All awards

Fairplay

À la carte

The card-game award of Fairplay magazine, since 1991 – an annual ranking of the year's best card games.

since 1991

Winner gallery

🃏 2025
Castle Combo

Castle Combo

★ 7.3 · 👥 2–5 · 25 min · $28

🃏 2024
Forest Shuffle

Forest Shuffle

★ 7.5 · 👥 2–5 · 60 min · $25

🃏 2023
Sea Salt & Paper

Sea Salt & Paper

★ 7.3 · 👥 2–4 · 45 min

🃏 2022
SCOUT

SCOUT

★ 7.6 · 👥 2–5 · 20 min · $23

🃏 2021
Fantasy Realms

Fantasy Realms

★ 7.2 · 👥 2–6 · 20 min · $22

🃏 2020
The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine

★ 7.6 · 👥 2–5 · 20 min · $15

🃏 2019
Belratti

Belratti

★ 6.2 · 👥 3–7 · 25 min · $9

🃏 2018
Dealt!

Dealt!

★ 6.2 · 👥 3–5 · 30 min

🃏 2017
The Grizzled

The Grizzled

★ 6.9 · 👥 2–5 · 30 min · $24

🃏 2016
7 Wonders Duel

7 Wonders Duel

★ 8.0 · 👥 2 · 30 min · $30

🃏 2015
Machi Koro

Machi Koro

★ 6.5 · 👥 2–4 · 30 min · $25

🃏 2014
Linko

Linko

★ 6.6 · 👥 2–5 · 20 min

🃏 2013
Hanabi

Hanabi

★ 6.9 · 👥 2–5 · 25 min · $14

🃏 2012
Targi

Targi

★ 7.4 · 👥 2 · 60 min · $20

🃏 2011
7 Wonders

7 Wonders

★ 7.5 · 👥 2–7 · 30 min · $60

🃏 2010
Jaipur

Jaipur

★ 7.4 · 👥 2 · 30 min · $27

🃏 2009
Dominion

Dominion

★ 7.5 · 👥 2–4 · 30 min

🃏 2008
Race for the Galaxy

Race for the Galaxy

★ 7.6 · 👥 2–4 · 60 min · $35

🃏 2007
Caylus Magna Carta

Caylus Magna Carta

★ 6.4 · 👥 2–4 · 75 min

🃏 2006
Ausgerechnet Buxtehude

Ausgerechnet Buxtehude

★ 5.6 · 👥 2–6 · 20 min · $35

🃏 2005
Jambo

Jambo

★ 6.6 · 👥 2 · 45 min

🃏 2004
San Juan

San Juan

★ 7.1 · 👥 2–4 · 60 min

🃏 2003
Coloretto

Coloretto

★ 6.8 · 👥 2–5 · 30 min · $15

🃏 2002
Vom Kap bis Kairo

Vom Kap bis Kairo

★ 5.7 · 👥 2–4 · 30 min

🃏 2001
Meuterer

Meuterer

★ 6.3 · 👥 3–4 · 60 min

🃏 2000
Citadels

Citadels

★ 6.9 · 👥 2–8 · 60 min · $38

🃏 1999
Verräter

Verräter

★ 6.0 · 👥 3–4 · 60 min

🃏 1998
Caesar & Cleopatra

Caesar & Cleopatra

★ 6.1 · 👥 2 · 60 min

🃏 1997
Bohnanza

Bohnanza

★ 7.0 · 👥 2–7 · 45 min

🃏 1996
Mü & More

Mü & More

★ 6.3 · 👥 2–8 · 60 min

🃏 1995
Magic: The Gathering

Magic: The Gathering

★ 7.4 · 👥 2–6 · 20 min · $110

🃏 1994
6 Nimmt!

6 Nimmt!

★ 6.9 · 👥 2–10 · 45 min

🃏 1993
Stick 'Em

Stick 'Em

★ 6.5 · 👥 3–8 · 60 min

🃏 1992
Loot

Loot

★ 6.1 · 👥 2–8 · 20 min

🃏 1991
Res Publica

Res Publica

★ 5.6 · 👥 3–5 · 60 min · $28

Jump to:2020s2010s2000s1990s
2025
🃏 Winner
Castle ComboGrégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel

Draft cards, build your castle, and watch combos cascade

  1. 2.Faraway
  2. 3.The Gang
  3. 4.Fischen
  4. 5.Flip 7
  5. 6.Agent Avenue
  6. 7.Duck & Cover
  7. 8.3 Chapters
  8. 9.Zenith (Kartenspiel)
  9. 10.Der Herr der Ringe: Duell um Mittelerde
2024
🃏 Winner
MischwaldKosch

Grow a forest of trees and animals whose synergies bloom

  1. 0.5 Towers
  2. 0.Drachenhüter
  3. 0.Knarr
  4. 0.Ku-Ka-König
  5. 0.Odin
  6. 0.Passt nicht!
  7. 0.Sides
  8. 2.Trio
  9. 3.Cabanga!
2023
2022
🃏 Winner
ScoutKei Kajino

Tiny card game, huge tension — you can't rearrange your hand.

  1. 2.Jekyll vs. Hyde
  2. 3.7 Wonders: Architects
  3. 4.Top Ten
  4. 5.Baumkronen
  5. 6.Imperium: Klassik
  6. 7.Voll verplant
  7. 8.7Seas
  8. 9.Kings & Creatures
  9. 10.Fort
2021
🃏 Winner
Fantastische ReicheBruce Glassco

Craft the perfect seven-card hand where every combo counts

  1. 2.Die Crew: Mission Tiefsee
  2. 3.Punktesalat
  3. 4.The 7th Continent
  4. 5.Riftforce
  5. 6.Wildes Weltall
  6. 7.The Fox in the Forest
  7. 8.Kompromat
  8. 9.Spirits of the Wild
  9. 10.Spukstaben
2020
🃏 Winner
Die CrewThomas Sing

Cooperative trick-taking with no talking — fifty missions await.

  1. 2.Carnival of Monsters
  2. 3.Res Arcana
  3. 4.Spicy
  4. 5.Buntes Burano
  5. 6.Watergate
  6. 7.Yōkai
  7. 8.Palm Island
  8. 9.Don Carlo
  9. 10.Space Base
2019
🃏 Winner
BelrattiMichael Loth

You defend a museum from art forgeries, except your own honest paintings keep getting accused too.

  1. 2.L.A.M.A.
  2. 3.Just One
  3. 4.Blöde Kuh
  4. 5.Natives
  5. 6.Tippi Toppi
  6. 7.Key Flow
  7. 8.Keyforge: Ruf der Archonten
  8. 9.Piepmatz
  9. 10.Farben
2018
🃏 Winner
Krass KariertKatja Stremmel

Play combos only from adjacent cards in a hand you are never allowed to sort.

  1. 2.Majesty
  2. 3.The Mind
  3. 4.Hanamikoji
  4. 5.Voodoo Prince
  5. 6.Hero Realms
  6. 7.Texas Showdown
  7. 8.Startups
  8. 9.Illusion
  9. 10.The 7th Continent
2017
🃏 Winner
Les PoilusFabien Riffaud / Juan Rodríguez

A hushed cooperative card game where your squad only survives if the whole team empties the deck together.

  1. 2.Fabelsaft
  2. 3.Glück Auf! Kartenspiel
  3. 4.Futschikato
  4. 5.Tempel des Schreckens
  5. 6.Dodelido
  6. 7.Bohnanza: Das Duell
  7. 8.5-Minute Dungeon
  8. 9.Century: Die Gewürzstraße
  9. 10.Mystic Vale
2016
🃏 Winner
7 Wonders: DuelAntoine Bauza / Bruno Cathala

Civilization-building for two — thirty minutes of brilliant tension.

  1. 2.Codenames
  2. 3.Die holde Isolde
  3. 4.Oh My Goods / Royal Goods
  4. 5.Die fiesen 7
  5. 6.Agent Undercover
  6. 7.Die Burgen von Burgund – Das Kartenspiel
  7. 8.Kobayakawa
  8. 9.3 sind eine zu viel
  9. 10.Die Portale von Molthar
2015
🃏 Winner
Machi KoroMasao Suganuma

Roll a die, collect rent from the buildings you own, and race to finish four landmarks.

  1. 2.The Game
  2. 3.Beasty Bar
  3. 4.Auf nach Indien
  4. 5.Evolution
  5. 6.Ugo!
  6. 7.Bad Bunnies
  7. 8.Greed
  8. 9.Jäger und Späher
  9. 10.Stichling
2014
🃏 Winner
AbluxxenWolfgang Kramer / Michael Kiesling

Lay down sets of numbers and knock your neighbours' cards off the table before they do it to you.

  1. 2.Love Letter
  2. 3.Ugo!
  3. 4.Port Royal
  4. 5.Kashgar
  5. 6.Skull King
  6. 7.Parade
  7. 8.SOS Titanic
  8. 9.Fungi
  9. 10.Koryo
2013
🃏 Winner
HanabiAntoine Bauza

Play fireworks cooperatively — you can see everyone's cards except your own.

  1. 2.Augustus
  2. 3.Love Letter
  3. 4.Divinare
  4. 5.Dicht dran
  5. 6.Guildhall
  6. 7.Kniffel: Das Kartenspiel
  7. 8.Asante
  8. 9.Eminent Domain
  9. 10.Android Netrunner
2012
🃏 Winner
TargiAndreas Steiger

Place workers on a desert grid where blocking is as vital as building

  1. 2.Ruhm für Rom
  2. 3.Rapa Nui
  3. 4.The City
  4. 5.Freitag
  5. 6.Die Tore der Welt - Das Kartenspiel
  6. 7.Drecksau
  7. 8.Mogel Motte
  8. 9.Kleine Fotosafari
  9. 10.Bullenparty
2011
🃏 Winner
7 WondersAntoine Bauza

Draft civilization cards simultaneously — seven players, thirty minutes.

  1. 2.Stich-Meister
  2. 3.1655 – Habemus papam
  3. 4.Thunderstone
  4. 5.Die Säulen der Erde - Das Kartenspiel
  5. 6.Haggis
  6. 7.Biblios
  7. 8.Sobek
  8. 9.Gold!
  9. 10.Die Siedler von Catan – Das schnelle Kartenspiel
2010
🃏 Winner
JaipurSébastien Pauchon

Trade goods in a Rajasthan market — timing your sale is everything.

  1. 2.R-Öko
  2. 3.11 nimmt!
  3. 4.Wampum
  4. 5.Drachenherz
  5. 6.Himmel, A... und Zwirn
  6. 7.Mystery Rummy: Edgar Allan Poe
  7. 8.Der Heidelbär
  8. 9.Fzzzt!
  9. 10.Cardcassonne
2009
🃏 Winner
DominionDonald X. Vaccarino

The original deck-builder — build your engine, outpace your rivals.

  1. 2.Byzanz
  2. 3.Dominion – Die Intrige
  3. 4.Mow
  4. 5.Poison
  5. 6.Monopoly Deal
  6. 7.Mystery Rummy: Jack The Ripper
  7. 8.Uruk
  8. 9.Schätzen Sie mal
  9. 10.Circus Maximus
2008
2007
🃏 Winner
Caylus Magna CartaWilliam Attia

Worker placement on a road of cards, where the provost decides whose workers actually pay off.

  1. 2.Zeitalter der Entdeckungen
  2. 3.Vor dem Wind
  3. 4.Kabale und Hiebe
  4. 5.Sitting Ducks
  5. 6.Millionen von Schwalben
  6. 7.Fangfrisch
  7. 8.Anno 1701
  8. 9.Gloria Picktoria
  9. 10.Medici vs. Strozzi
2006
🃏 Winner
Ausgerechnet BuxtehudeBernhard Lach / Uwe Rapp

Place German towns on an imaginary map and bluff your way past anyone who knows better.

  1. 2.Marquis
  2. 3.Nottingham
  3. 4.Pecunia non olet (Spiel)
  4. 5.Euphrat & Tigris: Wettstreit der Könige
  5. 6.Arche Optimix
  6. 7.Wir sind schwanger
  7. 8.Fettnapf
  8. 9.Havoc
  9. 10.Kreuz & Quer
2005
🃏 Winner
JamboRüdiger Dorn

A two-player trading duel where five sharp actions a turn decide who reaches 60 gold first.

  1. 2.Geschenkt … ist noch zu teuer!
  2. 3.Wie ich die Welt sehe
  3. 4.Diamant
  4. 5.Razzia
  5. 6.Boomtown
  6. 7.Schotten-Totten
  7. 8.Gelb gewinnt
  8. 9.Teamwork
  9. 10.Typo
2004
🃏 Winner
San JuanAndreas Seyfarth

Build San Juan using cards as buildings, goods, and currency

  1. 2.Sankt Petersburg
  2. 3.Kakerlakenpoker
  3. 4.Die sieben Siegel
  4. 5.Blue Moon
  5. 6.Zauberschwert und Drachenei
  6. 7.Coyote
  7. 8.Flaschenteufel
  8. 9.Kai Piranja
  9. 10.Mausen
2003
🃏 Winner
ColorettoMichael Schacht

Add cards to rows or take them. Three colors score; a fourth hurts. Pure tension in 20 minutes.

  1. 2.Edel, Stein & Reich
  2. 3.Europa-Tour
  3. 4.Canal Grande
  4. 5.Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
  5. 6.Guillotine
  6. 7.Ballon Cup
  7. 8.Mogul
  8. 9.Fette Autos
  9. 10.Der Herr der Ringe: Das Duell
2002
🃏 Winner
Vom Kap bis KairoGünter Burkhardt

Bid for the ground your railway has to cross, then pay to lay the track.

  1. 2.Fracht Express
  2. 3.Alles im Eimer
  3. 4.Der König der Diebe
  4. 5.Anno Domini: Flopps
  5. 6.Gargon
  6. 7.Kupferkessel Co.
  7. 8.Der Herr der Ringe: Die Gefährten – Das Kartenspiel
  8. 9.Ogalalla
  9. 10.How Ruck
2001
🃏 Winner
MeutererMarcel-André Casasola Merkle

The captain steers, until someone decides the captain shouldn't.

  1. 2.Babel
  2. 3.Land unter
  3. 4.Wyatt Earp
  4. 5.Drachengold
  5. 6.Knatsch
  6. 7.Don
  7. 8.Anno Domini Sport
  8. 9.Au Backe!
  9. 10.Bali
  10. 10.Ebbe & Flut
  11. 10.Limits
2000
🃏 Winner
Ohne Furcht und AdelBruno Faidutti

The original hidden-role city builder: draft characters, bluff opponents, build your medieval district.

  1. 2.Zoff im Zoo
  2. 3.Formel Fun
  3. 4.Volltreffer
  4. 5.Space Beans
  5. 6.Port Royal
  6. 7.Alles für die Katz
  7. 8.König der Elfen
  8. 8.Schweinsgalopp
  9. 10.Sabuca
1999
🃏 Winner
VerräterMarcel-André Casasola Merkle

Back a faction, then betray it at the perfect moment.

  1. 2.Mamma Mia!
  2. 3.Anno Domini
  3. 4.Lost Cities
  4. 5.Mit List und Tücke
  5. 6.Kahuna
  6. 7.Tichu
  7. 8.Klunker
  8. 9.Hornochsen
  9. 10.Money
1998
🃏 Winner
Caesar & CleopatraWolfgang Lüdtke

A two-player bribery duel over the Roman Senate, with half the cards face down.

  1. 2.David & Goliath
  2. 3.Canyon
  3. 4.Schnäppchenjagd
  4. 5.Res Publica
  5. 5.Twilight
  6. 7.Finale
  7. 8.Family Business
  8. 8.Stimmt So!
  9. 10.Dumm gelaufen!
1997
🃏 Winner
BohnanzaUwe Rosenberg

Plant and trade beans with a fixed hand order. The negotiations are the game.

  1. 2.Die Siedler von Catan – Das Kartenspiel
  2. 3.Showmanager
  3. 4.Zum Kuckuck
  4. 5.Manitou
  5. 6.… und Tschüss!
  6. 7.Njet!
  7. 8.X-Pasch
  8. 9.Mini Inkognito
  9. 10.Daumen Drauf
  10. 10.Mythos
1996
🃏 Winner
Mü & mehrDoris Matthäus / Frank Nestel

A trick-taking game where winning too much is just as bad as losing.

  1. 2.Reibach & Co
  2. 3.Speed
  3. 4.Flaschenteufel
  4. 5.Campanile
  5. 6.Olé
  6. 7.Kuhhandel
  7. 8.Mus
  8. 9.Koalition
  9. 10.Das Grosse und das kleine A
  10. 10.Hol’s der Geier
  11. 10.Magic: Ice Age
1995
🃏 Winner
Magic: The GatheringRichard Garfield u. a.

Build decks from an infinite library and duel with spells and creatures

  1. 2.Hattrick
  2. 3.High Society
  3. 4.Set!
  4. 5.Phantoms of the Ice
  5. 6.Tschach
  6. 7.Phase 10
  7. 8.Paparazzo
  8. 9.Volle Lotte
  9. 10.Condottiere
1994
🃏 Winner
6 nimmt!Wolfgang Kramer

Play cards simultaneously and pray you're not the sixth — or take the penalties.

  1. 2.Was sticht?
  2. 3.Sherlock Holmes
  3. 4.Flinke Pinke
  4. 5.Das Hornberger Schießen
  5. 6.Olympia 2000 v. Chr.
  6. 7.Freight Train
  7. 7.Oskar
  8. 7.Zwickern
  9. 10.Hexenstich
1993
🃏 Winner
StichelnKlaus Palesch

Pick the colour that will hurt you, then dodge it for the rest of the hand.

  1. 2.Attacke
  2. 3.En Garde
  3. 4.Banana Republic
  4. 5.Wucherer
  5. 6.Stamp
  6. 7.König Artus’ Tafelrunde
  7. 7.Soldateska
  8. 9.Hallo Pauker!
  9. 10.Marlowe
  10. 10.Otto und Bruno
1992
🃏 Winner
PiratReiner Knizia

Pile pirates onto a treasure ship and hope nobody outguns you before it sails.

  1. 2.Das Super-Blatt
  2. 3.Tichu
  3. 4.Koalition
  4. 5.Schraumeln
  5. 6.Razzia
  6. 7.Trumpet
  7. 8.U.F.O.s
  8. 9.Asterix – Das Kartenspiel
  9. 10.Der wahre Walter
1991
🃏 Winner
Res PublicaReiner Knizia

Everyone trades with everyone, and every offer tells you something.

  1. 2.Die Bosse
  2. 3.Tutti Frutti
  3. 4.Musketiere

How the awards work

Winner:
Chosen by the jury as the year's best game (Deutscher Spielepreis: #1 of the public vote).
Nominated:
A finalist — one of three games on the jury's official shortlist.
Recommended:
Additionally recommended by the jury — excellent, but not in the final three.
Rank 2–10:
Public ranking: retailers and avid gamers vote (Deutscher Spielepreis, À la carte).

Spiel des Jahres, Kennerspiel and Kinderspiel are awarded by an independent critics jury (Spiel des Jahres e.V.). The Deutscher Spielepreis is a public vote, À la carte is run by Fairplay magazine, Graf Ludo honours game artwork.