Berlin, May 20, 2025 - Once again this year, the announcement of the Game of the Year nominations was cause for celebration at Schmidt Spiele. With the nomination of Topp die Torte for Children's Game of the Year and the inclusion of HiLo® - Dein Königreich on the children's game recommendation list, two publisher titles are included in the jury's evaluation for Game of the Year, the most important award in the games sector.
Topp die Torte nominated for "Children's Game of the Year 2025"
A total of six games were recommended by the jury in the children's game category, two of which were published in Berlin and one of which was nominated for the final award: The exciting placement game "Topp die Torte!" brings two to four players aged six and up into the world of cake baking. Round after round, the players build up their own cake. Each cake layer has different fillings - and the aim is to create matching layers of the same color. Each person always has two cake pieces at their disposal. A good sense of proportion is helpful when deciding which cake piece to place, as it is not possible to try out a piece beforehand. As soon as a piece of cake is placed, check which fillings, indicated by colored stripes, are connected to the previous layer, which yields valuable sugar cubes. The bakers collect these with great zeal and distribute them as sensibly as possible among their storage jars. Each full jar earns points chips, which help to win the game at the end. After seven rounds, the game is over and the winning stars and golden sugar cubes turn the scoring round into an exciting cake-to-cake race. Who will top the others with their cake?
Type: Placement game | Brand: Schmidt Spiele® | Number of players: 2-4 | Age: 6+ | Time: approx. 20 minutes | Price: 27.99 euros (RRP)
On the recommendation list: HiLo® - Your Kingdom
Schmidt Spiele's new version of the popular card game HiLo® has made it onto the list of recommendations. Two to four players aged six and up are invited into a fantasy world full of colorful characters and magical creatures. Similar to the original version, players try to optimize their deck turn by turn by cleverly drawing, swapping and replacing tiles. At the beginning, each person receives twelve cards face down and lays them out in front of them in two rows, one on top of the other. A face-down draw pile and a face-up discard pile are also placed in the middle of the table. On each turn, you have to decide which pile to draw from and which card from your own display to give away or turn over. Depending on the choice and card illustration, players must repeatedly reveal parts of their own deck. And if a mage appears, two cards from different kingdoms even swap places. In this way, the card displays change with each round - until the last card of a person is revealed and the game is over. Only the player who keeps an overview and combines their cards in such a way that at the end as many complete star talers as possible are gathered in their own kingdom wins.
The publisher's spring novelty "HiLo® - Your Kingdom" offers a quick introduction to the game and promises entertaining card fun for children and adults.
Type: Card game | Brand: Schmidt Spiele® | Number of players: 2-4 | Age: 6 years and up | Time: approx. 15 minutes | Price: 14.99 euros (RRP)
In the announcement, Harald Schrapers and Christoph Schlewinski discuss the topic of variants again separately and Schlewinski emphasizes that the achievement of creating a variant from an existing game is no less complex than creating a completely new game. The process of breaking a game down into its individual parts and seeing which components can be implemented for children and creating a child-friendly variant is also an achievement to which one takes one's hat off.
Schmidt Spiele is now looking forward to everyone keeping their fingers crossed for Topp die Torte and to the award ceremony on July 13, 2025 at 6 p.m. in Berlin.