German Games & Puzzles Vocabulary
This set covers the words you need to talk about board games, cards, and screen time in German: das Brettspiel, das Kartenspiel, das Videospiel, and the odd one out, der Würfel (a single die, not "dice" as a mass noun like in English). One genuine trap here is das Rätsel versus das Puzzle: Germans use Rätsel for riddles and logic puzzles, but reach for the English loanword Puzzle specifically for jigsaw puzzles, so the two aren't interchangeable the way "puzzle" is in English.
Learn these 21 words
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All 21 words
plural: die Brettspiele
board game
Wir spielen abends gern ein Brettspiel. — We like to play a board game in the evening.
plural: die Kartenspiele
card game
Wir brauchen ein neues Kartenspiel. — We need a new card game.
plural: die Puzzles
jigsaw puzzle
Das Puzzle hat tausend Teile. — The puzzle has a thousand pieces.
plural: die Rätsel
puzzle, riddle
Das Rätsel ist schwierig! Ich weiß die Antwort nicht. — The puzzle is difficult! I don't know the answer.
chess
Mein Vater spielt jeden Sonntag Schach. — My father plays chess every Sunday.
plural: die Spiele
game, play
Welche Kartenspiele kennen Sie? Monopoly ist ein sehr bekanntes Spiel. — Which card games do you know? Monopoly is a very famous game.
plural: die Videospiele
video game
Mein Bruder spielt gern Videospiele. — My brother likes playing video games.
plural: die Würfel
dice
Der Würfel zeigt eine Sechs. — The dice shows a six.
- würfelnA2
to roll dice
Du musst zuerst würfeln. — You have to roll the dice first.
plural: die Joker
joker card
Er hat den Joker in der Hand. — He has the joker in his hand.
plural: die Konsolen
game console
Die neue Konsole ist sehr teuer. — The new console is very expensive.
plural: die Puppen
doll
Unsere kleine Tochter bekommt zum Geburtstag eine Puppe. — Our little daughter is getting a doll for her birthday.
plural: die Quizze
quiz
Er hat beim Quiz gewonnen. — He won the quiz.
plural: die Schachfiguren
chess piece
Die weiße Schachfigur steht auf dem Feld. — The white chess piece stands on the square.
plural: die Spielzeuge
toy
Zu Weihnachten wünschen sich die Kinder vor allem Spielzeug. — At Christmas the children mainly wish for toys.
- wettenB1
bet, wager
Wir haben gewettet, dass sie wieder zu spät kommt. — We bet that she would be late again.
plural: die Ballons
balloon
Der Ballon flog hoch in den Himmel. — The balloon flew high into the sky.
plural: die Buchstabensalate
a word search
Ich löse gerne einen Buchstabensalat. — I like to solve a word search.
- knobelnB2
to play dice / toss for it
Wir knobeln, wer zuerst beginnen darf. — We play dice to see who goes first.
plural: die Wackeldackel
a bobblehead
Der Wackeldackel nickt ständig auf dem Autositz. — The bobblehead nods constantly on the car seat.
plural: die Däumlinge
Tom Thumb fairy tale character
Der Däumling war der kleinste der Brüder. — Tom Thumb was the smallest of the brothers.
How to learn this set
Notice that das Spiel is the root behind half this list: das Brettspiel, das Kartenspiel, das Videospiel, and das Spielzeug all just bolt a piece onto Spiel, so once you've got the gender and meaning of Spiel itself, four other words come almost for free. Chess supplies its own mini-pair: das Schach is the game, die Schachfigur is any individual piece on the board, and that gender switch (das to die) is worth drilling on its own with flashcards. For the two verbs, keep würfeln (roll the dice) and knobeln (a more casual "let's flip for it" or dice-toss to decide something) separate by writing one example sentence for each rather than translating them side by side, since English tends to collapse both into "let's roll for it."
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Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between das Rätsel and das Puzzle in German?
Das Rätsel is a riddle or brain-teaser you solve with logic, while das Puzzle is specifically a jigsaw puzzle with physical pieces. They're not swapped the way English speakers might expect from the shared root 'puzzle'.
Is der Würfel singular or plural?
Der Würfel is one die. For multiple dice, German just uses the plural die Würfel (same spelling, different article), so context or the article tells you which is meant.
What does knobeln mean and is it the same as würfeln?
Knobeln means to settle something by chance, often by tossing dice or fingers, similar to flipping a coin in English. Würfeln specifically means to roll dice, usually as part of playing a game rather than deciding something.
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