The Spiel des Jahres (, Game of the Year) is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award was one of the major drivers of the quality of games coming out of Germany, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. A Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500–3,000 copies to around 10,000, and the winner can usually expect to sell as many as 500,000 copies. Award criteria The award is given by a jury of German-speaking board game critics from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, who review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months. The games considered for the award are family-style games. War games, role-playing games, collectible card games, and other complicated, highly competitive, or hobbyist games are outside the scope of the award. Since 1989, there has been a separate award for children's games. The jury is not subject to public scrutiny and members of the public are not offered the opportunity to influence the voting. On occasion, the jury has awarded a special prize for more complex games, such as Agricola in 2008 or World Without End in 2010. Prior to 2011, this award was an exceptional award which was not necessarily awarded annually. In 2011, however, this practice was formalized when the jury created a new category for more complex games called Kennerspiel des Jahres. Along with the nominations, the jury also gives a list of recommended games, and occasionally gives out special prizes for games which will not be considered for the main award. The criteria on which a game is evaluated are: game concept (originality, playability, game value) rule structure (composition, clearness, comprehensibility) layout (box, board, rules), design (functionality, workmanship) The jury does not release its scoring system or provide insight into how the categories are weighted. Awards and nominees 1999 awards 2000 awards 2001 awards 2002 awards 2003 awards 2004 awards 2005 awards The nominations for the 2005 award were announced on May 8, 2005, and the winner on June 27, 2005. 2006 awards The nominations for the 2006 award were announced on May 28, 2006, and the winner on July 17, 2006. Along with the nominations, the jury also assigned two special prizes for games which