Azul becomes first game since Dominion to win both Deutscher Spielepreis and Spiel des Jahres

Azul has continued its awards sweep with yet another impressive win.

Michael Kiesling’s colourful tile-laying gem has been crowned as the winner of this year’s player-voted Deutscher Spielepreis, beating games such as Gaia Project, Clans of Caledonia, Pandemic Legacy: Season Two and The Mind to the top spot.

What’s especially impressive about the feat – Azul’s latest in a long list of accolades that include the As d’Or Game of the Year prize and Origins Award for Best Family Game of the Year – is that it makes Azul the first game in nearly a decade to win both the jury-voted Spiel des Jahres (‘Game of the Year’) and the publicly-decided Deutscher Spielepreis (‘German Games Prize’).

The last game to do the double was deckbuilder Dominion in 2009, although several games, such as 7 Wonders in 2011 and 2012’s Village, have collected the Deutscher Spielepreis alongside the ‘Expert Game of the Year’ Kennerspiel des Jahres in the time since – maybe hinting at the more family-friendly preferences of the Spiel des Jahres jury, as well as Azul’s seemingly widespread appeal.

The Deutscher Spielepreis’ ‘German Children’s Game Prize’, meanwhile, went to Carlo Bortolini for memory card game Memoarrr!

This year’s Deutscher Spielepreis wasn’t without controversy, however, as voting was cut short and almost a week’s worth of votes were voided after YouTuber Stephan Gust offered a free exclusive promo card for Clank! to fans in exchange for votes for the deckbuilding game, as the result of a partnership with the German publisher of the game.

Deutscher Spielepreis organiser Friedhelm Merz Verlag derided the offer as a “clear manipulation attempt” and commented that Clank! may have placed a rank higher as the result of the video if left unaddressed, leading to it disregarding all votes placed on and after the date that Gust’s video was posted.

The full results of 2018’s Deutscher Spielepreis are as follows:

1. Azul
2. Gaia Project
3. Rajas of the Ganges
4. Clans of Caledonia
5. Heaven & Ale
6. Pandemic Legacy: Season Two
7. Clank!
8. The Quackers of Quedlinburg
9. The Mind
10. Altiplano