Best games released at SPIEL 1999 in Essen 2026

Bohnanza is a unique card game about planting, trading, and harvesting beans. Unlike typical card games, you can't rearrange your hand, adding a strategic twist. The core of the game lies in trading beans with others to manage your hand effectively.

This edition of the card game features sailors and aviators. Each set includes 336 cards, each with a description of a historical event on one side and the year it occurred on the other. Players receive nine cards and aim to arrange them in chronological order, while bluffing and challenging others' placements. The first player to discard all their cards wins, making it a fun and surprising experience for everyone involved.

Mamma Mia! is a delightful card game from designer Uwe Rosenberg, blending strategy and memory skills in a fun pizza-making theme. Players compete to complete pizza orders by strategically playing ingredient cards into a common pool and timing their pizza baking to utilize the available ingredients in the kitchen.

Players engage in a manual dexterity game, attempting to place wooden branches and leaves on a wobbling trunk. If they knock off any leaves or branches, these pieces are added to their current stack. The first to get rid of all their leaves and branches wins.

Frank's Zoo is a lively card game that challenges players to strategically rid themselves of all their cards across multiple hands, with scoring based on how quickly players can empty their hand each round. The game can be enjoyed in two modes: with consistent solo play or with alternating partners, adding a layer of strategy in team play.

Part of the Kosmos two-player series, Elk Fest is a dexterity game for two players. Players take turns flicking two discs that represent stones and moving their moose along these stones. The aim is to bring their moose to the opponent's riverbank while avoiding certain positions; the first player to achieve this wins.

In the icy frost of the Arctic, Inuit or polar bears engage in their favorite activity: ice fishing. Players punch holes in the "ice" to try to catch fish represented by steel balls of various sizes. The first player to catch ten fish wins, and for children aged six and up, larger fish are worth more points.

Turf Master is a horse racing game for two to eight players, featuring a "meeting" of three races. Players can choose between flat races or hurdle races on a double-sided board, with each having their own deck of 32 movement cards, dice, and a horse of their color. Players must carefully plan their moves to enhance their position and can earn points based on the finishing order of their horses.

The set "Anno Domini - Women" features historical events related to women. It can be played as a standalone game or combined with other sets for a better experience.

Players balance wooden blocks on a see-saw and aim to tip it over. Each player starts with 22 blocks in four different sizes and colors. When taking a turn, blocks must be placed in a single stack on the high side of the see-saw until it tips or the stack collapses, with consequences for both outcomes.

This twisted yet entertaining card game is more intense than it first appears. Players aim to collect points in four different colors, but they can also lose points or eliminate them entirely with "Not the Bean" cards. The interesting trading mechanism may be a bit challenging to grasp at first, but it’s worth the effort.

The Rose King (originally published as Texas) is a strategic board game that pits two players—or two teams in a four-player partnership variant—against each other in an abstract battle for territory. Set against the historical backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, players assume the roles of the Lancaster and York factions, striving to dominate the board by forming contiguous regions of their markers.

RoboRally is a dynamic and chaotic racing board game where players control robots in a high-stakes race through a hazardous factory. The game combines strategy, quick thinking, and a bit of luck to create an engaging and often humorous experience.

Tikal is a compelling strategy game set in the dense jungles of Central America, where players embark on an expedition to uncover lost temples and hidden treasures. As explorers, players reveal new parts of the jungle board, discovering temples that need to be excavated and treasures that can be collected. The objective is to score points by controlling these temples and treasures. Notably, Tikal is the first game in the renowned Mask Trilogy.

Players throw mud at each other using water and sand cards. Each player starts with a hand of seven cards from a deck of 110, which includes water, sand, umbrella, and special cards. Players generate mud by playing sand and water cards and can defend against attacks using umbrella cards or special cards that redirect the mud or spread it among others. The game continues until the deck is depleted, at which point players tally their sand and water points, with the lowest scorer declared the winner.

The game is a successor to the popular title, but it is less complex and not based on trading. Players aim to collect 30 points in "trophies" by managing up to two collections of space beans: one public and one secret. Beans are drawn and placed into collections, and players can exchange completed collections for trophy points based on the values of the beans.

Kahuna is a strategic two-player game set in the South Seas, where players take on the roles of Kahuna – powerful sorcerers of the Pacific. The game revolves around competing for dominance over an archipelago of twelve small islands.

Each player has a set of pieces, walls, a tower, and a gate, trying to free their hand first or lose points. On their turn, one player is the builder while others secretly choose a piece. If the builder chooses a unique piece, it gets added to the wall; otherwise, a player matching the choice can build instead.

Players use 52 cards that can be played in a Parchis-style game. Instead of rolling dice, a player can draw a card or play one after their turn. The cards feature special powers and effects, and there is a hand limit of five.

Players aim to estimate the lifespan of a famous person by placing a year card between their birth and death years. Moving clockwise, each player adds a card to the center row, ensuring it doesn't fall outside the specified years. If unable to place a card correctly, they must take all previously played cards. The winner is the player who either places all their cards in a round or has the fewest cards at the end.

Union Pacific is a strategic train-themed stock market game where players navigate the balance between expanding railway companies and acquiring stock shares. The game revolves around increasing the value of different companies by extending their rail lines and strategically managing your stock portfolio for maximum dividends.

Bus is a pioneering strategy game by Splotter Spellen, emerging from Essen 1999 as a standout creation by a group of students. This game challenges players to efficiently manage a public transportation system to deliver as many passengers to their destinations as possible. The game combines route planning, passenger distribution, and timing to create a deeply strategic and competitive experience.

The game showcases Uwe Rosenberg's talent for unique card games. Players are dealt eight cards and choose a card value to collect, which is then revealed. A trick-taking mechanic follows, allowing players to follow suit or to play a trump card if they cannot. Winning tricks allows players to build their "good" pile, while other cards go to the "bad" pile, which can eventually be exchanged at the end of rounds.

A new edition of Adlung's Masked Ball, now themed around a Venetian costume ball. It features very beautiful cards.

Players take on the role of the heads of fictional music companies, aiming to influence the popularity of various musical acts. Each turn, they receive seven tokens to secretly vote for their favored bands, striving to secure points when their chosen acts rank in the top six. The game features engaging artwork and humorous band names, along with a unique wooden "CD player" for counting votes. However, some band names may contain adult language, despite the game previously being categorized as a family game.

Taj Mahal is a strategic board game set in northwest India during the early 18th century, a time when the power of the Grand Moguls was declining. This historical setting provides a rich backdrop for a game of influence and palace building.

Aladdin's Dragons (also known as Morgenland), developed from Richard Breese's Keydom, evolves the bidding and resource management mechanics into a vibrant, strategic board game that transports players to a realm of magical intrigue. Through clever placement of numbered bidding chips on a tripartite board, players engage in a tense contest of wits and bluffing. The objective is to amass wealth and magical artifacts, with treasure tokens serving as the pivotal currency for advancement.

Torres is an abstract strategy game centered around the themes of castle building and strategic pawn movement. It is known for its deep tactical gameplay and resource management elements.

Players engage in a trick-taking game that features unique twists. Before each hand, they bid to determine three factors that will influence the round: trump suits, the target for most or least tricks, and whether zero is considered high or low. After the bidding phase, players discard three of their played cards and play a standard trick-taking round, scoring points based on their performance relative to the established goals. The game continues for a number of rounds equal to the number of players, and the player with the most victory points at the end wins.

Uwe Rosenberg has a knack for creating innovative card game systems, which is evident in this game. Players collect sets of different types of jewelry by buying cards from one another and playing cards from their hands to complete sets of four. The points awarded for a complete set are negatively affected if there are already several sets of similar cards in play.