35th Annual Origins Awards Finalists

[Mark]

So, what do you think?

Who should win?

Any personal favorites regardless of chances?


35th Annual Origins Awards Finalists

Board Games

Agricola (Z-Man Games, Inc., Uwe Rosenberg)

Ninja vs. Ninja (Out of the Box Publishing, Tushar Gheewala)

Pandemic (Z-Man Games, Inc., Matt Leacock)

TOMB (Alderac Entertainment Group, John Zinser)

Wealth of Nations (TableStar Games, Nico Carroll)


Children’s, Family, and Party Games

Backseat Drawing (Out of the Box Publishing, Peggy Brown)

duck! duck! Go! (APE Games, Kevin G. Nunn)

Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The (Mongoose Publishing, James Wallis)

Living Labyrinth (Bucephalus Games, Julie Haehn)

Rorschach: The Inkbot Party Game (Bucephalus Games, Dan Tibbles, Jeremy Holcomb, Joe Huber, and Stephen McLaughlin)

Say Anything (North Star Games, Dominic Craphuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri)


Historical Board Games

Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear (Academy Games, Uwe Eickert)

Espana 1936 (DEVIR US LLC / Phalanx, Antonio Catalain)

The Battle of Monmouth (Clash of Arms Games, Rich Kane)

The Campaigns of King David (Clash of Arms Games, Robert Markham)

Pursuit of Glory (GMT Games, Brad Stock and Brian Stock)


Card Games

Dominion (Rio Grande Games, Donald X Vaccarino)

Monty Python Fluxx (Looney Labs, Andrew Looney)

Red Dragon Inn 2 (Slugfest Games, Geoff Bottone, Colleen Skadl, and Cliff Bohm)

Ticket to Ride Card Game (Days of Wonder, Alan R. Moon)

Trailer Park Wars (Gut Bustin' Games, Lisa Steenson)


Collectible Card Games

Chaotic: M'arrillian Invasion Beyond the Doors Booster Pack 8 (TC Digital Games LLC, MRN, To Be Continued LLC, Sam Murakami, and David Baumgartner)

Highlander the Card Game: Search for Vengeance 11 (HighlanderTGC, Mike Sager)

Magic the Gathering: Shards of Alara 1 (Wizards of the Coast, Bill Rose and Devin Low)

Portal (Score Entertainment, Aik Tongtharadol, Josh Morris, Dan Posey, and Carl Braun)

World of Warcraft the Trading Card Game: Servants of the Betrayer 2 (Upper Deck, Mike Hummel, Antonio DeRosa, Ken Ho, Jeff Liu, and Patrick Sullivan)


Fiction

Hungerblade by Robin D Laws (Red Juggernaut Inc.)

Infernal Sorceress by Gary Gygax (Paizo Publishing)

Killing Ground, The by Graham McNeill (Black Library)

Pirate King, The by R.A. Salvatore (Wizards of the Coast)

Worlds of Dungeons & Dragons Volume 2, edited by James Lowder & Mike O'Sullivan (Devil's Due)


Non-Fiction

KOBOLD Guide to Game Design, Vol. 1 by Wolfgang Baur, Nicolas Logue (Open Design)

Lost Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home by Margaret Weis (Margaret Weis Productions)

No Quarter Magazine, editor-in-chief Nathan Letsinger (Privateer Press)

Things We Think About Games by Will Hindmarch & Jeff Tidball (Gameplaywright Press)

Tour de Lovecraft: the Tale, by Ken Hite (Atomic Overmind Press)


Miniature Figure Game Rules

Classic Battletech: Tactical Operations (Catalyst Game Labs, Randall N. Bills and Herbert A Beas II)

Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniature Game (Privateer Press, Inc., Matt Wilson, Bryan Cutler, Jason Soles, Rob Stoddard, and Kevin Clark)

WARMACHINE: Legends (Privateer Press, Inc., Matt Wilson, Jason Soles, and Rob Stoddard)

WH40K: 5th Edition (Games Workshop, Alessio Cavatore)

World of Warcraft Miniatures Game (Upper Deck Company, Justin Gary, David Baumgartner, John Fiorillo, Matt Hyra, and Anthony Shaheen)


Miniature Figure or Line of Miniature Figures

Monsterpocalypse Collectible Miniature Game (Privateer Press, Inc., Matt Wilson, Bryan Cutler, Jason Soles, Rob Stoddard, and Kevin Clark)

Star Wars Miniatures: The Clone Wars (Wizards of the Coast, Wizards of the Coast)

WARMACHINE Steam-Powered Miniatures Combat (Privateer Press, Inc., Matt Wilson, Ron Kruzie, and Chris Walton)

WH40K: Space Marines (Games Workshop, Games Workshop)

World of Warcraft Miniatures Game (Upper Deck Company, Justin Gary, David Baumgartner, John Fiorillo, Matt Hyra, and Anthony Shaheen)


Historical Miniature Figure Game Rules

Fields of Glory Miniature Rules

Volley & Bayonet: Road To Glory

Cold Steel and Canister

Song of Drums and Shakos

Chevauchee: Rules for Battles with Medieval Miniatures


Historical Miniature Figure Game Rules Supplements

RISE OF ROME (Field of Glory Supplement, Osprey Publishing)

Operation Cobra, The Normandy Breakout--FW206 (Cobra Flames of War, Battlefront Games)

WWII Eastern Front Skirmish Scenarios” (Britton Publishers)

Stars and Stripes Forever (Test of Battle Games)

Age of Eagles: Napoleon Vs Europe 1813 - 14, AOE Scenario Book


Historical Miniature Figure or Line of Miniature Figures

28mm Imperial Romans (Warlord Games)

King Philips War 28MM (Brigade Games Inc.)

SS-Panzerdivision ‘Das Reich’ Panzerkompanie (GEAB06) [15mm Line] (Battlefront Games)

28mm Celts (Warlord Games)

15mm Ancient Saxons (Splintered Light)


Role-Playing Games

CthulhuTech (Catalyst Game Labs, Matthew Grau, Fraser McKay, and Mike Vaillancourt)

Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition Players Handbook (Wizards of the Coast, Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt)

Mouseguard Role-Playing Game (Archaia Studios Press, Luke Crane and David Petersen)

Star Wars Saga Edition Core Rulebook (Wizards of the Coast, Chris Perkins, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Rodney Thompson)

Trail of Cthulhu, The (Pelgrane Press Ltd, Kenneth Hite, Robin D Laws, Jerome Huegenin, and Simon Rogers)


Role-Playing Game Supplements

Buccaneers of Freeport (Green Ronin Publishing, Ari Marmell, Anthony Pryor, Rodney Thompson, and Robert Vaughn)

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (Wizards of the Coast, Bruce Cordell, Ed Greenwood, and Chris Sims)

Hero Lab (Lone Wolf Development, Rob Bowes and Colen McAlister)

Serenity Adventures (Margaret Weis Productions, Alana Abbot, Billy Aguiar, James Davenport, Ted Reed, and James M. Ward)

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Wizards of the Coast, Rodney Thompson, Sterling Hershey, John Jackson Miller, and Abel Pena)


Game Accessories

Chibithulhu (Steve Jackson Games, Steve Jackson)

Classic Battletech: Record Sheets 3039 (Catalyst Game Labs, Randall N. Bills, Bjorn Schmidt, and David L. McCulloch)

D-Total (Gamescience, Dr. A. F. Simkin, Frank Dutrain, and Louis Zocchi)

Duel Decks: Jace vs Chandra (Wizards of the Coast, Erik Lauer and Ken Nagle)

Living Arcanis T-Shirt (Paradigm Concepts, Inc, Pedro Barrenechea, Henry Lopez, Nelson Rodriguez, and Eric Weiner)

Wicked Munchkin Bag & Die (Q-Workshop, John Kovalic and Patryk Strzelewicz)

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Oh they are just mean! Make me choose between D&D 4e and Cthulhutech for what I want to win.

 

[Crothian]

Pandemic (Z-Man Games, Inc., Matt Leacock)

I haven't played any of the other games in this category but Pandemic is the best new game I've played in ages. The game was fun the first time and every time we play which has been dozens and dozens it has never lost any bit of enjoyment. It easily ranks as one of the top board games of all time for me.

Living Labyrinth (Bucephalus Games, Julie Haehn)

I did a review of this for Game Cryer a month or so ago. It is a simple and fun game. It is easy to explain and the games take less then a half hour, usually closer to 15 minutes. It has been a solid game that everyone has enjoyed.

Say Anything (North Star Games, Dominic Craphuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri)

Played this at Origins last year. It was a good party game. One of my friends bought it but I haven't played it since the con.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I played in a Trail of Cthulhu game recently (I've not read the rules though) and I thought it was unnecessary. The vast majority of Cthulhu play is rules free which obviates the need for a new game. The major innovation, that plot essential clues are discovered automatically rather than depending on a die roll, is a good one but it could just have been a (fairly minor) optional rule for the original version.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Oh they are just mean! Make me choose between D&D 4e and Cthulhutech for what I want to win.

Join the civilized gamers. Root for STAR WARS Saga Edition!

 

[Festivus]

Monsterpocalypse has a huge following at the FLGS. Rules seem solid and I really like the nostalgic looking figures.

Besides 4E that's probably the only thing I could say I would vote for, not being familiar enough with the remainder of the list.

 

[Shemeska]

Role-Playing Games

CthulhuTech (Catalyst Game Labs, Matthew Grau, Fraser McKay, and Mike Vaillancourt)

This is an absolutely amazing book/line/setting and it seriously deserves a win here. The more recognition it gets, the better.

Role-Playing Game Supplements

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide (Wizards of the Coast, Bruce Cordell, Ed Greenwood, and Chris Sims)

How.The.Heck?

 

[Fallen Seraph]

This is an absolutely amazing book/line/setting and it seriously deserves a win here. The more recognition it gets, the better.

It being less known and recognized as D&D 4e is really pushing my to hope it wins over D&D. I adore both evenly, but Cthulhutech needs more people to know about it since it is so awesome.

How.The.Heck?

Well, I find it to be the best FR book I have read.

 

[Shemeska]

Well, I find it to be the best FR book I have read.

Well the public perception was generally pretty poor (excepting perhaps for a subset of 4e fans that love it), especially by comparison to the 3e FRCS for instance. It seriously fractured the fanbase given the massive number of changes it forced into the setting (and the reason and way it did so). When you often see people not considering it to even be FR anymore, I have to honestly question why it's even in consideration for an award, given the reception it received.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Well the public perception was generally pretty poor (excepting perhaps for a subset of 4e fans that love it), especially by comparison to the 3e FRCS for instance. It seriously fractured the fanbase given the massive number of changes it forced into the setting (and the reason and way it did so). When you often see people not considering it to even be FR anymore, I have to honestly question why it's even in consideration for an award, given the reception it received.

Because lots and lots of people apparently thought it was a really good book.

Seriously, if products (be they books, movies, TV shows, or whatever) were judged primarily based on negative reactions on the Internet, almost nothing would win an award.

Yes, there's a large and very vocal contingent that didn't like the 4E FR, and they're certainly entitled. But clearly, there's also a very large quiet contingent that did.

Personally? I just hope it loses because I'm competing against it.