The 2018 Board Games Australia Best International Game goes to Rhino Hero, designed by Scott Frisco and Steven Strumpf, with art by Thies Schwarz and published by HABA
Rhino Hero: Super Battle provides families with super hero action as each player’s super hero competes to stand the highest on towers built by players as the game progresses.
Promoting dexterity and decision making, Rhino Hero: Super Battle sees you placing folded cards as walls and long and short cards as floors of the towers. As players climb up the tower, they may find themselves on the same level as each other and will need to have a super battle to see which one stays and which one must go back down.
Unlike a lot of stacking games, when the tower falls there’s a winner who will be the one who reached the heighest point on the tower (and thus was holding the medal).
The 2018 Boardgames Australia Best Children’s Game Short List
20 August, 2018: Boardgames Australia has announced the short list for its 2018 Best Children’s Game award.
The awards are open to stand-alone board games which were first made available (in English) to Australian retailers between 1 January 2017 to 31 May 2018 and are currently available in at least two Australian retailers.
Additionally, for the Best Children’s Games award, the game should be designed to be playable by children under the age of 8.
For the full details of each award, including the eligibility and judging criteria, as well as the submission form itself, please see the Best Children’s Game Award Submission Pack
In alphabetical order, the short listed games for the 2018 Best Children’s Game award are:
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MemoArrr!
Designed by Carlo Bortolini Players take turns to flip cards in this memory game. If the background or foreground of the flipped card matches the previous card flipped, then the player is still in, otherwise they’re out of the round. Once only one player is still in, they get the treasure. After 7 rounds, the player with the most valuable treasure wins in this 2-4 player game. Promoting memory, the publisher recommends that it is for ages 8+, however it is very playable for ages 6+ and retails for around $25.
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Rhino Hero: Super Battle
Designed by Scott Frisco, Steven Strumpf In Rhino Hero: Super Battle, players build skyscrapers for their hero to climb. But the evil monkeys are always hanging around. Who will reach the greatest height before the skyscraper tumbles in this dexterity based brawl for 2-4 players. Promoting dexterity and decision making, this game is recommended for ages 5+ and retails for around $50. |
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Sparkle Kitty
Designed by Manny Vega You are princesses that have been trapped in cursed towers. To save yourself you’ll need to play (and read aloud) cards from your hand to the spell book, matching the symbol or colour of a card on the spell book. Once a player has played all the cards in their hand, they’ll take a card from their tower and draw back up. Once a player has taken all of their tower cards, they have escaped and won in this 3-8 player game. Sparkle Kitty promotes reading in a fun way, is recommended for ages 6+ and retails for around $30. |
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Tiny Park
Designed by Marco Teubner In this 2-4 player game, players will roll dice to attempt to match the icons on one of the tiles on offer. If they succeed, they’ll add the tile to their park. The first player to completely fill their park is declared the winner. Tiny Park promotes pattern matching and probability, is recommended for ages 5+ and retails for around $20. |
The 2018 Boardgames Australia Best Children’s Game Judging Panel consists of:
- Lachlan Albert
- Evan Francis
- David Gove
- Simon Holding
- Amanda Holmes
- Jamie Lawrence
- Ben Tinney
- Mathew Utting
About the Boardgames Australia Awards
Since 2008, Boardgames Australia has given awards to the best games in three categories, Best Australian Game, Best International Game and Best Children’s Game.
Each award is judged by a panel made up of judges from a variety of backgrounds and Australian cities. Games are judged on a variety of criteria, with a focus on games that can be played by the whole family.
The winners of the 2017 awards were:
- Best Australian Game: Imhotep by Phil Walker-Harding
- Best International Game: Oceanus by Antoine Bauza
- Best Children’s Game: Ticket To Ride by Alan R. Moon
About Boardgames Australia
Boardgames Australia is a non-profit organisation founded in 2007 to stimulate the growth and raise the profile of boardgaming in Australia.
We also aim to
- increase sales of quality boardgames in Australia and increase the penetration of quality boardgames in retail outlets across Australia.
- encourage the development of the boardgame industry in Australia, from game design & development, through publishing and sales.
- promote boardgaming as a way to bring friends and families together to share each other’s company and produce stronger and more resilient families.