German Mensa has revealed the nominees for the 2026 MinD Spielepreis, and this year marks a significant shift. For the first time, the expert games category takes centre stage as the headline award. As organiser Jochen Tierbach explained to BoardGameWire, "There are already various awards for family and connoisseur games, but for expert games, there is no such thing in Germany yet."
The six expert game nominees are Galactic Cruise, Luthier, Shackleton Base: A Journey to the Moon, Speakeasy, Thebai, and Thesauros. All were released in Germany since Spiel Essen last October.
Two nominees are already turning heads internationally. Galactic Cruise, designed by T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, and Koltin Thompson (originally published by Kinson Key Games, German edition by PD Verlag), sits at an impressive 8.4 on BGG. Players build luxury space cruise lines, managing ships, staff, and wealthy passengers through a combination of worker placement and a worker-retrieval mechanism that rewards long-term planning. Luthier, by Dave Beck and Abe Burson (originally Paverson Games, German edition by Funtails), carries a BGG rating of 8.0 and puts players in the role of instrument makers equipping musicians across the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods.
The award also features shorter game and two-player categories this year, with 13 more nominees between them. Highlights include Krakel Orakel (a 2025 Spiel des Jahres nominee) in the short games list and Bruno Cathala's Kamon among the two-player contenders.
The winner will be announced on 10 November 2026, succeeding SETI in 2025 and Nucleum in 2024. For gamers hunting their next heavy euro, this shortlist is a solid shopping list.
Sources: BoardGameWire | Spielbox | BGG - Galactic Cruise | BGG - Luthier
