Spendor is a very good game, particularly loved by gamers as a filler, but Camel Up does what you said about Vegas: it's crazy, it's loud and it's fun. Splendor instead is very involved, it's more quiet and tactical. I don't see people playing Splendor and cheering, but I do when I see people playing Camel Up... which I think has also a theme that is more appealing for children. Splendor is the better game, but Camel Up is the best choice for the family setting.
+Mishra91 Plus: Splendor may have sold a lot of copies in the US, but here in Austria... ähm... I've never really seen it on a shelf in stores or at homes. And: The jury has had a focus on emotion in gaming in the last few years, and Camel Up fits that category way more then Splendor.
Agreed! It gets families into gaming!
I agree. I've played both and camel is more "lol fun" & more family friendly. Splendor is more "puzzle fun".
Took the words right out of my mouth, I thought the exact same thing when he spoke about Vegas.
lol, Camel Up is pure garbage, just played it this past week. You have zero choices in this game, literally zero. Just roll the dice as fast as you can to get it over with. I'd rather play a better gambling game.
I would love to see you three do this list!
I strongly recommend people watch the TH-cam video of Spiel des Jahres jury member Tom Felber talking about the award at a BoardgameGeek convention in 2014. Tom is totally in sync with the award. It's an award for grandmothers, and 8 year olds, and promoting the hobby for families.
It's not often the case but this time I'm 100% with you, Tom. Honorable mentions for would be: Mississippi Queen (winner should have been "Bohnanza"), Hanabi (winner should have been "Qwixx" or "Augustus" - they are both better) and Adel verpflichtet (winner instead should have been "Die heiße Schlacht am kalten Buffet").
I agree with most of your choices (even though I do like Thurn & Taxis).
BUT, I think comparing former "Spiel des Jahres"-Winners with games that stood the test of time is a bit unfair. When games are nominated for the award, most people don't know these games. While people start playing them, they choose their favorites and slowly classics will emerge over the years. However, the jury has to pick the winners based on a couple of plays.
Just look at the Dice Tower awards 2011: Eclipse won, even though King of Tokyo was nominated. I'm pretty sure that in 20 years King of Tokyo will be played a lot more than Eclipse. Does that mean that Eclipse was a bad choice?
Great idea for a list! Thanks
I agree Tom, I think you guys should do a Top 10 Roll and Move game list... that would be an interesting one (seeing that many of them are older games)!
Or maybe a Top 5 Roll and Move game list, anyway ;)
Maybe he should roll some dice and do that many games.
+kdhlkjhdlk Sam would determine the order on his list by rolling dice!
My 60 year old mother played Camel Up last week. And liked it. That's proof enough to me that it's a worthy winner.
RutgersKev Hi!✋🏻
It’s a winner in my family to, only game we can get the 7-9 years olds to play as well as the 60 year old grandparents. Everyone is having fun and laughing and mainly no arguments
Also now there's a 2nd edition I think even Tom thinks it was a worthy winner. Camel Up is in his top 100. Splendor is not.
Yeah I think Camel Up has a bit more long term appeal and a better overall package. Splendour is ANOTHER merchants trading shit in the 16th century, it's hardly breaking new ground. It's mechanics have also been done before. It's a very tight, modern take on that type of game but it's lacking in originality and in terms of theme/art, it's not particularly memorable. But Camel Up? It oozes theme when you put it on the table, the mechanics are immediately understandable from a contextual perspective; it's basically just betting and simulating a wacky race! It's more colorful, it's more fun and it's more accessible.
I played it several times and it's a lot of fun. Splendor on the other hand got lame pretty fast.
I'll don't really understand the lack of love for Lost Cities: TBG (aka Keltis). It's the 2nd gateway game I ever bought (after TtR) and I still really enjoy playing it. Stone Age may be a better game but the theme doesn't excite me or my kids, so we've never bothered with it.
Actually i think CAMEL UP should be on the "Best 10 Spiel des Jahres Winners"
So i dont agree on this one on this list
He means splendor was a better game and it should have won
@@scottmcfarlane7524 i don't agree. If you think Splendor should have won i understand but that doesn't make Camel Up one of the worst winners. The thing is that Vasel at that time didn't like Camel Up as much as he likes now. If he makes a new video of the worst winners i bet he will not put this game.
...And he contradicts his reasoning for wanting Splendor to win based on what he said about Vegas and Kingdom Builder.
Thought the same thing. "Vegas should have won because it gets people standing up and cheering"... That's exactly why Camel Up won, as it should have. Many occasions I've gotten 8 people together, new to boardgames, cheering on those humping camels. Meanwhile Splendor leads to silent antisocial tables.
Cheering-factor can’t be the decider *every* time. If a dull game with good mechanics and good longevity goes up against an amazingly fun game - the fun game should win.
But if the mechanics and longevity are GREAT and enough to become a future mass market appeal classic then you could argue that it’s enough to win.
So many people have Splendor in their top20 and say it’s their go-to introduction game, that I feel like it stands out.
I guess the argument is Splendor really stands out.
Maybe CamelUp could’ve deserved to win other years when the top strategic game wasn’t as popular as Splendor.
But Splendor could’ve deserved to win even if it went up against Tom’s favourite party games
Fun list, Tom. You're only comment I have to take you to task on is about Kingdom Builder being a game where you, "draw a card and do what it says." If you only played the game once, I'd say that's a fair assessment. Most players new to KB fall into that trap (I did too). Once you play the game many times, you realize the game is about positioning yourself properly in your first few turns, and gathering the proper special power tiles, such that any terrain card will allow you to advance your board position and maximize your score. Depending on the scoring cards, sometimes you want to get certain power tiles, and sometimes you don't. Sometimes you want to position your settlements next to certain terrain types so you can expand into them, and sometimes you want to stay away so you can start a new settlement area somewhere else on the board. Your choice of settlement placement and which power tiles you grab in your first few turns will either set you up to be competitive or to fail horribly, regardless of which terrain cards you ultimately draw.
Excellent, excellent list, Tom. I agreed over and over again with everything you said and think it was smart to offer another suggestion for each year mentioned. While I don't agree with you on Splendor or Blue Moon City, you're dead on with Citadels, Vegas, No Thanks/That's Life, Can't Stop, and Stone Age. I would have also listed Dominion (perfect for Kennerspiel but not even remotely ideal for SdJ in my opinion) with Pandemic instead. Thanks for the list!
+Chris Schreiber Citadels is a good game, but Torres is also. I think the gap isn't as big as Tom claims on that one. Torres is the 302's ranked game on BGG vs 238 for Citadels.
+Chris Dolphy This has nothing to do with rankings on BGG, it's about appropriateness for the award, which is aimed at promoting and growing the hobby in Germany. This is an award aimed at families and everyday citizens. I recommend looking for the TH-cam video of Tom Felber talking at BGG.Con about the award. It's really interesting. Torres and Dominion were unpopular choices for the award.
Very solid top 10. I agree on almost all the replacement suggestions.
I don't know how Keltis beat Stone Age. Stone Age is a light worker placement game with a cool theme that's seldomly used while Keltis has no theme at all.
Camel Up was definitely a better winner than either Splendor or Concept. My family owns both Camel Up and Splendor, and while we've been betting on camel races a lot, our gem-collecting never caught on, even though I do like the game a lot myself. It's just too dry for the family I think.
I'm very pleased to see the amount of people who support Camel Up over Splendor. Splendor is dry and quiet while Camel Up has a "stand up" finish. Never seen anyone stand up after talking that last green jewel
Seems like a matter of strategy & flow vs excitement & fiero
I actually really like Thurn and Taxis, sure theme doesn't matter about the postal serving, but you are building connections like in TTR
10 years after buying it my wife and I still like to pull out and play Thurn and Taxis. I dont think Blue Moon City had that longevity... at least not in my circles. Thanks for the list.
This list should be called: Biggest Spiele des Jahres Upsets. Most of the games you listed are well above average in quality.
But, I do understand how your chosen title will likely get more views.
While Eggertspiele doesn't announce any numbers, Camel Up had sold more than 100.000 units in August 2014 according to an article in the Südkurier and probably many more since then. If US publishers don't take advantage of the prize and promote their win, no wonder it has less impact on the American market.
A lot of Tom's reasoning involved other games being more popular and selling more, the award is meant to pick the best game based on certain critera not the people's choice.
Focus (aka Domination) is fine, it's just not as well-known because it has been out of print for a while now. It's supposedly getting a reprint in 2017, though.
Would play Keltis anytime instead of Stone Age :) I remember playing 3 games in a row when i first got it with my brother and with my gaming group. Though i haven't played it for years. But recently i've been thinking to bring it to our group to introduce new players. I think it will work great in this setting. Funny, i didn't even new it was a SdJ winner. Well, there is a seal on the box, but i never cared to read what it is about :D
Cafe International is a great game that has been reprinted. I hunted down a copy just prior to the reprint, because my wife and I enjoyed it so much on Brettspielwelt. We've taught this one to our kids, and it is great to see how the "I could play this, but then you get even more points..." back-and-forth plays out.
"That's Life" (a.k.a. Verflixxt) is a great game that I was also introduced to via BSW. Love this game.
(but I must admit that "No Thanks!" is much easier to get to the table).
I learned about Cafe international by finding an iOS app of it. Super fun but strangely neither the board game nor the card game are exactly the same playing concept as the app. Wish they would come out with a physical version of it!
I love Spiel des Jahres debates. More of this!
(Sure, in a way it’s kinda silly that those of us who care most about awards are the ones who don’t really depend on them. The people who argue most about the Oscars are those who’ve already seen most nominees and don’t need an award to tell them what to watch. Same with Spiel.
But I guess we just want the most worthy products to get the attention)
Completely agree with #10. Camel (C)up should not have won at all! Splendor should have won.
Camel up is literally just see what happens. You have no control over anything. And it could be any theme. It pays itself. Splendid is strategic and fun.
I agree that Splendor isn't fun to watch, but I'd argue that Camel Up isn't either. And at least with Splendor you have some control over the outcome of the game, it's not just guess, and hope you guessed right.
I know how it works. I don't like it, and that has nothing to do with how "gamer" it is or not.
I have to disagree on Camel Up, with Tom's own point. Love both Camel Up and Splendor. I even think Splendor is the Game I would prefer a little bit more. But when it comes to "cheering & laughing" Camel Up wins by far. I never saw a game of Splendor where there was nearly as much laughing than in Camel Up. Camel Up was always a good time with lots of emotions.
I largely agree and though people like to rag on the BGG rating system, I find it more useful in terms of looking at what might be a good game rather than a flash in the pan or something that might be only okay that stuck in a particular award. Still like to watch the Spiel des Jahres every year but I take it, like board game reviews....with a grain of salt :)
I really enjoy Thurn and Taxis, to me I would play that over ticket to ride any day. Its solid and can be introduced easily to non gamers. Perfect spiel candidate.
One year later and some of the superb family game that were released... were not even nominated.
Frankly out of all awards and labels I could name only Dice Tower as a decent and often found on boxes indicator that the game is:
1. a game, not some random set of cubes and paper
2. could be fun for at least some big audience
3. is better than many other games with a similar price/complexity/etc
Spiel just looks like a rather silly and meaningless choice these days thanks to much better alternatives and access to plenty of reviews.
Thank you Tom and the team, thanks a lot other people who make great reviews.
Two things:
1. If you think your turn in Kingdom Builder is about the Terrain card you play on your turn, you are playing as wrongly as you were when you built Coppers and Estates straightaway in Dominion. And yet, that's part of the reason it should not have won and Vegas should have, actually.
2. Vegas's name was changed to Las Vegas. It's been here in America for a couple of years. You can buy it from CSI right this instant.
I played an intro game of Camel Up, thought it was ok, then my first two turns decided to bid on first and last place. I ended up predicting the winner and loser and winning the game. Ever since then that's how I like to play the game.
Tom, what is that basketball game in the right?
Kingdom Builder is a smart design and it's a fine puzzle game. But Takenoko is more fun.
Agree on 2014 with Camel Cup winning.. Although I LOVE Camel Cup and enjoy it more than Spelendor (which I also enjoy), Splendor is clearly the more popular game. I guess the question is... should the SDJ winners be based on whats more popular? I guess probably not.
Also I really love Machi Koro and was pretty disappointed it didn't win in 2015... but I haven't played Colt Express yet so can't really make a judgement on that one.
+Ashlee Cramb I must agree with the committee on Camel Up.I agree with you that I do not want games selected on popularity, but I would want some explanation from the committee as to how they made their decision and why. It might go some way to helping people appreciate the rigor involved in making decision.
Kinda surprised that Enchanted Forest haven't featured here.
I would agree on the list except for camel up. I had limited replay value with splendor but not with camel up.
What a great idea for a top ten!
While I don't think Keltis / Lost Cities: The Board Game should have won necessarily, Stone Age definitely shouldn't have won. It isn't light enough for a Spiel and is only an average game at best.
I agree with most of the rest of the list. The Spiel judges are pretty weird and seem to just choose things at random. I really wonder if the gaming environment in which they test these games determines a lot more than it should.
I disagree with your pick of Camel Up. While I love Splendor, Camel Up seems more involving.
I bought Hanabi because it was "Spiel des Jahres", we played it a few times and wondered how this game ever won this award... I agree with that list...
I haven't seen any other commenters actually do what he asked at the end of the video, so I'll put my 2 cents in:
2009 - Dominion (should have been Pandemic)
This is probably just because I don't like Dominion, but also because I love Pandemic. I wouldn't have wanted to be on that panel of judges though, both these games have basically become their main mechanic's go-to example.
Just to clarify, when Tom says Vegas, he means Las Vegas right? The dice game?
frotes yes
I stll thing Camel Up is a good game and we play it a lot, especially when we just want to have fun and don't want to think to much about strategy. However I completely agree with you, that Splendor would have been the much better choice. Such a wonderful game, it just plays very smoothly, impresses with its simplicity, but still has some tactical depth.
While i like Kingdom builder very much maybe they should have picked a game like takenoko or King of Tokio.
I agree, Takenoko really should've won.
+smolle Takenoko sure but Yahtzee? No.
2008 was an interesting year. I'd have been OK with either Stone Age or Witches Brew winning instead of Keltis. For me, though, Keltis is just fine as the SdJ winner. (And, of course, as Tom says, Knizia had never won before.)
Spot on. Outta the park with Stone Age.
I wonder if there could be cultural differences. Games played tend to differ around the world I found out. And Spiel des Jahres is German award. So maybe not the same appeal as in America. (just thinking out loud) Cause Villa Paletti was way more famous around here even before it won Spiel. And I didn't hear about Trans America till I started watching the dice tower.
Although off topic, talk about bad choices for boardgame awards. How about Games Magazine's 1999 choice of Game of the Year, for FOSSIL over Take it Easy, Bohnanza, Montgolfiere, Formula Dé, El Grande, Elfenland, Medici, and Settlers of Catan?
Fossil's BGG rating is 5.4 OUCH!
If, as Tom says, the essence of the Spiel is people standing up, cheering, and having fun (as in his Vegas comment), then that would justify Camel Up over Splendor, which he claims Splendor should have won.
What about Bluff? SdJ of 1993, but really not even a new game at all. Hardly even a twist on the many traditional dice games out there. It was up against modern art. Arguably magic the gathering could have been in the running as well.
Thurn and Taxis > Blue Moon City
You are totally right!!! I bought Keltis because of the award and it's a shame. I hate it. Never played a game that is so dump....
Totally agree on Stone Age.
I was under the impression that people hated Qwirkle.
+cyanmanta Me too. Was very surprised to find it as an honorable mention on the best 10 Spiel des Jahres games list.
Tom is absolutely right at 7:20. No Thanks is brilliant and infinitely better than Hanabi. I'm also glad that Tom mentioned Taboo, another one of my students' favorite games.
Help me understand, Tom. You didn't choose Dominion for the best list because it was already popular, but you put camel up on this list because it beat Splendor. But Splendor was already really popular. Don't get me wrong I think Splendor should be have won, but I really think Dominion should've been on your "Best" list.
Just worth watching you suffer through saying "Spiel des Jahres" over and over again xD deutsche Domination hahaha! Good idea for a top ten list 👍
+Duchesse de Berne He does a pretty decent job, actually. While listening, I thought he said it the way you'd expect any American to say it--maybe even better. You're never going to get us to swallow that 'r', and if we try and say the leading 's' "the German way", we're likely to need to apologize and look around for a napkin.
+David Witzany He did a very good job :D I just thought "why not say: Game of the Year" as it must be a pain using words of an language you don't speak 😳
@@duchessedeberne3909 nah German really easy to learn...something like Japanese now that's hard..
@@scottmcfarlane7524 yeah true: languages that are so far away from us grammatically
I totaly agree with this list
Top ten list idea: Top ten most played by other people IYO. (strongest historic shelf life, attractive to others, not the hotness unless you think it's forever e.g. the moment pandemic hit)
I was surprised Machi Koro didn't win last year
+MarcusWindrune I think the product has to actually be a game to qualify.
i agree in the most of them, but not in Niagara... i think, even agreeing that is not so strong, is a fair winner.
I'm _so_ glad Splendor did not win over Camel Up!
Splendor is the modern game to put people off boardgames
I'm just surprised you picked some good games to replace and not the worst games that ever won. For instance, just about any game from 1982 would be better than Enchanted Forest. How about Survive, or Family Business?
Or what about 1984 when Dampfross won (a game that they had already recommended 4 years earlier!!) 1984 is probably the year Heimlich & Co should have won leaving 1986 open for Kremlin or Werewolf.
The early years of this award were a real mess.
+Ben Lott Back in 1982 there was no Kinderspiel award, so they gave it the Spiel des Jahres, and I played it as a child non stop. Easily better then Survive or family Business.
I feel the same way about Camel Up over Splendor as you did about Vegas. Camel Up is an awesomely fun game where I have only ever seen people have a great time. In my opinion, Splendor caught a bunch of initial hype and rode it to glory. It's a game that, when you play it the first time, seems like it can have a ton of depth and room to learn and get better. Until you play it more and realize it doesn't. It is a game that is almost always played in silence with minimal player interaction, and the outcome often feels like a factor of chance than skill. Camel Up was a worthy winner.
Splendor is a potato chip game. Seems great until you finish the bag and then realize that there really wasn't much to it. Camel Up is standing the test of time. I bet Tom would change his mind now on this one though, especially with the new edition.
Stone Age probably too complex for the award too.
wolflarson71 and also not as good as Keltis
Agree with all the ones I have that are SdJ winners. Many of them are bad. I love playing stoneage, while Keltis...sits on a shelf.
for me i think Colt express could easily be on this list. i own this game and it has made it to the table 3 times always excited at first thinking it might work, but it always leaves us falling flat. instead i would easily have chosen Machi Korro, much more exciting, still has strategy to it, and has much more replay ability. i am also pretty sure it out sells colt express.
+Patrick Crowthers For me Colt Express is a much better design than Machi Coro :) Matter of taste I think :) Colt Express is an excellent light game for families, even if there's a take that aspect
+Würfel Reviews see I get that it is built off of a take that mechanic, that's why I bought it, my group still plays munchkin, we are a very take that kinda people. bit I never felt like I was really competing against anyone. it just didn't have the bite I was getting from Machi korro, and when I won colt express it didn't feel like it mattered.
Knizia should've won in 2017 with Quest for Eldorado. He lost against Kingdomino, which is a kid's game.
I'm not a fan of Kingdomino personally, but I would argue that the hundreds of thousands of adults who enjoy it might disagree that it's a "kid's game".
Was appalled to see Focus on the list, although the reasoning that Can't Stop should have won instead is hard to argue with. Focus is a fine game, a fun family-style abstract strategy game, and it's a shame it hasn't been reprinted since the 1980s. Focus is a more "serious" game than Can't Stop, even if Can't Stop is one of the best dice games of all time. Focus actually belongs on the Best 10 Spiel des Jahres winners just for being one of Sid Sackson's games.
Good list. I would add that Pandemic should have won instead of Dominion, too.
+Benjamin Leroy-Beaulieu I think Dominion is up there with Ticket to Ride and Catan as "holy grail" Spiel games. Not saying that Pandemic isn't deserving of a spiel. In almost any other year, it would have won, but man did Dominion hit, cause a craze, and spawn a genre. I don't want to get into a debate on which game is better today; I think Pandemic snowballed in popularity, and then Legacy.
+Tallyst I understand that Dominion is an innovative and very good game. And I think it would have largely deserved the Kennerspiel, had it existed at that time. I just think that Pandemic fits better in the category of Spiel des Jahres.
+Benjamin Leroy-Beaulieu Dominion has dominated games and started a sub-genre of board games. Pandemic is an excellent game too but it was not as genre defining as Dominion. At the time especially, it was all the rage and still is solid with many expansions.
Benjamin Leroy-Beaulieu I agree. But it's a tough call. Dominion definitely introduced us to deck building games, but I think pandemic really put cooperatives on the map.
Camel C(Up) is gunna be on the list I bet.
+ChiggaFoo loooooooool
I just played Cafe International this past weekend, and it was awful. I can't believe it just got reprinted. It has not aged well.
I like Lost Cities the Board Game just fine and can see why it was chosen. But I agree Stone Age was the better game for that year.
My worst Spiel des Jahres winner would have to be Nothing Personal. (Kidding, Tom)
Actually, I think Keltis IS a great choise, love the game, just as I do love Lost Cities, absolutely deserved the win
Good music.
Keltis is my favorite version of the "lost cities" genre but Stone Age is WAY better
I was one of those who is still complaining about Puerto Rico not winning in 2002.
I'm not a huge splendor fan, but it is far superior to camel up. Camel up is still fun though.
Wrong about Thurn and Taxis.
I agree with most of this list. I like Niagara and Cafe International more than Tom does, but still only middle of the road picks. I agree that Keltis is the weakest Spiel winner. Enchanted Forest is a worse game, but had less competition.
Camel Up was by far the best choice.
so let me get this straight... you blame camelcup for blating splendor... yet you point out that vegas is much more family friendly and fun than kingdom builder. will you make up your mind what you are praising and what you hate about these choices?
+xXtenseXx From his intro, I think he was looking at which game he thought was better, not which style he prefers.
I noticed this same thing, lol.
I was waiting for Qwirkle on this list. It's not so much of a good game. I like it but...
But This Top 10 Could be even more fun with Sam and Zee. Also loved it.
My gaming tastes are very different than Tom's.
Spiel des Jahres literally means game of the year it's too late now but can't we just say that.
Just you wait for camel up 2nd edition lol
Isn't it a bit too convenient to be making this list in hindsight, considering SdJ judges would have no idea of the commercial success of a particular game when they make their decisions?
Niagara really wasn't a very good game. I also wasn't a huge fan of Zooloretto either.
Camel up lives on while splendour has been murdered by other games.
They made the right choice.
2011. Qwirkle won. 7 Wonders should have won.
Mike Nykoluk it did win the kennerspiel!
Top 10 reasons why Spiel des Jahres Winners don't matter
Pfft, I still can't believe Twilight Imperium 3 didn't win!!!!
Other than that, great list :)
I was honestly expecting to disagree with you somewhere, but nope, that was solid
True...
1991 "Drunter und Drüber" is the worst Spiel des Jahres ever
i hate splendor, while campel up is one of the most played games in my group.
Out of curiosity, what do you like/hate about either game? One is mostly luck, and the other is mostly strategy.
+Andy Mesa I would argue that Camel Cup has waaay wider audience. I wouldn't even think about trying Splendor with my parents, because I know they wouldnt't be interested. But Camel Cup I could sell to my whole family and all my friends. Even those who don't play games.
Not saying Splendor is worse in terms of gameplay, but it has very narrow audience in my opinion.
+Andy Mesa no, one is mostly fun and the other one is the most boring and tastless experience in boardgaming ;)
+Xolition Good for your family, but for my parents Splendor is complex and uninteresting. They're not gamers.
+StrayFire I have never understood the appeal of Splendor - dreadful game...easy to see why Camel (C)up won - visually interesting, nice dice rolling gimmick easy to understand nice theming
Hmm "The Game" didn't make this list?
It never won