Today's words · 🎲 Board & card games
Game night German: 10 words to roll with
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Get invited to a German friend's for dinner, and there's a good chance a board game comes after dessert.
At my first German Spieleabend (games night), the table was covered with dice and cards. Everyone was laughing and shouting ‘Wer ist dran?’ and ‘Du schummelst!’ — and I just smiled, because I knew neither the rules nor the words.
Today's ten words are for board games and card games. With them you can ask to join in, roll the dice, and win or lose gracefully — all in German. 🎲
📋 The ten words at a glance
- das Spiel — game; match
- das Brettspiel — board game
- das Kartenspiel — card game; pack of cards
- mitspielen — to join in (a game), play along
- würfeln — to roll the dice; to dice (food)
- der Würfel — die, dice; cube
- dran — (to be) one's turn; on it (colloquial)
- gewinnen — to win; to gain
- verlieren — to lose
- schummeln — to cheat (colloquial)
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
das Spiel
[SHPEEL]game; match(Pl. die Spiele)
📌 Das Spiel endet 2:1.
→ The match ends 2–1.
💡 spielen (to play) minus -en 🎮 A game, a football match — all Spiel!
Bonus Das ist nur ein Spiel! = It's only a game!
das Brettspiel
[BRET-shpeel]board game(Pl. die Brettspiele)
📌 An Regentagen spielen wir gern Brettspiele.
→ On rainy days we like playing board games.
💡 Brett (board) + Spiel = board game 🟫 Exactly like English.
Bonus to play board games = Brettspiele spielen
das Kartenspiel
[KAR-ten-shpeel]card game; pack of cards(Pl. die Kartenspiele)
📌 Am Abend spielen wir oft ein Kartenspiel mit der Familie.
→ In the evening we often play a card game with the family.
💡 Karte (card) + Spiel = card game 🃏 Spiel is das, so the whole word is das.
Bonus It also means a pack of cards. to shuffle = die Karten mischen
mitspielen
[MIT-shpee-len]to join in (a game), play along(spielt mit – hat mitgespielt)
📌 Darf ich mitspielen?
→ Can I play too?
💡 mit (with) + spielen = play along 🙋♀️ Your ticket into any game!
⚠ Separable: Ich spiele mit. · To ask: Darf ich mitspielen?
würfeln
[VÜR-feln]to roll the dice; to dice (food)(würfelt – hat gewürfelt)
📌 Du bist dran, du musst würfeln!
→ It's your turn, you have to roll the dice!
💡 Würfel (dice) + -n = to roll the dice 🎲 In the kitchen, würfeln means to dice!
Bonus Du musst würfeln! = You have to roll!
der Würfel
[VÜR-fel]die, dice; cube(Pl. die Würfel)
📌 Für dieses Spiel braucht man zwei Würfel.
→ You need two dice for this game.
💡 An old relative of werfen (to throw) 🎲 The thing you throw.
Bonus Caesar in German: Die Würfel sind gefallen. = The die is cast.
dran
[DRAHN](to be) one's turn; on it (colloquial)📌 Wer ist jetzt dran?
→ Whose turn is it now?
💡 Short for daran 👉 Probably the word you'll hear most at a games night.
Bonus Wer ist dran? = Whose turn is it? · Du bist dran! = Your turn!
gewinnen
[guh-VIN-en]to win; to gain(gewinnt – hat gewonnen)
📌 Wer hat das Spiel gewonnen?
→ Who won the game?
💡 Same root as English win 🏆 Can you spot win in ge-WIN-nen?
⚠ Irregular perfect: Ich habe gewonnen!
verlieren
[fair-LEER-en]to lose(verliert – hat verloren)
📌 Ich habe meinen Ausweis verloren.
→ I've lost my ID card.
💡 A cousin of English lose and forlorn 😭
⚠ Perfect is verloren: Ich habe schon wieder verloren.
schummeln
[SHOOM-eln]to cheat (colloquial)(schummelt – hat geschummelt)
📌 Wer bei der Prüfung schummelt, bekommt eine Sechs.
→ Anyone who cheats in the exam gets a six.
💡 Sounds like a sneaky card swap: ‘shoom’ 🤫 Playful, harmless cheating.
Bonus Serious fraud is betrügen; schummeln is the light version.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Germany is a real board game country. Every year the ‘Spiel des Jahres’ (Game of the Year) award is announced, and each autumn Essen hosts one of the world's best-known board game fairs.
Families have their classics too. The most famous is ‘Mensch ärgere dich nicht’ (Don't get annoyed, man) — and despite the name, everyone gets very annoyed playing it.
For cards, Skat and Doppelkopf are popular, and you may see regulars playing in a local pub. Rules often vary by region, so it's worth asking before you start. 🃏
✅ Quick quiz
Q. Your friends are playing cards in the living room. You'd like to join!
- ① Darf ich mitspielen?
- ② Wer hat gewonnen?
- ③ Wer ist dran?
Show the answer
① Darf ich mitspielen?
mitspielen means to join in, so you're asking ‘Can I play too?’
At your next game, shout Du bist dran! instead of ‘your turn’. Just no schummeln! 🎲
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 🎄 Christmas