Tag Archives: awards

2011 Diana Jones Award Shortlist

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The shadowy figures behind the Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming posted the shortlist for the 2011 award. Of the five candidates, I have played one — Fiasco — and flipped through two — The Dresden Files and Freemarket. That’s a pretty good record for me.

Glancing at the other two candidates, both board games, I don’t feel especially driven to check them out in detail. Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space has graphic design about as compelling as the title, seemingly by intent, given the “less is more” principle is evident on the box as well as the game components. Catacombs sounds interesting, as you huck pieces representing adventurers and monsters at each other, but it has the “one versus many” model, which I’m pretty much done with.

The 2010 ENnies

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I did vote in the ENnies this year. I did. I just wasn’t psyched about it. For whatever reason, nothing in the role-playing hobby that came out in the last year really caught my attention and ardor. I think I was busy making what I already owned work for me.

There was maybe one category in the ENnies with a nominee I had any emotional investment in, never mind curiosity, Best Podcast. All Games Considered, a show for which I’ve already expressed my appreciation, is back in the running after winning the category in 2009. So I voted for them.

My feelings about awards for games seem to vacillate. Sometimes I find them useful as a guide to games worth checking out. Other times they seem completely inapplicable to my game-playing desires. This year’s Spiel des Jahres nominee list was a similar situation for me, so don’t think I’m bagging on role-playing game publishers or the people who nominated this year’s ENnie contenders.

None of it seems relevant to me these days. I spend more time thinking about my own gaming efforts and activity in the local community than what game is hot elsewhere in the world. I’m clearly in the middle of a grassroots phase.

Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming 2009

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The shortlist for the Diana Jones award for excellence in gaming has been posted. It’s an eclectic bunch of potential winners, which is fitting, since the awards ceremony is the unofficial kick-off to Gen Con, which happens to be next Wednesday. Unlike the Origins and Ennie awards, I have actually played or heard of more than half the nominees: I’ve blogged about playing Dominion and Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition right here and I have not only heard of Mouse Guard, but thumbed through a copy at the local game store. I think I have even skimmed discussions of Sweet Agatha when it first hit the market. That has to be a personal best.

Thumbing through past years’ awardees and contenders, 2009 stands out because all the nominees are games or types of games, to include Jeepform. In the past, groups and individuals have received the award. That in itself stands out because other gaming awards are typically about the product, or maybe game designers. The Diana Jones award’s purview is broad enough to include people who do something meritorious for the gaming community or innovate a style of play. That’s pretty neat.

[Originally spotted on Robin Laws’ blog.]

The ENnie Awards Voting Booth is Open

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ennies_i_voted _square_09The ENnie Awards, the roleplaying game awards determined by hobbyists, are open for voting. I found the breadth and variety of product rather dizzying. While I’d heard of most of the nominees, I don’t think I’ve even flipped through a tenth of them, let alone purchased to read or play — and I should point out that was largely by choice, as everything RPG-related I’ve been interested in over the nomination period either wasn’t included or didn’t merit a vote, in my estimation. So I made my votes in those categories where I felt sufficiently informed, namely Best Podcast and Fan’s Favorite Publisher, and submitted my ballot.

Go take a look over what’s up for an ENnie this year. Even if you haven’t heard of anything, it’s a great resource for finding out what came out in the last year that garnered enough internet buzz to merit nomination. The polls close August 1st, so get moving.