SPIEL Essen 2026 ended on Sunday, October 25, 2026, with a record 230,000 visitors and 2,012 new releases, and the games that defined the show were German Games Prize winner Artengarten (published in English as Sanctuary), Fairplay scout favorites Minikin City and Vantage, and buzz leader Queen Alice.
Last updated: Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
What won the German Games Prize at SPIEL Essen 2026?
Artengarten, published in English as Sanctuary, won the German Games Prize (Deutscher Spiele Preis) 2026, ahead of Boss Fighters QR in second and Galactic Cruise in third.
The prize is a community vote across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, announced Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at the SPIEL press conference; Artengarten is a tile-laying spin-off of Ark Nova by Mathias Wigge from Feuerland Spiele; the Best Children’s Game winner was Toriki by Wojciech Grajkowski.
| Rank | Game | Designer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Artengarten (Sanctuary) | Mathias Wigge |
| 2 | Boss Fighters QR | Michael Palm and Lukas Zach |
| 3 | Galactic Cruise | T.K. King, Dennis Northcott and Koltin Thompson |
| 4 | The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship | Matt Leacock |
| 5 | Take Time | Alexi Piovesan and Julien Prethiere |
| 6 | Rebirth | Reiner Knizia |
| 7 | Cozy Stickerville | Corey Konieczka |
| 8 | River of Gold | Keith Piggott |
| 9 | Star Trek: Captain’s Chair | David Turczi and Nigel Buckle |
| 10 | Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor |
The top three publishers are Feuerland Spiele, Pegasus Spiele and PD-Verlag.
Which games did visitors rate highest at the fair?
Fairplay magazine’s scout poll, where visitors play and rate new releases out of five, had Minikin City leading the family list and Vantage leading the expert list, both at 4.4 out of five in the standings reported during the fair.
| List | Game | Visitor score |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Minikin City | 4.4 |
| Family | Under the Leaves | 4.3 |
| Family | Fadenfroh | 4.2 |
| Family | Space Lab | 4.2 |
| Expert | Vantage | 4.4 |
| Expert | Tea & Rum | 4.3 |
| Expert | Forest Shuffle: Smoky Mountains | 4.3 |
| Expert | Greenwood | 4.2 |
| Expert | Entropy | 4.2 |
Minikin City is a 30-minute card game for 2 to 5 players from Simone Luciani and Matthieu Verdier, published by Cranio Creations, where every card works twice, for its color and value in each round and for its icons at game end.
Vantage is Jamey Stegmaier’s open-world cooperative adventure from Stonemaier Games, shown at the fair in Feuerland’s German edition, where players are scattered across a planet they see only through their own cards.
Which games created the biggest buzz at SPIEL Essen 2026?
Queen Alice, Avalon: The Riven Veil and -60° generated the biggest buzz of the show.
Queen Alice (Combo Games, by Héctor Carrión Benavent and David Heras Pino) topped our pre-show list of the most anticipated games and was called the darling of the show in No Pun Included’s hottest games roundup; Avalon: The Riven Veil (Shadowborne Games) and the Cold War area-control game -60° (Nanox Games, by Alexander Pfister and Peter Prinz) were the other two major buzz games.
Wargamer’s best-of-show roundup picked quieter gems instead: Mole Racing, Kinsokuchi, and the horror TCG Hellbreak.
What were the final numbers for SPIEL Essen 2026?
The fair drew a record 230,000 visitors and sold out on all four days, with 997 exhibitors from 53 countries showing 2,012 new releases.
The next SPIEL Essen runs October 21 to 24, 2027, as listed in our Board Game Conventions 2027 guide.
Frequently asked questions
What was the best game at SPIEL Essen 2026?
By the award vote, Artengarten (Sanctuary); by floor buzz, Queen Alice.
How many new games launched at SPIEL Essen 2026?
2,012 new releases, per the organizers’ closing release.
When is SPIEL Essen 2027?
October 21 to 24, 2027, at Messe Essen.
Sources: SPIEL Essen and Merz Verlag closing release; Opinionated Gamers and Backseat Gamer (German Games Prize top 10); Backseat Gamer reporting Fairplay’s scout standings; Knavecon reporting No Pun Included’s roundup; Wargamer best-of-show roundup.
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