Harmonies, Captain Flip triumph in this year’s Swiss Gamers Award, Castle Combo seals two finalist spots
Nature-themed tile-laying game Harmonies has picked up its second award win of the month after being voted the best game in this year’s Swiss Gamers Award.
Harmonies outdid Castle Combo and Bomb Busters to seal top spot in the 2024 contest, which is voted on by members of board game clubs, game and toy libraries and gaming associations across Switzerland.
Captain Flip was victorious in the Family award this year, finishing ahead of second-placed Odin and third-placed Castle Combo, which managed to secure top three finishes in both categories.
Harmonies’ win comes two weeks after the game sealed a convincing win in the Best Regular Game category of this year’s BoardGameArena awards, with almost 45% of the vote.
The game, published by Asmodee studio Libellud, has picked up praise since its 2024 release for its beautiful art style, its strategic options despite a low barrier to entry, and its quick play time.
Last year Harmonies was recommended by the Spiel des Jahres jury, and Asmodee’s now CEO Thomas Koegler specifically highlighted the game as having had a strong launch when speaking in a Q&A about the company’s quarterly results last August.
Castle Combo and Captain Flip also recently scored success in the BoardGameArena awards, with the former winning Best Casual Game with 35.6% of the vote, just ahead of Captain Flip’s 34.6%.
The Swiss Gamers Award has been held every year since 2010, following the demise of the Schweizer Spielepreis in 2006.
Although the award is given by gamers living in Switzerland, all games published in the prior year can be nominated, regardless of the nationality of their authors and publishers.
Faraway was the winner of last year’s Swiss Gamers Award, while the far more heavyweight Ark Nova triumphed in 2022 and mid-weight euro The Lost Ruins of Arnak won in 2021.
The award is organised by Ludesco, Switzerland’s biggest board game festival, in partnership with the Swiss Federation of Toy Libraries and the Swiss Game Museum.
Swiss Gamers Award Results 2024
1st Place – Harmonies
Author : Johan Benvenuto
Publisher: Libellud
2nd Place – Castle Combo
Author : Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel
Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
3rd Place – Bomb Busters
Author : Hisashi Hayashi
Publisher: Cocktail Games, Pegasus Spiele
Family Award 2024
1st Place – Captain Flip
Authors : Remo Conzadori, Paolo Mori
Publisher: PlayPunk
2nd Place – Odin
Authors : Yohan Goh, Hope S. Hwang, Gary Kim
Publisher: Helvetiq
3rd Place – Castle Combo
Authors : Grégory Grard, Mathieu Roussel
Publisher: GateOnGames
