Through the Lens of Choice, Randomness and Interaction: 20 Years of Spiel Des Jahres Winners

Choice, randomness and interaction are the three core rule types visible in board games. By analysing game rules and breaking them into these categories it may be possible to gain a greater understanding of what makes games work and how to compare them.

The balance of a game can be abstracted by measuring the amount of the rules that fall into each of the three categories. Looking at these relationships, comparisons of the games can then be made. Taking the rules of the Spiel des Jahres winners over the last 20 years as a specific subset of games, is it possible to measure any trends or changes in these games through this perspective?