Magic Keys
A rule that fits in one gesture: trying a key in a lock. Kinderspiel des Jahres 2024.
2022 · Happy Baobab · Art direction, illustration
Context
A game by Markus Slawitscheck and Arno Steinwender, published by Happy Baobab, then by Game Factory in Germany, Blackrock in France, Megableu in the Benelux and Gémklub in Hungary. In an enchanted forest, players gather keys. Only one opens the chest.
What was at stake
An audience that cannot read yet, across several markets. From age six, everything has to go through the components: the keys, the lock and the chest say on their own what to do, and the first game is played without explanation, in any language.
The work
Art direction and illustration, with Camillia Peyroux. For the new edition, manufacturing costs had to come down without touching the moulded keys. What first looked impossible was solved by rethinking the box and the size of the path.
Results
A promise made in Nuremberg: to bring a Spiel des Jahres award home to a Korean publisher. It was kept in 2024 with the Kinderspiel des Jahres and, the same year, the Deutscher Spielepreis for best children’s game and the Lys Children award in Quebec. The game had already been an official selection at the 2022 International Design Awards.