A board game converted into a marble run with sorcerer's apprentices and witches in a race against each other has been voted Children's Game of the Year 2022.
"Magic Mountain" from the Amigo publishing house prevailed against two other nominated games.
"When the first ball rolls, the children know immediately what the game wants from them," said jury coordinator Christoph Schlewinski from the Spiel des Jahres association on Monday in Hamburg.
In "Magic Mountain" by the authors Jens-Peter Schliemann and Bernhard Weber, the children are little sorcerers' apprentices who, with the help of will-o'-the-wisps (colorful marbles), have to quickly make their way to the magician Baldwin at the foot of the mountain.
Whoever hits the ball drawn from a bag and placed in one of several lanes may move on.
It is important to be faster than the witches, who are also helped by the will-o'-the-wisps.
Together instead of against each other
The cooperative board game - the children play with and not against each other - becomes an inclined marble run.
The marbles always find their own way on the lanes.
That always makes it exciting for the players.
"Mit Quacks und Co. nach Quedlinburg" and "Auch schon clever*" from Schmidt-Verlag were also nominated for the critics' prize of the Spiel des Jahres association - both children's versions of adult games by the author Wolfgang Warsch.
In total, the jury of specialist journalists, together with children and families, played and assessed around 70 games for three to eight year olds several times - and thus significantly fewer than in previous years.
This year the prize was awarded for the 21st time, for the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic more than two years ago in a face-to-face event.