Azul and Terraforming Mars win big as games of the year at As d’Or awards

The As d’Or awards – France’s answer to the Spiel des Jahres – have named their games of the year.

Picking up the main prize was stunning tile-layer Azul, which walked away with the overall title of the ‘Golden Ace’ Game of the Year, seeing off competition from nominees Dice Forge, Twin It! and the game with arguably the best home advantage, Flamme Rouge.

The expert As d’Or category – the equivalent to the Kennerspiel des Jahres – was won by Jacob Fryxelius’ lauded Red Planet simulation Terraforming Mars, beating equally incredible runners-up Great Western Trail and Arkham Horror: The Card Game.

Finally, the children’s category was topped by the delightful Outfoxed!, a clue-gathering game where players try to work out who took Mrs. Plumpert’s delicious pot pie by ruling out suspects using an evidence scanner. In joint second were Kullerhexe (which was also Recommended by the Kinderspiel des Jahres) and Boom, Bang, Gold, a frantic timed dexterity game about lobbing dynamite and grabbing gold.

The latest in the long-running awards were handed out at the Festival International des Jeux held in Cannes and follow last year’s winners: Unlock!, Scythe and Go Cuckoo!