STAK GAME DECLARED FINALIST FOR COVETED SPIELWARENMESSE® TOY AWARD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
STAK GAME DECLARED FINALIST FOR COVETED SPIELWARENMESSE® TOY AWARD
Selected for Originality, Play Enjoyment, Product Comprehensibility, Potential for Success in Shops
Nuremberg, Germany | January 29, 2029 – Today, Spielwarenmesse® presented final nominees for ToyAward 2025. This highly respected prize is awarded every year by the team managing the world’s leading industry event to outstanding innovations whose creative product ideas and high production values set new standards – innovations with high potential for success.
STAK, the new abstract strategy game by Storyastic, is one of only three finalists in the Startup category, and one of only 18 final nominated products in the entire 2025 Spielwarenmesse Toy Awards.
In total, 629 new products were submitted from all around the world. All submissions underwent a preliminary assessment in which an expert jury narrowed down the selection by evaluating all the innovations on the criteria of originality, play enjoyment, comprehensibility of the product concept and potential for success in the shops. Further criteria of safety, workmanship and product quality were also evaluated. Finally, at a joint meeting in Nuremberg, members of the jury each nominated three new products in the categories Baby & Infant (0-3 years), PreSchool (3-6 years), SchoolKids (6-10 years), Teenagers & Adults (10+ years), Startup and Sustainability.
“Spielwarenmesse ToyAwards are The Oscars of the toy world, where we find out the best of the best in the toy industry,” said ToyAwards ceremony host Frederick Wettey. “The Startup category is where the growth starts and where we are celebrating bold new ideas and innovators.” “Startups are the lifeblood of the toy industry,” added Andrew Dobbie, Jury member and Managing Director of Gameplan Europe.
Refering to STAK’s elegant design and high-quality hardwood components, one player of the game said “We opened up STAK and never put it back in the box––it works as a piece of art on display, and the beautiful colored pieces seem to constantly call out asking to be played with.”
“We are astounded by this absolutely amazing honor,” said Chip Brown, inventor and designer/developer of STAK, and founder of Storyastic LLC. “It is such a privilege to develop toys and games that help people engage with one another in the real world, and to have our efforts validated by such a well-accomplished, well-respected group of industry professionals is honestly quite surreal, and fun!”
Celebrating it’s 74th year, Spielwarenmesse® is the world's leading event for the Toy Industry and the most significant industry gathering worldwide, with 2,362 exhibitors from 71 countries presenting impressive products, strategies and visions to decision-makers from the trade, in 175,000 square meters of 12 massive, conjoined convention halls located in Nuremberg, Germany.
The highly respected ToyAward prize is awarded every year by the team managing the leading industry event to outstanding innovators whose creative product ideas and high production values set new standards – innovations with high potential for success.
The jury said about STAK, “Strategy and spatial awareness are required in STAK from Storyastic. Based on the classic game Tic Tac Toe, the aim of the game is to form a line with your own blocks. However, pieces of different sizes can be stacked on top of your opponent’s pieces, blocking their move. Winning is therefore not so easy, and the third dimension offers endless puzzle fun.”
The international jury consists of 14 experts from the fields of retail, industry, market research, sustainability, toy safety and education, from countries including Germany (6), USA (3), France, UK, Ireland, Sweden, and South Korea.
Further information on the innovation prize, jury members and past prizewinners is available on the website www.toyaward.de. A PDF list of the three finalist nominees in 6 categories is at this link.
Images and video are available at this link.
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About Storyastic www.storyastic.com
Storyastic cultivates meaningful human connection in the age of tech and screen time through the creation of fun, interactive experiences and tools simple enough for everyone to play. Founded by Dana Brown, former Lead Designer at Walt Disney Imagineering and Chip Brown, former producer at Walt Disney Studios and publisher for HarperCollins, Storyastic is an imaginative toy, game, and entertainment company whose debut product THE RANK GAME was named Favorite Pick by American Specialty Toy Retailers Association at Toy Fair NY, and has since won many awards. Last year, Storyastic’s Razor Deck playing cards was a finalist for Toy-of-the-Year at Toy Fair NY, the largest toy and game convention in the Western Hemisphere.
About Spielwarenmesse® www.spielwarenmesse.de/en/press-kit/
The world's leading event for the sector – that’s the Spielwarenmesse®. At this B2B event, key players as well as startups present their innovations and trends to retailers from all over the globe, live in Nuremberg. Alongside the extensive range of products, participants also gain a wealth of inspiration for day-to-day business together with valuable knowledge and useful guidance on the market, at what is for them the most significant industry gathering. The event is complemented by year-round coverage of themes, analyses and insights from the multifunctional platform
Spielwarenmesse® Digital and the e-journal ‘Spirit of Play’. Since 2013, the term Spielwarenmesse® has been a protected word mark in Germany.
CONTACT: Chip Brown, +1 (310) 497-7400, chip@storyastic.com
