The best games from Klaus-Jürgen Wrede 🇩🇪👨 2026

Carcassonne: 20th Anniversary Edition celebrates two decades since the beloved tile-placement game Carcassonne won the prestigious Spiel des Jahres award. This special edition not only commemorates the game's lasting appeal but also enhances the classic experience with new and exclusive content. Players continue to draw and place tiles depicting the picturesque landscapes of southern France, aiming to strategically deploy their meeples—be it as knights, robbers, monks, or farmers—to score points by completing cities, roads, cloisters, and fields.

Calavera is a dice game where players aim to score as many crosses on their block as possible, as more crosses mean more points. However, if players become too greedy, their precious points may melt away. The player with the best dice result who places the crosses correctly will emerge victorious.

The Downfall of Pompeii is a thematic and tactical board game that transports players to the ancient city of Pompeii, just before and during its catastrophic destruction by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The game combines strategic planning with an element of luck, as players attempt to save as many of their pieces as possible from the disaster.

Bloxx! is a role-playing and writing game inspired by Tetris. Players aim to fill out their score sheets as much as possible without covering the numbers that yield points.

Mists over Carcassonne introduces a cooperative twist to the classic Carcassonne tile-laying experience, bringing players together against a common threat rather than competing against one another. This version weaves a ghostly theme into the gameplay, where players collaborate to halt the spread of ghosts, secure haunted grounds within cemeteries, and strategically utilize haunted castles. The cooperative element adds a refreshing layer of strategy and teamwork to the familiar mechanics of tile placement and meeple deployment.

Players fill in the fields on their player sheets to score more points than their opponents. Each player rolls 4-6 dice and selects one die at a time to place in the appropriate row or column on their sheet. If they burst a bubble, they flip the sheet over and continue marking on the back. The game ends when a player completes their third type of symbol, and the winner is determined by the highest score from symbol bonuses and marked stars.

Players mark fields of their choice on their individual sheets based on the roll of two special dice each round. They can fold a corner of their sheet only after marking all smileys in that corner. The first player to bend all four corners and connect the revealed target symbols wins. The game includes four types of player sheets with varying difficulty levels.

A beetle has taken my dice from this row before I could exchange them for victory tokens. This is a common refrain in the casual dice game, as failing to act quickly allows other players to steal your dice.

Beam me up! is a simple dice game for the whole family. Players aim to lift their pieces off the ground as quickly as possible with a mix of luck and strategy. The winner is the first to move four pieces above the white line, ensuring none of their pieces remain on the ground.

Cardcassonne offers a unique twist on the beloved Carcassonne tile-laying game, translating its core mechanics into a card-based format. Players strategically place cards in various rows, representing different elements such as fields, cities, roads, and abbeys, to maximize their points while competing against opponents. The essence of Carcassonne's strategic planning is preserved, with players faced with the dilemma of whether to claim a series of cards for points now or risk waiting for the row to grow at the potential cost of another player seizing the opportunity.

Immerse yourself in the mysterious culture of Rapa Nui, Easter Island. As a powerful tribal leader, choose which valuable tribe members will serve your village next: lumberjacks, priests, or hunters and gatherers. Alternatively, you might focus on building an impressive stone statue that surpasses all else.

Building more in the Colosseum Masters makes it easier to win, but acquiring the materials won't be simple. The pace of construction determines the game's duration, so planning ahead is crucial.

Players use cards to collect trade goods while influencing their prices. The player who earns the most money becomes the trading partner of the wealthy merchant Jakob Fugger and wins the game.

Carcassonne: The Dice Game transforms the beloved tile-laying mechanics of Carcassonne into a fast-paced, dice-rolling experience. Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Carcassonne's Spiel des Jahres win, this iteration designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede and Olivier Lamontagne offers a compact and quick alternative to the original game. Players roll dice to construct cities, embracing the core themes of Carcassonne in a new, dynamic format.

Raccoon gangs have formed, with each leader aiming to reach the famous golden trash can filled with endless discarded food first. Players navigate a board of individual spaces, where only one raccoon can occupy a space at a time, forcing others down to lower positions. Utilizing hand cards, players can maneuver their raccoons upward or downward, seeking to eliminate opponents while avoiding being knocked off themselves.

Players use cards to build buildings in Venice, which helps advance their respective gondolas. They also collect treasure cards when placing buildings adjacent to their gondolas and drain swamps to gather swamp tiles. Swamp and treasure tiles can be used to further advance a player's gondola. The player whose gondola moves the farthest wins the game.

In the center stands the Ziggurat, where players must bring four offering tokens to win. To deliver these offerings, players need to reserve enough Mana by praying in temples that they build. Players construct huts to increase their population and gather stone and wood from quarries and forests to build huts, temples, and Mana. Each turn allows players to move five spaces, lay new stones, and use resources to construct or explore. As players build their clan, they will engage in various activities, including praying at temples and sacrificing messengers to continue growing their population.

Players lead their tribe through the Stone Age while exploring new territories, harvesting nuts and mushrooms, and building villages. The goal is to create the most successful tribe by discovering new areas, constructing huts, and collecting resources. Players can accelerate their tribe's expansion through the invention of new tools and techniques like shipbuilding and pottery. Each scouting tile reveals effects that can be utilized for strategic advantages, and the player with the most victory points from villages and completed tasks wins the game.

Players assume the roles of builders who construct pyramids in a rhythmic cycle of years, influencing the duration of each cycle. The unique progress rhythm allows for strategic pressure between players. Set over 4500 years in the past, the game presents the flourishing ancient city of Caral, offering a surprisingly complex experience that combines flexibility through resource cards and tactical sacrifices during the annual ceremony. Various modules enable players to customize the game's complexity, making it enjoyable for both families and seasoned gamers alike.

Ride your loyal steed and embark on the race of your life! Players race with their dragons through a deep and winding canyon course, using magic to support themselves or hinder opponents. The real challenge is maneuvering their dragons to cross the finish line first, with movement depending on a secretly chosen speed that affects agility, especially in tight turns. The modular track allows players to design and modify their races for ongoing fun and excitement.

The Roman Empire, at the height of its power, plans to conquer the British Isles, known as Albion. Players must strategically choose and develop their settlements, castles, and fortifications while balancing resources, defense, and the number of nobles and legionnaires. The game is won by the player who successfully develops three settlements completely.

Four Anasazi tribes inhabited the central western United States, building their settlements into canyon walls. The reason for their sudden departure in the 13th century remains a mystery. Players participate in various expeditions to uncover the hidden treasure chambers and settlements of the Anasazi.

Krone & Schwert is a city-building game where players construct fortresses, cities, and cathedrals on their land. Aspiring to be king, players can start a revolution to gather support and claim the crown for victory points. The game features card mechanics for building and battling, with players having three action points per turn and opportunities to earn bonus points for their structures.

Play cards at the right moment to collect stars numbered one through nine. Try to prevent other players from gathering stars by completing rows before they can. The first player to collect three stars wins!