Big congratulations go out to Celtic Frost, who I've heard won some major German award of some kind.
Truly, their long toils over the years have finally... Mmmm? What? It wasn't them?
.....
What the hell is a "Keltis?"
So anyway, this looks to be the year Reiner wins the award proper after years upon years of him essentially being snubbed by the Spiel de Jahres selection committee.
Oh, sure, he's won a "special award" or two I guess, but that's not much of a consolation prize. Time will tell if this is a good selection or if this is more like when Susan Lucci finally won that Daytime Emmy after what seemed like 65 years of trying.
"We're finally going to give Susan the award?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"What did her character do this year that deserves the award? What was her big scene, her big arc?"
"Hell if I know. I just want her to shut up about it."
"Good point."
What I do know is that as of this writing, Keltis is rated 700 and something with only 67 people listed as owning the damn thing. It's funny because SdJ continues to be completely out of touch with the hobby as we know it, even in the BGG sense of the word. Stone Age was the closest thing this year to a "known" or big time game, the rest was a bunch of stuff few had claimed to even have played. I had a gut feeling that Stone Age was too complicated for the SdJ, because at the pace we're going the only thing eligible in 2011 will be some boardgame version of a color matching card game (oh hell...that happened last year. Never mind.)
Just looking at it, Keltis honestly looks like a gambling board you'd see at a casino. From what I've read it's pretty much Lost Cities in boardgame form. I must admit to having a small affinity for Lost Cities despite myself; that game is the cruelest piece of work you'll ever likely see. You never pick up a hand of cards in Lost Cities and go, "Hell yeah! This is something I can fookin' WORK WITH, baby!" It's always more like 2 3s, a 4 and 5 of one color, a token 10 and nothing else of that color, and some !@#$!@ handshakes.
We'll have to see if there is a sheeple effect and the game shoots up in ownership and ratings, or if what has seemed to be a growing malaise about the whole SdJ thing continues to grow due to this selection. It's funny to remember a time when the SdJ went to games that had a little meat on them like Torres, Settlers, or Tikal, or went to games that were bonafide "Gateway Classics" like Ticket to Ride and Settlers. Personally I shook off the "SdJ" spell when I played Niagara. If that is in any way "Game of the Year" from 2006, well...let's just say that would be a sad commentary on that year's state of gaming.
Oh man, Celtic Frost. Haven't heard music from them since good old Saturday Night Loud on WVXU disappeared back in the mid-late 90s.
--Mike L.