Edition Spielwiese

Edition Spielwiese is a German board-game and card-game publisher based in Berlin. The publishing label developed from the Spielwiese café, a Berlin gaming venue, and combines the social, discovery-oriented character of a games space with the production and distribution of commercially published tabletop games. Its catalogue includes titles from both new and established designers and spans different genres, mechanisms, and levels of complexity. The publisher’s first reported release was Cottage Garden, designed by Uwe Rosenberg and presented at the Spiel trade fair in Essen in 2016. The title established Edition Spielwiese as a publisher associated with modern European board-game design and with games that place accessible rules alongside meaningful strategic decisions. The company subsequently released additional designs by Rosenberg, including Indian Summer and Nova Luna, while also publishing works by other designers. Edition Spielwiese gained wider recognition through critical attention to several of its releases. Memoarrr!, designed by Carlo Bortolini, was included on the Spiel des Jahres recommendation list in 2018. Nova Luna was nominated for Spiel des Jahres in 2020. The publisher’s strongest public recognition came in 2021, when MicroMacro: Crime City received the Spiel des Jahres critics’ award. The MicroMacro line uses a large illustrated city map and observational investigation challenges, giving the publisher a distinctive position within the contemporary family and hobby-game market. Its published catalogue includes MicroMacro: Crime City and the follow-up MicroMacro: Crime City – Full House, as well as MicroMacro: Crime City – All In, Cottage Garden, Indian Summer, Memoarrr!, and Nova Luna. These releases indicate a portfolio that ranges from compact card games to larger spatial, observational, and tile-laying experiences. The available reference material does not identify a separate corporate parent, owner, public listing, official website, financial information, or current executive team. Edition Spielwiese is nevertheless documented as an active Berlin-based games publisher whose profile has been shaped particularly by critically recognized releases and by collaborations with notable tabletop designers.

Edition Spielwiese originated as an extension of the Spielwiese café, a gaming venue in Berlin. The connection to a physical games space is significant to the label’s identity: rather than emerging solely as an anonymous publishing operation, it was associated from the outset with a location dedicated to playing and discovering games. The available reference material does not provide a precise incorporation date, ownership structure, or detailed account of the café’s operation. The publisher’s first identified title was Cottage Garden by Uwe Rosenberg. It was presented at Spiel in Essen in 2016, an important venue for the international board-game industry. Cottage Garden is part of the modern European tabletop tradition in which relatively approachable rules support spatial planning and longer-term tactical choices. Its release gave Edition Spielwiese an early association with an established designer and provided the label with a visible entry into the hobby-game publishing market. The catalogue expanded across different types of tabletop play. Edition Spielwiese published further designs by Rosenberg, including Indian Summer and Nova Luna, while also releasing games by other designers. Memoarrr!, designed by Carlo Bortolini, broadened the label’s profile toward compact card-based play and was placed on the Spiel des Jahres recommendation list in 2018. Spiel des Jahres recognition is particularly influential in the German-speaking board-game market because it can raise the visibility of games among both hobby players and a wider family audience. Nova Luna was nominated for Spiel des Jahres in 2020. The nomination reinforced Edition Spielwiese’s position as a publisher capable of bringing designer-led games to a major audience. The title also continued the relationship with Rosenberg, showing that the publisher’s catalogue was not limited to one-off projects but included a continuing body of work from recurring creative collaborators. The label’s most prominent documented recognition came in 2021 with MicroMacro: Crime City. The game received the Spiel des Jahres critics’ award. Its format, built around searching a large illustrated city map to resolve crime-related cases, distinguished it from conventional card-driven or tile-laying releases and helped make the publisher more visible internationally. Edition Spielwiese subsequently published MicroMacro: Crime City – Full House and MicroMacro: Crime City – All In, extending the Crime City concept through additional content. Across the releases identified in the reference material, Edition Spielwiese has maintained a varied catalogue rather than concentrating on a single genre. Its products include card games, tile-laying and spatial strategy games, and observational investigation games. The available sources do not document detailed sales figures, distribution arrangements, later corporate changes, or a current executive structure. They do, however, establish the label as a Berlin-based publisher whose development has been marked by its origins in the Spielwiese café, its presentation of Cottage Garden in 2016, and award and recommendation recognition for Memoarrr!, Nova Luna, and MicroMacro: Crime City.

• 2021

  MicroMacro: Crime City receives critics’ award

  [1]Edition Spielwieseen.wikipedia.org

  MicroMacro: Crime City received the Spiel des Jahres critics’ award.

• 2020

  Nova Luna receives Spiel des Jahres nomination

  [1]Edition Spielwieseen.wikipedia.org

  Nova Luna, another Uwe Rosenberg design published by Edition Spielwiese, was nominated for Spiel des Jahres.

• 2018

  Memoarrr! receives Spiel des Jahres recommendation

  [1]Edition Spielwieseen.wikipedia.org

  Memoarrr! by Carlo Bortolini was included on the Spiel des Jahres recommendation list.

• 2016

  Cottage Garden presented at Spiel

  [1]Edition Spielwieseen.wikipedia.org

  Edition Spielwiese presented Cottage Garden by Uwe Rosenberg at the Spiel trade fair in Essen, marking the publisher’s first documented title.

A Berlin tabletop-games publisher focused on creatively varied board and card games from new and established designers, with a catalogue spanning accessible family games and more strategically or observationally demanding experiences.

• Board game · 2016

  Cottage Garden

  Cottage Garden is a board game designed by Uwe Rosenberg and identified as Edition Spielwiese’s first published title. It was presented at Spiel in Essen in 2016. The game helped establish the publisher’s catalogue through a designer-led spatial and planning experience suited to the modern hobby-game market.

• Board game

  Indian Summer

  Indian Summer is a board game by Uwe Rosenberg published by Edition Spielwiese. The available reference material identifies it as part of the publisher’s catalogue but does not provide further product specifications, release details, or award information.

• Card game

  Memoarrr!

  Memoarrr! is a card game designed by Carlo Bortolini. Its inclusion on the Spiel des Jahres recommendation list in 2018 gave the title and publisher notable recognition in the German board-game market. The available source does not provide further details about its mechanics or launch date.

• Observational investigation board game

  MicroMacro: Crime City

  MicroMacro: Crime City is an observational investigation game built around a detailed city setting and crime-solving challenges. It became Edition Spielwiese’s most prominently recognized release in the available material after receiving the Spiel des Jahres critics’ award in 2021. The title was followed by additional Crime City products.

• Observational investigation board game expansion or follow-up

  MicroMacro: Crime City – Full House

  MicroMacro: Crime City – Full House is a subsequent entry in the MicroMacro: Crime City line. It extends the publisher’s observational crime-solving format with additional content. The available reference material does not specify its release date or detailed contents.

• Observational investigation board game expansion or follow-up

  MicroMacro: Crime City – All In

  MicroMacro: Crime City – All In is another published entry associated with Edition Spielwiese’s Crime City line. It continues the large-map observational investigation concept established by the original title. No additional launch or product information is provided in the available source.

• Board game

  Nova Luna

  Nova Luna is a board game designed by Uwe Rosenberg and published by Edition Spielwiese. It was nominated for Spiel des Jahres in 2020, making it one of the label’s principal critically recognized releases. The source material does not provide a fuller description of its rules, commercial performance, or launch date.

1. 1Edition Spielwieseen.wikipedia.org