ENNIE Award Dream Date Guide 2025

The ENNIE Awards return to Gen Con on August 1st. To celebrate, the ENNIE Awards and several publishers are offering a special opportunity to a lucky set of bidders: Sit with the award-nominated creators and publishers during the award show and receive some special books. If you want to see the awards live alongside the nominees, the best seats in the house (and some amazing books) are up for grabs.

WHAT CAN DREAM DATE WINNERS EXPECT?​

Every year – 2017 (when I attended with my dream date, Cubicle 7), 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024 (the pandemic prevented the in-person 2020 and 2021 ceremonies) – I write about the available dream dates. For 2022 and 2023, I wrote a summary for the ENNIE Award Dream Date:

“Any attendee of the ENNIE Awards ceremony is able to see some of the best games of the year recognized, get a drink, and/or bid in their silent auction. For those that win an ENNIE Award Dream Date, they sit and talk with the publishers, have a front row view of the stage, pick up some great swag, monetarily support of the awards through their winning bid, and, maybe, be part of the experience of a publisher winning a Gold or Silver ENNIE Award. These Dream Date auctions fund the annual ENNIE Awards. The awards and ceremony aren’t free to organize; these auctions help to cover their costs of production for the metals as well as the actual event. For those that get to sit with the publishers, it’s an amazing time to talk with some of your favorite creators.”

Hosted on Friday at 8pm at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana, any attendee requires a “valid Gen Con badge to attend the ENNIE Awards and is responsible for any associated expenses with attending Gen Con in Indianapolis, IN.”

DISCLAIMER​

This Week In TTRPG Podcast from EN Publishing and EN World is up for an ENNIE Award for Best Streaming Content. The ENNIE Awards were a part of EN World and EN Publishing. In 2019, EN Publishing (and EN World) divested themselves of the awards to unaffiliate the organization dedicated to recognizing excellence in tabletop roleplaying games. This is to say, This Week In TTRPG Podcast does not have the inside track to win. (Though we wish Jessica luck!)

THE AUCTIONS​

ENNIE Awards Dream Date with 2025 Judges

• EBAY AUCTION END DATE: Saturday, July 26 at 1:00 PM ET
• REWARDS: “Winner of this auction will receive the opportunity to join Christopher Gath, Tom Cantwell and Clayton Notestine, at a specially designated table right in front of the stage at the 25th annual ENNIE Awards taking place at the Crowne Plaza Union Station Grand Hall on August 1st, at 8pm at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana! The winner will also receive a specially curated gaming bundle based on your gaming tastes valued at over $150!! Winner will be contacted after auction ends for curation details. Chris, Tom and Clayton can offer up what it is like to read hundreds of books and listen/view hours of content. Want a peek under the lid of the ENNIE judging process? This is the chance to ask them anything!”
• WHY SHOULD YOU BID? You get a stack of books, and you’ll learn the secrets behind how the ENNIES work. If you want to know how the award-sausage is made, this is the table you want to sit at!

ENNIE Awards Dream Date with Chaosium Team​

• EBAY AUCTION END DATE: Saturday, July 26 at 12:00 PM ET
• 2025 ENNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS:
  • Best Cartography – Pendragon: Map of King Arthur’s Britain, Chaosium, Inc. by Francesca Baerald
  • Best RPG Related Product – H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness for Beginning Readers, Chaosium Inc. by RJ Ivankovic
  • Best Setting – Call of Cthulhu: Cthulhu Ireland, Chaosium Community Content by Colin Dunlop
  • Best Setting – RuneQuest: Lands of RuneQuest – Dragon Pass, Chaosium Inc. by Jeff Richard, Greg Stafford, and Jason Durall
  • Best Streaming Content – “Soectral Schemes: the Mystery of the Ballarat Ghost” adapted from Kat Clay’s “The Hammersmith Haunting”, Chaosium Inc.
• REWARDS: “Winner of this auction will receive the opportunity to join the Chaosium team, up for multiple nominations, at a specially designated table right in front of the stage at the 25th annual ENNIE Awards taking place at the Crowne Plaza Union Station Grand Hall on August 1st at 8pm at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana! In addition to attending the award show with an amazing team of creators, the winner will receive a prize pack of an empty Call of Cthulhu slipcase which you can use at the Chaosium booth in the Gen Con exhibitor hall to fill with whatever products you want!”
• WHY SHOULD YOU BID? As they do at every ENNIE Awards ceremony, Chaosium provides one fan with a chance to hang out with some of tabletop’s best creators including the heads of the company. Yes, you get a chance to choose your own books, but equally important is the opportunity to talk with some of the most brilliant leaders in the industry. If you’re looking to make connections or just hear great stories, this table awaits your bid.

ENNIE Awards Dream Date with Exalted Funeral Press

• EBAY AUCTION END DATE: Saturday, July 26 at 12:15 PM ET
• 2025 ENNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS:
  • Best Aid/Accessory – Non-Digital – Monty Python RPG: Head of Light Entertainment Gamemaster Screen, Exalted Funeral Press
  • Best Cartography – Land of Eem: The Mucklands Sandbox Campaign Setting, Exalted Funeral Press by Ben Costa, Morena Paissan, and Angela Gubert
  • Best Family Game / Product – Dungeon Cats, Tiger Wizard by Andrew Bellury (not officially Exalted Funeral Press, but Andrew works for the company and will be at the table for the award show, so this one is pretty much a bonus)
  • Best Family Game / Product – Land of Eem: Core Rulebook, Exalted Funeral Press by Ben Costa and James Parks
  • Best Game – His Majesty the Worm, Exalted Funeral Press by (Too many to list)
  • Best Game – Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme – Sensible Middle Class Edition, Exalted Funeral Press by (Too many to list)
  • Best Layout and Design – Tephrotic Nightmares, Exalted Funeral Press by Johan Nohr
  • Best Monster/Adversary – Land of Eem: Bestiary Vol. 1, Exalted Funeral Press by Ben Costa, James Parks, Sean Kiernan, Alex Ahad, and Ben Seto
  • Best Production Values – Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set, Exalted Funeral Press
  • Best Production Values – Tephrotic Nightmares, Exalted Funeral Press
  • Best Rules – His Majesty the Worm, Exalted Funeral Press by Josh McCrowell
  • Best Setting – Settlers of a Dead God, Exalted Funeral Press by Eduardo Carabaño Rubianes and Mike Schneider
  • Best Writing – Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme – Sensible Middle Class Edition, Exalted Funeral Press by Brian Saliba, Craig Schaffer, Chant Evans, and Ben Summer
  • Product of the Year – Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set, Exalted Funeral Press
  • Product of the Year – Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme – Sensible Middle Class Edition, Exalted Funeral Press
• REWARDS: “Winner of this auction will receive the opportunity to join the Exalted Funeral team – up for 14 nominations! – at a specially designated table right in front of the stage at the 25th annual ENNIE Awards taking place at the Crowne Plaza Union Station Grand Hall on August 1st at 8pm at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana! Winner will attend the award show with this amazing team of creators: Matt Kelley, Founder of Exalted Funeral Press, Andrew Bellury AKA Tiger Wizard and Steve Albertson AKA Dragon Warrior from Epic Levels, creator of Dungeon Cats, Ben Costa and James Parks, creators of Land of Eem, Brian Saliba and Craig Schaffer, creators of Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme. The winner will also receive a prize pack of the following ENNIE Award nominated books and accessories to be delivered at the award show: Dungeon Cats prize pack, includes signed copy of Dungeon Cats, Epic Levels Armor Classy CDungeon CD with music and adventure and set of drink coasters, His Majesty the Worm, Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme, Land of Eem Core Rulebook, Settlers of a Dead God and Tephrotic Nightmares.”
• WHY SHOULD YOU BID? Did you sleep on any of Exalted Funeral’s crowdfundings? This night lets you sit with the creators behind many of the up-and-coming games plus get a ton of books. You’re gonna need a heavy bag or a box to carry all of your rewards home. If you want to talk with one of the fastest-growing OSR publishers and distributors, this is an auction you need to look into.

ENNIE Awards Dream Date with Knight Owl Publishing

• EBAY AUCTION END DATE: Saturday, July 26 at 12:30 PM ET
• 2025 ENNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS: Best Adventure-Long Form – Isle of Joy, Knight Owl Publishing by Gord Sellar
• REWARDS: “Winner of this auction will receive the opportunity to join the Knight Owl Publishing founder Wind Lothamer at a specially designated table right in front of the stage at the 25th annual ENNIE Awards taking place at the Crowne Plaza Union Station Grand Hall on August 1st at 8pm at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana! Winner will attend the award show with Wind Lothamer and receive an autographed set of the Collector's Edition Leatherette Meatlandia Trilogy!”
• WHY SHOULD YOU BID? You get to meet Wind Lothamer, the individual behind Knight Owl Publishing, and get a collection of three amazing hardcovers: The Chaos Gods Come to Meatlandia, The Scourge of the Scorn Lords, and Worm Witch: The Life and Death of Belinda Blood. The winner will be there when Isle of Joy competes for Best Adventure-Long Form.

ENNIE Awards Dream Date with Wet Ink Games

• EBAY AUCTION END DATE: Saturday, July 26 at 12:45 PM ET
• 2025 ENNIE AWARD NOMINATIONS: Best Free Game / Product – Garbage & Glory: Trashrun, Wet Ink Games, LLC by Josh Heake, Matthew Orr, Brandon K. Aten, and Sarah Orr Aten
• REWARDS: “Winner of this auction will receive the opportunity to join the multi-ENNIE winning Wet Ink team, at a specially designated table right in front of the stage at the 25th annual ENNIE Awards taking place at the Crowne Plaza Union Station Grand Hall on August 1st, at 8pm at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana! In addition to attending the award show with an amazing team of creators, the winner will receive a 12x20 art print of the cover of ENNIE nominated product Garbage & Glory Trash Run signed by the artist, the writers and the design team!”
• WHY SHOULD YOU BID? This winner will sit with the publisher of the best game about playing as trash pandas on a fantasy adventure you’ll ever have the pleasure of digging into. Wet Ink Games is an art-centric publisher, one that creates some beautiful games, so the art print is going to look cool!

If you’re interested in any of these ebay auctions and supporting the ENNIE Awards, you can find them all here.

Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, Kobold Press Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, Kobold Press, and Amazon.

 

[sevenbastard]

I think it weird they call it a date.

Like im not romantically interested in any of these people and I think it wrong to lead them on by taking gifts from them.

Maybe VIP experience?

 

[Morrus]

I think it weird they call it a date.

It's just a little joke.