2026 Spiel des Jahres Winners: JinxO, Rebirth & Mooki Island
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Industry News
JinxO Wins 2026 Spiel des Jahres
The Kennerspiel winner is Rebirth, with Mooki Island taking Kinderspiel
By
W. Eric Martin
Published:<br>July 12, 2026, 6:08 pm
Last updated:<br>July 12, 2026, 6:54 pm
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Spiel des Jahres: JinxO<br>On 12 July 2026, more than seven weeks after the Spiel des Jahres jury revealed the nominees for its three awards, the jury anounced the winner of the 2026 Spiel des Jahres: Martin Ang's JinxO . The game debuted in 2024 from Indonesian publisher Tabletoys Games and was released in German as Dito! by Game Factory.<br>Screenshot from the Spiel des Jahres livestream; Reiner Knizia is wearing the kilt, with Martin Ang to the right and Florien Sirieix to the right of MartinI reviewed JinxO in July 2025 after getting a sample copy from the publisher at SPIEL Essen 24. It's a fabulous party game that's gone over wonderfully with both gamers and the most casual of game players. As I wrote in my review: "JinxO isn't recreating the party game genre; it's 'just' a well-designed, familiar party game that delivers what you probably want in a party game: friendly time spent with others, with high-fives, fun discussions, and gentle disagreements sprinkled into the mix."<br>The other two nominees for Germany's game of the year award were Cozy Stickerville by Corey Konieczka and Morty Sorty Magic Shop by Markus Slawitscheck.<br>💡<br>RELATED READING: For more background, I previously explained why the Spiel des Jahres matters and what distinguishes its three awards.
Kennerspiel des Jahres: Rebirth<br>For the other two awards, Reiner Knizia's Rebirth from Mighty Boards won the 2026 Kennerspiel des Jahres award — the so-called expert's award — over Boss Fighters QR, co-designed by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach, and Moon Colony Bloodbath, designed by Donald X. Vaccarino.<br>For an overview of Rebirth, you can check out my review from 2024 — and if you already know the game and like it, during the SdJ ceremony Mighty Boards' David Chircop promised that more is coming<br>This award "completes the cycle" for Reiner Knizia, who in 2008 won the Spiel des Jahres for Keltis and the Kinderspiel des Jahres for Whoowasit?<br>Kinderspiel des Jahres: Mooki Island<br>The 2026 Kinderspiel des Jahres award goes to Florian Sirieix's Mooki Island , which originated from Canadian publisher Scorpion Masqué and which was released by German publisher KOSMOS as Die Insel der Mookies . Scorpion Masqué previously won the 2024 Spiel des Jahres for Luc Rémond's Sky Team, with Annick Lobet's Zombie Kidz Evolution having been nominated for Kinderspiel in 2020.<br>The other two 2026 Kinderspiel nominees are Boo Party, co-designed by Florian Sirieix and Benoit Turpin, and Verflixt Verzaubert, designed by Thomas Dagenais-Lespérance.
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