The biggest prize in board gaming could go to a game where you decorate a village with stickers. Cozy Stickerville, the cooperative family game from Star Wars: Rebellion designer Corey Konieczka, is one of three finalists for the Spiel des Jahres 2026, and the jury crowns its winner in Berlin on Sunday 12 July.
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Find events near youIn Cozy Stickerville, published by Konieczka's own studio Unexpected Games, one to six players work together to grow a little town, peeling and placing more than 800 stickers across a shared board. It is built as a slow-burn campaign rather than a one-and-done: choices you make in one session can shape how later ones play out, and each sitting takes around 30 to 60 minutes. It is also the only cooperative game on this year's main-prize shortlist, sitting alongside the word game Dito! and the shelf-sorting puzzle Morty Sorty Magic Shop.
That co-op, sticker-book gentleness is a real swerve for Konieczka. He spent roughly 14 years at Fantasy Flight Games designing the sort of big, brainy boxes that eat an evening, including Battlestar Galactica, Eldritch Horror and the fourth edition of Twilight Imperium, before leaving to found Unexpected Games in 2019 with a focus on unusual design. Seeing his name next to a cosy family game on the Spiel des Jahres list is a lovely surprise.
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Start organising for freeThe Spiel des Jahres is the award that turns clever little games into mainstream hits, the kind of win that lands a game on kitchen tables across Europe by Christmas. Whether Cozy Stickerville takes the red pawn or not, a nomination alone is a big deal for a quiet co-op about making somewhere feel like home. If you fancy something gentle for your next session, it is a natural fit for a relaxed game night with the group.
Sources: Spiel des Jahres | Milan Spiele | Tabletop Gaming
