Dude! Take Your Turn!
A Gaming Life
International Gamers Awards Nominees Announced
I feel like I have finally arrived as a gamer, after 6 years in the hobby.
How do I know this?
Because a major awards nominee list was released and I’ve played at least 30% of them! I guess I will have truly arrived when I’ve played all of them, but this is a start!
The International Gamers Award nominees were just announced, and there are some great games nominated, and some great-sounding games too, though I guess that’s to be expected since they are, you know, awards for best game of the year.
I’ll give you my choice for the winner above the fold, and then the list of nominees will be after (which will also include my predictions)
This is in the Multi-Player category.
Terraforming Mars – Jacob Fryxelius – FryxGames/Stronghold Games
I’ve played this 5 times now and enjoyed every one of them. I’m chomping at the bit to play it again, or one of the expansion maps.
Here are the other nominees in the multi-player category.
A Feast for Odin – Uwe Rosenberg – Feuerland Spiele
Never played this one, and really not a lot of interest in it.
Century: Spice Road – Emerson Matsuuki – Plan B Games
An awesome, quick game that is much more fun than it would seem when you describe it as “changing cubes into other cubes and then claiming cards”
First Class – Helmut Ohley – Hans im Glück
Never played this one, but it sounds fun.
Gloomhaven – Isaac Childres – Cephalofair Games
All the rage right now. I predict this will win. But I haven’t played it.
Great Western Trail – Alexander Pfister – Eggertspiele/Stronghold Games
Awesome game that is only narrowly edged out by Terraforming Mars in my mind. Though ask me again tomorrow and it may be the other way around.
Key to the City: London – Sebastian Bleasdale & Richard Breese – R&D Games
Never played this one. Sounds neat, though.
Lorenzo il Magnifico – Flaminia Brasini & Virginio Gigli & Simone Luciani – Cranio Creations
It’s been brought to our game day a couple of times but hasn’t made it out when I was there. I’d love to play it, but haven’t yet.
Magic Maze – Kasper Lapp – Sit Down!
Never played, and really no desire to.
Scythe – Jamey Stegmaier – Stonemaier Games
Probably the hottest of these games that I haven’t played yet. Would like to try it once.
The Colonists – Tim Puls – Lookout Games
Another hot game, but one I’ll probably never play. It seems like it’s way too long for my liking. Maybe a convention game?
Ulm – Günter Burkhardt – HUCH!
I’ve heard really interesting things about this one, but haven’t had the chance to play it yet.
Yokohama – Hisashi Hayashi – OKAZU Brand
Heard great things about it (It’s an Istanbul-killer, apparently), but haven’t had the chance to play it. One day!
2 Player Nominees
I’ve only played one of these games, so don’t have a lot of opinions, but they should be recognized so here they are!
Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Nate French & Matthew Newman – Fantasy Flight Games
I have a feeling this one will win.
Caverna: Cave vs. Cave – Uwe Rosenberg – Lookout Games
This one looks fascinating. I’d love to give it a try sometime. I do like Caverna.
Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft – Diego Ibañez – Devir
BGG says this is a 2015 game? But I guess maybe “year” is an elastic word?
Santorini – Gord! – Roxley
An excellent 2-player abstract game! Simple to learn, hard to master (but aren’t they all?)
Star Wars: Destiny – Corey Konieczka & Lukas Litzsinger – Fantasy Flight Games
No interest in this one whatsoever.
So there you have it. All of the nominees for the International Gamers Awards. Some great games in there, some great-sounding games, and some “you can’t pay me!” games.
Who do you think will win? Do you care? What have you played?
Let me know in the comments.
Dude! Take Your Turn! 
I think a lot of the old school aren’t huge fans of Terraforming Mars due to its lack of polish. I’ve heard a lot that it’s a good game that could have been a great game with a little more development. I disagree…it’s one of my favorites of the year, but I don’t get to vote. As such, I think A Feast for Odin or Great Western Trail take the main award. From what I remember (although it’s been a while since I’ve checked) the IGAs favor euros, so I can’t imagine Gloomhaven winning, even though it would probably be my pick based on it’s ingenuity alone.
As for the 2 player game, I’m again thinking they’ll go euro, Caverna or Santorini. Like you, I have no interest in Star Wars Destiny, and can’t imagine a licensed dice game winning, anyway. My pick would be Arkham Horror, but, again, I think it might be too theme heavy for the voters.
I could be all wet, though, if my premise that the voters are slanted toward euro games is wrong. I’d look it up, but it’s so damn late. 🙂
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That’s one thing I wasn’t sure about, the biases of the voters. You’re probably right about them leaning more toward Euros. With that being the case, I think they’ll probably go Feast of Odin.
Great Western Trail does have an outside chance, but I think there’s too much interaction for that 🙂
I think you are probably right about the 2-player. I’d guess Santorini based on that. I’ve heard good stuff about Caverna, but not enough to overcome the Santorini charm power.
Thanks for stopping by, Dave!
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