Terraforming Mars awarded prestigious German Game Prize

Terraforming Mars has named the winner of this year’s Deutscher Spielepreis – the esteemed German Game Prize.

The Deutscher Spielepreis is handed out to games that are often too heavy or complex in terms of gameplay to be eligible for the revered Spiel des Jahres, which tends to focus on family-friendly titles.

Jacob Fryxelius’ critically acclaimed title sees players simulate the colonisation of Mars, researching technology and expanding humanity’s presence on the Red Planet as they juggle the use of resources. The game was nominated for the Kennerspiel des Jahres (Expert Game of the Year), but lost out to escape-the-room title Exit: The Game.

Unlike the Spiel des Jahres, the Deutscher Spielepreis ranks the Top Ten contenders for the award – although this year there were actually 11, as two games drew.

Second on the list was Alexander Pfister’s cow-herding masterpiece Great Western Trail, followed by Uwe Rosenberg’s Viking epic A Feast for Odin in third.

The rest of the runners-up included Scythe, First Class, Kingdomino and Raiders of the North Sea – which drew in sixth place – Friedemann Friese’s Fabulous, Captain Sonar, Magic Maze and Reiner Knizia’s Race to El Dorado. Many of the nominees were also shortlisted for the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres.

Penguin-flicking children’s hit Ice Cool, which previously picked up the Kinderspiel des Jahres for Children’s Game of the Year, added to its trophy collection with the Deutschen KinderspielePreises – German Children’s Game Prize.

Last year’s winner of the Deutscher Spielepreis was Alexander Pfister’s Mombasa, followed by Spiel des Jahres winner Codenames and TIME Stories.