"Game of the Year 2007" and "Children's Game of the Year"

Spiel des Jahres / Kinderspiel des Jahres - June 2007

The board game "Zooloretto" by Michael Schacht and the small publishing company Abacus is "Game of the Year 2007" and thus won the coveted 29th German reviewer's award. "Children's Game of the Year 2007" is "Beppo der Bock" by Peter Schackert and Klaus Zoch from the Oberschwäbische Magnetspiele in cooperation with Huch and friends real gaming fun!

This year the "Spiel des Jahres" Awards saw even two debuts: Games author Michael Schacht (Frankfurt) as well as the Hessian publisher Abacusspiele (Dreieich) won the most important German games award for the first time. In "Zooloretto" players are zoo managers who fill their enclosures with exotic animals to attract as many visitors as possible. The panel arguments: "Zooloretto playfully masters the balancing act between an easy start and strategic challenge. The 'animals in a zoo' theme casually introduces a game that?s easy to grasp but nonetheless demanding. As you cannot win without a bit of luck, even younger players will be able to keep pace. Strategists will be able to explore different ways and new possibilities. Best conditions for continuous gaming fun."

Also nominated: "Die Baumeister von Arkadia" - the strategic construction of a whole city (Publisher: Ravensburger); "Der Dieb von Bagdad" - an irresistible cards-and-board game (Queen Games); "Jenseits von Theben" - an exciting time travel for archaeologists (Queen Games); as well as "Yspahan" - a tricky game around dices and camels (Ystari). All of them are good examples of a well-balanced and strong games' vintage.

The other major award "Children's Game of the Year" went to "Beppo der Bock" by Peter Schackert (Nattenhausen) and Klaus Zoch (Munich). With his game "Zauberlehrling" Peter Schackert, owner of the Oberschwäbischen Magnetspiele, had already won his first award in 2005. With their goat Beppo, he and Klaus Zoch now again genially integrated the marvellous powers of magnetism. "Beppo der Bock" is a fresh, dynamic game where a wooden goat performs incredible jumps. While the goat peacefully rests on his field at the beginning, a metal ball soon teaches him how to jump. Two to four children send the metal ball down a wooden chute towards the goat. Attracted by a strong magnet the metal makes the goat Beppo jump from his field into different landscapes, deciding on where the children's token have to be drawn.

"Beppo der Bock" innovatively uses the power of magnets. It's really fascinating how accurately Beppo can be sent to a certain target after only a short time of practice. The game comes close to the qualities of billiards' and the chute replaces the cue. It's a real challenge, not only appealing to children but also to grown-ups. The panel was really impressed by this racy game that equally attracts young and not-so-young players.

A total of five games had been nominated for the title "Children's Game of the Year". Besides "Beppo" the nominees had been the funny frog game "Hüpf Hurra!" (Ravensburger), the cooperative building game "Burg-Ritter" (Haba), the fairytale game-book "Rettet den Märchenschatz" (Selecta) and the communicative educational game "Gesagt - getan!" (Haba).

Both awards, "Game of the Year" and "Children's Game of the Year", are accompanied by a list of recommendations that provides inspiration for game enthusiast of every age. For more information on all games, consult the eagerly awaited brochure "Ausgezeichnete Spiele" available from September 2007.