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Burg Appenzell (Castle of Appenzell) is a clever children's game from Zoch in which you scurry through a winding cheese castle as mice and collect pieces of cheese. It won the German Children's Game Prize in 2007 and was nominated for Kinderspiel des Jahres – a classic that the 2022 reissue has put back on the shelves.

How it plays

The castle has a false floor: beneath sliding roof tiles lie corridors with hidden cheese types. With four action points per turn you bring new mice into play, reveal corridors, run through the maze or push a roof row along – reshaping the castle beneath everyone's mice. When two of your mice stand on matching cheese, you take a piece. The first player to collect four different cheeses wins.

Who is it for?

Families with children aged 6 and up looking for a game with a genuine wow factor: the sliding mechanism produces surprises but also rewards a little memory and planning. Two to four players, about 30 minutes.