All "À la carte🇩🇪 2004" game award winners & nominees in comparison 2026

Cockroach Poker is a lighthearted and engaging card game focused on bluffing and reverse set collection. It features various critters like cockroaches, rats, and stink bugs, and the aim is to trick others into collecting these undesirable creatures.

Coyote is a simple bluffing game set in a Western environment. Each player receives a card tied to their forehead that shows a number of hidden Indians or a special value, which they cannot see but everyone else can. The goal is to guess the number of Indians displayed on the cards, with increasing numbers declared each round. Special cards add surprises to each round, and players must remember they never know which card is on their forehead.

San Juan is a captivating card game that is inspired by the highly acclaimed board game, Puerto Rico. It is a game of strategy and resource management, set against the backdrop of the historic city of San Juan.

Saint Petersburg is a strategic card game that transports players to the early days of the famous Russian city. The game revolves around building the most impressive version of Saint Petersburg by acquiring various cards representing craftsmen, buildings, and aristocrats.

Gameplay involves players following the usual trick-taking rules, where cards numbered from 1-15 in five colors are played, with blue as the trump color. Players predict their tricks using colored chips, and failing to cover a trick results in penalties. There is also a Sluffer role that aims to burden opponents with unwanted tricks, potentially reducing their scores while allowing the Sluffer to manipulate the game dynamics.

The Bottle Imp is a unique trick-taking card game inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's short story. The game blends traditional trick-taking mechanics with a novel twist on how trump cards are determined, creating a dynamic and strategic experience. Played over several hands aiming for a set point total, usually 200 points, the game involves cards numbered 1-37 in three colors, representing different ranges of numerical value. The game's objective is to score the most points, but with the catch that the player left holding the "bottle" scores negative points for that hand.

In the card game, players strive to collect as many valuable animals as possible by chasing them from the table into their hand. Each player starts with a hand of sixteen cards, featuring four each of elephant, dog, cat, and mouse, with values ranging from 1 to 4. Players choose and reveal a card simultaneously, determining outcomes through a "rock-paper-scissors" format that dictates which animals chase which. At the end of all rounds, players tally the values of their collected animals to determine the winner.

Blue Moon is a unique card game for two players, designed by Reiner Knizia, which stands out in the realm of strategy card games for its distinctive mechanics and setting. It differs significantly from games like Magic: The Gathering, primarily in that it is not a collectible card game (CCG) but rather a precursor to what is now known as a Living Card Game (LCG), with no random cards in its expansions.

This card game features fish that eat other fish. Players draw cards depicting different species and sizes of fish, from hungry to full. They lay out cards in rows, and hungry fish eat everything until they encounter a matching fish. A fish does not eat its own kind but instead becomes a fat fish. Players can take a fat fish from the table once they have drawn three matching cards. At the end of the round, players score points based on the number of fish they have caught.

Players must defeat creatures to collect power stones and win the game. They have access to spells, artifacts, and herbs to help them conquer these creatures.