Spiel des Jahres

In Elfenland, young elves have to pass a very special test before they are accepted as grown-ups. All elf girls and elf boys receive a map of Elfenland, and they have to visit as many famous towns in Elfenland as possible, using the common types of transportation: dragons, unicorns, giant pigs, elfcycles, troll wagons, magic clouds, ferries and rafts. These types of transportation, however, are available in limited numbers and can only be used in specific regions. Thus, an exciting race starts among the elves to find out who will make the best use of the available transportation.

360 animals on big cards are waiting for the players of Fauna. Every round a single animal presents itself by name and picture. The 2-6 players try to guess the animal's weight, length, height, tail length and - most important - the areas in which the animal lives on the Earth. The early bird gets the worm: an area on the big map or a sector on the scales already occupied by a player token cannot be chosen a second time. When no player wants to set another token the round ends and the scoring is performed.

In Alhambra, players are acquiring buildings to be placed within their Alhambra complex. On a player's turn, a player may take money from the open money market, purchase a building from the building market, or engage in construction and re-construction projects with buildings that have been placed in the player's reserve. The game rewards efficiency, as when a player purchases a building from the market for the exact amount of money, the player may take another turn.

A series of devastating tornadoes, unleashed by enemy mages in the recent war has left all the king’s castles in ruin. Only the foundations of these once magnificent monuments remain. He has charged his sons with rebuilding his castles and promised the throne to the one who can rebuild the tallest and largest castles. Each prince has 6 knights to supervise the building. Two or more princes may work together on a castle with their knights competing to control the highest towers of the castle. Once e ach year, the king will tour the castles, to judge the progress of each son.

In Agricola (Latin for "farmer"), you're a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting clay, wood or stone; building fences; and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all the little rugrats?