35th Annual Origins Awards Finalists

[Mark]

I am hoping that Field of Glory wins.

 

[MerricB]

Of course Agricola should win best board game! How can saving the world from an onslaught of viruses compare to the experience of having sheep AND boars!?! It's no contest.

For me, Pandemic has the problem of being a co-operative game that is too easily dominated by one player, turning it into a solo game.

Cheers!

 

[Doug Sundseth]

Just so I am clear, the finalists for these awards are chosen at the GAMA trade show by retailers then the final vote takes place and is announced at Origins?

The nominees are chosen by the members of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, who are all industry professionals.

 

[RodneyThompson]

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

If Agricola doesn't win the award, then there's something dreadfully wrong with the process. Quiet frankly, Agricola is the stand-out boardgame of the year. Pandemic, good though it is, doesn't hold a candle to this game about medieval farming. It has also had a fair up-take amongst more casual groups, which is a great sign.

You know, Merric, you and I have pretty similar tastes in board games, but I think I might have to disagree with you here. While I love Agricola, I think it actually might not deserve to beat Pandemic. Pandemic is challenging, but easy to learn, and fast, making it easy to introduce to new people. It's just so damn elegant, and I hate when that word gets tossed around too casually. Yet, the game is so simple in its fundamentals, but every game is a challenge, and every game is different. It hits both of my big high notes: straightforward mechanics, and replayability. I also am a big fan of cooperative games, so that may be coloring my glasses a bit.

That said, if Agricola wins, I'll be the first one to cheer. It's a fantastic game, but (I know, cry heretic) I think the family version of the game is the better version. When the occupations and minor improvements get added in it makes it that much harder for a new player to jump into the game, and I'm still not sold that they add anything significant.

...


On an unrelated note, I just want to say I'm honored to be involved in four of the nominated books. I'm just disappointed I'm competing with myself three ways in one category.

 

[Wycen]

I playtested Wealth of Nations, thus you must vote for it!

 

[MerricB]

I also am a big fan of cooperative games, so that may be coloring my glasses a bit.

Possibly.

I'm a big fan of co-operative games that have a traitor. So, not quite co-operative... yay, finally played BSG as a Cylon on the weekend!

However, I do hear what you're saying. I agree with a lot of what you say. I have a feeling that because I'm very attuned to solving the sort of puzzle-game that Pandemic is, it isn't as impressive to me as it would be to many others. (It's possibly the one type of puzzle-game that I am attuned to... anyway...)

That said, if Agricola wins, I'll be the first one to cheer. It's a fantastic game, but (I know, cry heretic) I think the family version of the game is the better version. When the occupations and minor improvements get added in it makes it that much harder for a new player to jump into the game, and I'm still not sold that they add anything significant.

I don't think you're a heretic. Agricola without the cards is a very impressive game.

My reading of what the cards add is this: they provide a way to vary your play of the game. They reward you if you step aside from a "rote" way of playing the game and concentrate on areas that you wouldn't normally take. So, if you normally are the grain farmer of the game (that's normally me), if you get the Spindle, you can play a game as the shepherd instead and be rewarded for changing your choices.

My preferred way of playing with the cards is using the draft format, btw.

However, the level of complexity (and consequent loss of balance) the cards add to Agricola is definitely something that newer players should avoid, and, for some, continue to avoid. The game is good enough without the cards; the cards keep the game from being "solvable" in the same way that "Puerto Rico" or "Caylus" have been solved (to a large extent).

(Consider the effect the order of power plants arriving has on a game of Power Grid...)

Still, both Pandemic and Agricola are rather exceptional games.

On an unrelated note, I just want to say I'm honored to be involved in four of the nominated books. I'm just disappointed I'm competing with myself three ways in one category.

Oops!

Cheers!

 

[JLowder]

The nominees are chosen by the members of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, who are all industry professionals.

Small juries made up of area specialists winnow down the submissions to lists of 10 in each category. The jurors are from the various branches of GAMA, including the Academy, but there are some retailers, etc, on the juries. The lists of 10 semifinalists are then put before the retailers at the GAMA Trade Show, and their votes determine the finalists in each category.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Addressing only the categories I feel qualified to address, my picks are:

Non-Fiction

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


Role-Playing Games

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


Role-Playing Game Supplements

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

or

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

 

[possum]

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

Hail hail!

I love Saga Edition, and I hope that it wins, but it's definately ot a tough battle with 4th edition, though. If any of them is to win, though, I hope it's the KotOR Campaign Guide. That's a real good book.

 

[Mark]

The nominees are chosen by the members of the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design, who are all industry professionals.

Small juries made up of area specialists winnow down the submissions to lists of 10 in each category. The jurors are from the various branches of GAMA, including the Academy, but there are some retailers, etc, on the juries. The lists of 10 semifinalists are then put before the retailers at the GAMA Trade Show, and their votes determine the finalists in each category.

Cheers,
Jim Lowder

Thank you both. Can you elucidate the rest of the process through its completion?