Everybody Wins: Four Decades of the Greatest Board Games Ever Made

by James Wallis

The revolution in tabletop gaming revealed and reviewed, in this entertaining and informative look at over 40 years of award-winning games.

The annual Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) Awards are like the Oscars of the tabletop. Acclaimed British author and games expert James Wallis investigates the winners and losers of each year’s contest to track the incredible explosion in amazing new board games. From modern classics like CATAN, Ticket to Ride, and Dixit to once-lauded games that have now been forgotten (not to mention several popular hits that somehow missed a nomination), this is a comprehensive yet hugely readable study of the best board games ever made, penned by one of the most knowledgeable commentators on the hobby.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Games, Gaming, Reference, Audiobook

443 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 8, 2022

Reviews

[Jenny GB · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a book! I've been really into modern board games after watching Tabletop with Wil Wheaton and playing many of the new classics with my husband's family. We've since made our own collection and started introducing these games to my family and had many hours of fun together.

This book really celebrates the fun of playing and it was a joy to read. There are pictures of the games, game components, and designers everywhere. This is a gorgeous coffee table (or game table) book for game enthusiasts. Each winner of the primary Spiel des Jahres receives a four-page spread detailing interesting facts about the game and designer, details about how the game is played, and the author's opinions about its worthiness as a winner. Little side boxes on the edges call attention to the game designers, game artists, similar titles, and explanations of terms, which adds a nice friendly element for those that aren't as familiar with game types or the history of designers. Each year the other recommended titles or other special awards are listed and sometimes given a brief description. I knew some things about the more modern games, but reading about the early years was new to me and really interesting! I even learned a lot about the games I've played so many times. Honestly, I left this book wanting to know even more, especially about the major designers and artists that play such a role in these games. I have so many games added to my list to investigate and possibly purchase and enjoy!

I had to take away a star (I would have preferred to take away half a star) because whoever decided to print white text in yellow boxes made one section of the book very hard to read. It's an unfortunate graphical misstep in an otherwise beautiful book. There also seemed to be a large number of errors in the publishing copy that would hopefully be corrected in future editions.

Overall, I love this book. If you love games this book will get you excited about ones you haven't explored yet or bring up fond memories of playing the games you already love. If you don't know about modern board gaming this is a great introduction and will steer you towards some wonderful games that were selected by the biggest game award.

[Evan Hays · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book on the growth of the board gaming hobby over the last 40 years or so (which just happens to be my age). If you can get this on audiobook, the author does a stellar job with the narration, and could probably work in that field as a career if he wanted to.

So board games and me go way back. I grew up with the traditional favorites, but then in middle school and high school, my best friend, who took German in school and had been to Germany, started getting into what we called Euro games at the times. We even played the German version of Settlers (now just called Catan), and that game remains the gateway game that truly inducted me into the hobby as well as the board game I've probably played the most in my life (it's still a great game BTW).

Based on my own history with board games, then, this book was just perfect. It doesn't cover the whole history of board gaming during that time, but instead uses the Spiel des Jahres German game award as a perfect window into the evolution of board games over that time. There is much debate about whether games have gotten objectively better or worse during that time, but what I will say is that Wallis is incredibly fair minded about games.

He loves games and is a board game designer himself, which really helps this book shine.

For a hobby that changes very quickly and thus largely inhabits the internet rather than pages of books, this is the excellent exception. So, if you, like me, have caught the board game bug, I would say this book is a must read for you.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Wallis writes entertainingly and really is an expert on this subject so this was a fun and interesting romp through 40+ years of the Spiel des Jahres award and the culture of hobby gaming it exists in and helped to shape. I did have to strain my eyes to read some of the text boxes.

[Linli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this very much, but I am its target audience. My one complaint -the information boxes; whoever made the decision to use small skinny white font on a yellow background needs to be talked to. Those sections were tricky to read.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Wallis has done an excellent job explaining what has gone into the Spiel des Jahres winners for the past 40+ years (granted, he does have a fair amount of bias in his writing, some stronger than others in the descriptions which at times was off-putting). I read this book as a board game librarian, trying to get a better understanding for what has gone into game design, why certain games have won (or not), and ultimately use it as means to re-examine our own game library. Some of the Spiel winners are games we already have in the collection, and a handful of others are now officially on my list to research further. Overall it's pretty well written (though I still noticed a few typos) with some funny one-liners and for a 200+ page hardback book, I felt it easy enough to digest in multiple sittings. I definitely recommend it to anyone who is hoping to broaden their understanding or contextual knowledge of the board games industry or the Spiel des Jahres.

[Sascha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty niche, but it got me to buy a game or two and to revaluate a few classic games. It does feel a little light, and given it started as a column in a games magazine I found I most enjoyed the chapter sections where he introduces some larger cohesive ideas into the grouping of games he's discussing.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knew there was so much to know about board games. There's even an award (Spiel des Jahres) for the game of the year which is tantamount to an Oscar or an Emmy. I never heard of many of the games, but the book (and the award) are covering the world of gaming. The author reads the book and it doesn't take long to understand that he's the authority.

[Rmslis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who knew that reading about playing board games could be so much fun?

Each year an award - the Spiel des Jahres - is given for best board game of the year. This award was first established in the late 1970s in Germany. Although thousands of new board and card games are designed every year with a good chunk of this number entering the market only a select few end up being nominated to receive this coveted award. In this book the author provides the reader with the history of the establishment of the Spiel des Jahres, discusses the criteria a game must meet in order to be nominated for this award, provides a list of all of the games nominated for this award, and includes a brief history of every game that received this award, which as of 2022 is roughly forty games. Along with the history of the games winning this award the author also provides a description of the game play for each one. In addition, other game awards that had been established since the inception of the Spiel des Jahres along with their winners are also included in the book.

The author’s delivery of the material was entertaining along with being informative. Even though the book was chock full of fun and interesting facts this was not heavy reading. In order to really absorb the contents I read the material slower than I would a novel, and yet, even though the book was over 400 pages, I noticed I got through the book very quickly, and was a bit sad when I came to the end of the games discussed. Casual gamers along with the more serious gamers should find plenty of fascinating facts to keep their attention and supplement their game play. And who knows, one may discover a new board game that one just has to have in their collection.

[Clint · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice and concise book detailing 40 years worth of Spiel Des Jahres from 1979 to 2022. Each winning game is given a nice breakdown including photos. There are sidebars about various game related topics. They are informative and a nice add, but I do agree with those that pointed out the font color in the colored boxes is a tough read. I borrowed a copy from my local library. It is what I would commonly call a coffee table sized book and it would look handsome upon a game enthusiast’s coffee table.

I would add that the title is a bit misleading. It would be impossible to build a list of the best board games of the past 40 years. No one’s list would please anyone else. So the author stuck with the games that won the Spiel des Jahres.

[Marq · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic history of the Spiel des Jahres and the games that have won the award! Brilliantly put together, far exceeded my expectations. Pretty niche but - it’s me - I’m the niche.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous! Every “Spiel des Jahres” winner (and shortlisted) since 1979 (and up to 2022). A most enjoyable trip through the history of the modern board game.

[Jonathan Pickett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of the Spiele des Jahres board game winners. Comprehensive and witty analysis of each game, nicely produced and illustrated.

[Shawn White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book on the history of Spiel des Jahres winners. This prestigious board game award formed in Germany in 1978 and awarded its first famous red poppel in 1979 and has been doing so every year since. The book talks about the board games that won each year, what made them stand out, and whether they were truly deserving of that particular years’ award. The book traces this history from 1979 to 2022, with each game getting a three page overview and summary as well as a list of what other games and designers it was competing against and a recommended list of games from that year as well.

Quite informative and well written, despite a typo here or there. If you are in the hobby of table top games, then you probably would enjoy this book.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wallis describes his own book best when we writes “you might have hoped that after examining more than forty of the greatest games ever made (and a few less so), we’d be closer to understanding fun… if anything, it’s the opposite: we’ve seen how working together can be as fun as competing, how games don’t have to be about rigid structures or who goes next, or carefully managing your resources or planning your next move.”

I really enjoyed reading this exploration of the Spiel des Jahres, the German “Game of the Year” award that has anointed modern classics like Catan, Ticket to Ride, and Codenames with its laurels. The book analyzes each game that has won the award over the last forty years, describing their mechanics, their competition that year, and whether they have had a lasting legacy in the board game field. Each chapter follows a trend in the game industry, such as the rise of Eurogames or the return of the party game. It was interesting to see just how much board games have changed in the last forty years as the materials needed to make them have become more accessible and how the sources of funding for these games is slowly shifting towards crowdsourcing. The credit and recognition given to the designers is also something so important that is sometimes lacking in the game industry - like I found out that Forbidden Island and Pandemic had both been made by the same designer… who knew?? But by far my favorite part of the book was the descriptions of the games themselves as many of these games are ones that I have seen time and time again on the shelf. Now I know which ones are most worth picking up. Of course the games covered in this book are limited to the winner of the Spiel des Jahres award which in itself is limited to games that have also been published in German but it was nevertheless a comprehensive and entertaining read about one of my very favorite hobbies, because as Wallis reminds his readers that we are: I am a nerd who enjoys reading very big books about board games. 10/10 recommend to anyone who enjoys gaming or wants to learn more about a very specific German award.

[Gary Bunker · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a "coffee table book," so it's filled with photos and sideboxes of facts and insights. For all that it is a genre leaning toward the lighter end of narrative, Wallis was able to fit a lot of interesting insights into Everybody Wins. If you're interested at all in tabletop gaming over the past forty years, this is a great overview of the places we've been and recent trends.

[MacDougall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am impressed at Wallis' clever and amusing writing. He does a wonderful job of explaining the Spiel des Jahres annual winners, with their strengths and weaknesses, without overstaying his welcome. People who love board games will enjoy this book.

[Jennie Tay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful title to learn more about a hobby my husband and I have become very invested in. Very excited to start exploring some of these titles, as well as many mentioned that didn’t earn the award but were shortlisted or made by the same people. I’m also lucky enough to be from the area where Gen Con takes place so eager to apply my new knowledge at the convention this year. A great title for both those getting into board games and those who have been a part of the world for some time but wanted to touch up their knowledge.

I did listen to the audiobook, which was wonderful, so didn’t have the same visual frustrations others did. I knocked off a star because the book was strangely US-centric for a German award. Which is fine, but I think that should be clarified on the cover or in the description. Why does a book about board games mention Trump? Twice!? I love the author’s anecdotes about his daughter and friends, but was less fond of his personal game opinions he often applied to the world as a whole. There’s simply no way you can say how people should feel about a game because the group you play with can often make/break it. He often trashed games that are fan favorites in our home and overtly praised ones that we found little success with. I do understand that James Wallis has more knowledge and expertise in this area than myself, but opinions are just that. It was nice to hear how the games were received overall, however.

I appreciated the author taking time to acknowledge that this is a world where women have usually been kept on the outside. Board games are for everyone! And I feel like this a great book to prove it because of the wildly different mechanics, theme, & play styles that have won from year to year. There is a place for everyone in this hobby and I look forward to more of the world realizing that.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I first received this book as a gift, I did not realize it was a history of the Spiel des Jahres, the German award for the "best" board game each year since 1979. That specific topic really helps the book maintain focus over the forty years it covers (I'm looking at you, The Ultimate History of Video Games, Volume 2). Wallis writes in a very entertaining, conversational style. He is not afraid to inject his own opinions about games into the text, which really keeps it from being just a dry trek through a history book.

The only real quibbles I have are the index and some format issues. The index is pretty paltry. For a book that drops so many game names across its 224 pages, it would be really useful if the index contained more of those game names and game designers. I'm not even sure the call out boxes for stuff like mechanics get index entries. Speaking of call out boxes, one section decided to put white text on yellow boxes, making those boxes almost unreadable. It's a shame, too, because I believe that section covers the most well known of the Spiel des Jahres winners.

I loved learning about games I had never heard of. I enjoyed getting the author's take on the games I already knew. And I was even inspired to dig out a game or two I hadn't played in ages (I'm glad to say I still love Qwirkle).

This one should appeal to seasoned hobbyists and curious newbies. All you need is an interest in board games.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essentially a game-by-game account of the winners of the Spiel Des Jahres each year, but much more interesting than that might sound. There are actually story lines, the chapters are connected to each other thematically, it's not just a list of games and a description, it's very well-done. I promise, and you learn about game categories and mechanics along the way.

And it's great fun, with a perfect balance between text and image. Too little text and it would seem a superficial coffee book, too much text and we'd be left wondering "but what does the game look like," but they nailed the sweet spot in the middle.

However, HUGE complaint, more so because it was so avoidable: several chapters had sidebars with tiny cream text on a yellow background, yes, you heard that right. Even with magnifying glasses it was impossible to read. The book's production designer should be ashamed! Sometimes it was cream text on forest greeen: no problem. But on yellow? Or beige? Nope.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Greg Hovanesian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely wonderful to read. I learned SO much about the world of board games, and in particular about the Spiels des Jahres award and winners, which was the focus of this book.

Since picking up this I've attended my first gaming conference (PAX East in Boston) and was a part of a winning CodeNames team in a tournament at that conference. This book has opened up whole new realms to me that I was unaware of before, and it has strengthened my knowledge of a world that I already had been a part of for a few years. I am so happy I picked this up at a local bookstore.

[Conrad Toft · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great coffee table book for lovers of board games It explains the Spiel des Jahres winners over the last 40 years and talks about the games that didn’t win as well. It’s an opportunity to look at some games you might not have considered, especially looking at the shortlisted games and the writing is humorous and fun. Unfortunately, the book is let down by side panels where the design means that they are almost unreadable in some chapters.

[Brian Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good compilation of articles about the winners of the Spiel des Jahres (board game of the year) award. It was mostly very well presented with a ton of great photos and good production quality. In my opinion, it could have been a lot better if it wasn't for a couple of small but frustrating editorial decisions. The first is a stylistic choice. The writing style is very casual and filled with attempts to be humorous or sassy, but for me this approach sometimes came off as unprofessional (denigrating certain games or designers a little too casually) or inappropriate (adult humor and references to pornography). I'm certainly not uptight about things like that, and have a diversity of weird, explicit, or banned books in my library, but seems like a bad choice for something that presents itself as a coffee table book, and would otherwise be a great thing to leave out for younger family members to browse and become more interested in board games. The second frustrating editorial decision was a graphic design choice. The book uses a very small, thin white font for information boxes throughout the book. These are hard to read for someone without any eyesight issues. The white font become even more difficult to read in the chapter where the information boxes have a yellow background. White on yellow is a big design issue for readability of text.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Board gamers old and new will love this book covering 40 years of the winners of the Spiel des Jahres best board game of the year award.

Wallis gives pertinent historical details to explain how game design has changed, but his tone keeps the writing light and fun. I wanted to keep reading about most of the games. A few games seemed like they wouldn't be my speed, so I didn't finish those entries. Appreciated how the author let you know up front how easy (or not) it would be to buy each game.

Added many board games to my wish list.

My one criticism of this book centers on graphic design. While the large bold white font looks beautiful on the yellow hexagons on the cover of the book, whoever decided to print small white font on yellow, and even the mustard and blue, sidebars in the first three sections of this book should be forced to read all future correspondence in comic sans.

The sidebars held some of my favorite information in the book, especially detailing the different types of game mechanics, but reading them with 50ish year old eyes that have had the aid of reading glasses since my childhood...not freaking fun!

I debated removing stars, but I don't like penalizing the author for the mistakes of the art department, which he probably has no control over. But seriously, Aconyte Books, please fix for future editions.

[Hwango · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm quite keen on board games, so this made for interesting reading. I particularly enjoyed that the
book is about the games as they relate to the Spiel des Jahres award. That was interesting context. I did enjoy the book overall, but it had a few issues.

There wasn't a lot of consistency in the articles - some entries explained at least the basic rules for the game, but not all. Some articles focused more on surrounding events, or the designer, or some other issue. Many of these asides were interesting, but every once in a while there was an entry that seemed to have lost its way.

The are some sidebars with colored backgrounds, color-coded by which section of the book they're in, and the ones printed in white text on a yellow background were nearly illegible. It doesn't help that all of them had incredibly small type. I wish the book had made better use of its space.

Also, I don't know if it was a joke or a mistake, but I noticed that the sample in-progress picture of Alhambra has a tile illegally placed.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, to editor Matt Keefe and/or ABC Design: never, ever use small, skinny font, white text on a color background again! I was sorely tempted to give this book one star instead of five for the nearly unreadable sidebars. The white on yellow was particularly egregious. How did you possibly approve these proofs!

Fortunately, this history of the Spiel des Jahres winners is entertaining enough to persevere past the nearly unreadable sidebars. The author provides a short history of the origin of the award followed by a review of each year's winner, complete with whether or not the author felt it was a worthy choice.

I didn't always agree with the author's view 100%, but it was always interesting.

This book is well worth the read for anyone with an interest in the history of board games.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Spiel des Jahres is basically the board game equivalent of the Booker Prize for books and the Oscars for films. In Everybody Wins, James Wallis takes a look back at winners of the Spiel des Jahres over the last 40 years and it was interesting to see how the previous winners held up over time. I also enjoyed reading about some of my favorites, including Carcassonne (2001), Ticket to Ride (2004), 7 Wonders (Kennerspiel, or Expert Game, winner in 2011), Camel Up (2014), Codenames (2016), Azul (2018), The Quacks of Quedlinburg (Kennerspiel, 2018), Just One (2019), and of course, Wingspan (Kennerspiel 2019), and Cascadia (2022). I really liked this book, but I would recommend it only to those who are really into board games like me.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant walk through the games that have won the Spiel des Jahres. I really enjoyed hearing about the history of the field, and reading about lots of games. Wallis is funny, and there were a couple of jokes that made me laugh loudly enough to annoy my cats, but also very erudite. I think the book works really well by focusing on the main award through to the end of 2022, but I’d love to hear Wallis’s thoughts on the 2023 winner and also on the Kennerspiel des Jahres…perhaps there could be a sequel, Aconyte?

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very niche book and specifically about the Game of the Year award winners, but I really loved reading it. My teen son read it, too, and in our grand tradition, immediately made a list of games to play!

The author never disguises his preferences, which makes the book read as a thoughtful criticism of games and genres of games. I appreciate that he explains the types of games well and takes the time to talk about great non-winners and genre-defining games.

If you are a fan of tabletop gaming, cooperative gaming, or stretching beyond Uno and Monopoly, this is a terrific book!

[Adrian Sandoval · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deserves 4 stars.... but the editing is so bad in contrast and the selection of colors on some paragraphs is not the best.... some times it was very difficult to read.

Moving that aside, this is a great travel through the years of Spiel Des Jahres, and James Wallis does not feel afraid of being sour and sarcastic and that makes the reading fun and objective.

It is a must read for the geeks of the hobbie.

[H · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are books about a subject that the average reader will find informative; then, there are the books that do the above and that those experienced with the subject matter will find all the more. This is one such book. If you are knowledgeable about board games, you will get the sly references and the amusing jokes.