Hexagames
{{Short description|Defunct board game company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Hexagames
| logo =
| logo_size =
| industry = Board games
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1982}}
| defunct = {{End date|1992}}
| hq_location = Dreieich, Germany
| key_people = {{unbulleted list|Langden Hensley|Jürgen Hagedorn|Joe Nikisch}}
| products =
}}
Hexagames was a German game publisher in Dreieich, which existed from 1982 to 1992.{{Cite web |title=DPMAregister {{!}} Marken - Registerauskunft |url=https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/1042478/DE |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=register.dpma.de}} It was one of the most famous German game publishers of the 1980s, notable for publishing games such as Lines of Action (1988) and Cosmic Encounter (1992).
History
Hexagames was created by Langden Hensley, with the trademark being registered by the German Patent and Trademark Office in late 1982. In 1982, he and Jürgen Hagedorn released the game Long Short, developed by Hensley.{{Cite web |date=2007-05-17 |title=Die Hexagames-Story |url=https://www.fairplay-online.de/2007/05/die-hexagames-story.html |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=www.fairplay-online.de}}
After the game publisher Bütehorn went bankrupt around 1982, Hexagames included several of their games in its program.{{Cite web |title=Infos zu 'Hexagames / TST-Enterprises' |url=https://luding.org/Skripte/PublisherData.py/DEpublisherid/3 |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=luding.org}}{{Cite journal |date=February 1985 |title=Le Retoir de Seti |url=https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-31/page/12/mode/2up |journal=Jeux & Strategie |issue=31 |pages=13 |via=archive.org}} Hagedorn retired from Hexagames in 1988. Joe Nikisch, the founder of the board game company {{ill|Abacusspiele|de}}, was responsible for the product range of Hexagames as product manager beginning in 1986.{{Cite web |date=2010-10-23 |title=Abacus Spiele |url=http://www.spielarchiv.de/websites/labels/abacus.htm |access-date=2022-11-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101023084109/http://www.spielarchiv.de/websites/labels/abacus.htm |archive-date=2010-10-23 }}{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Brian |date=October 1988 |title=McMulti |url=https://archive.org/details/GamesInternational/GI_01_Oct_1988/page/n11/mode/2up |journal=Games International |issue=1 |pages=13 |via=archive.org}}{{Cite book |last=Wittig |first=Reinhold |url=https://archive.org/details/reinholdwittigss0000unse/mode/2up |title=Spielecollection No. 1 Spiele zur Schatzinsel |publisher=München Hugendubel |year=1988 |isbn=9783880343559 |pages=142–144 |language=en}} After the dissolution of Hexagames in 1992, the Berlin games manufacturer Sala took over some of the games under the Salagames label.{{Cite journal |last=Rühle |first=Rudolf |date=2003 |title=Vom Luxus zum Dumping |journal=Spielbox |volume=5 |pages=40–41}} Salagames also disappeared from the market after about two years and in 1994 some Hexagames games were republished by Abacusspiele.
In 1994, Hensley lost the "Hexagames" trademark, which was re-registered by the publishers "BOB Marketing & Sales GmbH" in Langen.{{Cite web |title=DPMAregister {{!}} Marken - Registerauskunft |url=https://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/marke/register/2074696/DE |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=register.dpma.de}} Some Hexagames games were later published by other publishers: Osiris (1995),{{Cite web |title=Infos zu Osiris |url=https://luding.org/cgi-bin/GameData.py/DEgameid/1615 |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=luding.org}} and Karriere Poker (1996).{{Cite web |title=Infos zu Karrierepoker |url=https://luding.org/cgi-bin/GameData.py/DEgameid/2522 |access-date=2022-11-30 |website=luding.org}}
Awards
Several Hexagames games received various awards or been nominated for Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year):
- Spiel des Jahres
- 1987: The 1st Million by Sid Sackson (nominated)
- 1988: Lines of Action by Claude Soucie (nominated)
- 1989: Uisge (1984) by {{ill|Roland Siegers|de}} (special award for "Most Beautiful Game"){{Cite journal |last=Gros |first=Pascal |date=April 1989 |title=L'originalité comme leimotiv |url=https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-57/page/10/mode/2up? |journal=Jeux & Stratégie |issue=57 |pages=11 |via=archive.org}}{{Cite journal |last=Depaulis |first=Thierry |date=December 1986 |title=Uisge |url=https://archive.org/details/jeux-et-strategie-42/page/n19/mode/2up |journal=Jeux & Stratégie |issue=42 |pages=17 |via=archive.org}}
- 1989: Abilene (1985) by Roland Siegers (nominated)
- 1990: Dino by Reinhold Wittig (nominated){{Cite web |title=Dino |url=https://www.spiel-des-jahres.de/en/spiele/dino/ |access-date=2022-12-19 |website=Spiel des Jahres |language=en-US}}
- Deutscher Spiele Preis
- 1990: Römer by Rudolf Ross (7th place)
- 1992: Cosmic Encounter by Bill Eberle, Peter Olotka, Jack Kittredge, and Bill Norton (6th place)
- {{ill|Á la Carte (game award)|lt=Á la Carte Card Game Prize|de|À-la-carte-Kartenspielpreis}}
- 1992: Res Publica by Reiner Knizia (1st place)
- 1992: Musketeers by Franz Josef Lamminger (4th place)
Other notable games
- Conquest by Donald Benge (1984)
- Black Monday (1988)
- Karrierepoker by Klaus Grähnke and Brian Walker (1988){{Cite journal |last=Moon |first=Alan |date=December 1989 |title=Christmas Games |url=https://archive.org/details/GamesInternational/GI_11_Dec_1989/page/n11/mode/2up |journal=Games International |issue=11 |pages=12}}
- McMulti by James J St Laurent (1988)
- Can't Stop Express by Sid Sackson (1989)
- Digging by Reiner Knizia (1990)
- Manager by Peter Pfeifer and Waltraud Pfeif (1991)