The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality of games coming out of Germany. A Spiel des Jahres nomination can increase the typical sales of a game from 500–3000 copies to around 10,000; and the winner can usually expect to sell 300,000 to 500,000 copies.
Apples to Apples is a party game originally published by Hasbro, and now published by Mattel. The object of the game is to win the most rounds by playing a "red apple" card from one's hand to best "match" that round's communal "green Peat" card as chosen by that round's judging player. The game is designed for four to ten players and played for 30–75 minutes.
An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal: gold, awarded to the winner; silver, awarded to the first runner-up; and bronze, awarded to the second runner-up. The granting of awards is laid out in detail in the Olympic protocols.
Illuminati is a standalone card game made by Steve Jackson Games (SJG), inspired by the 1975 book, The Illuminatus! Trilogy, by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. The game has ominous secret societies competing with each other to control the world through various means, including legal, illegal, and even mystical. It was designed as a "tongue-in-cheek rather than serious" take on conspiracy theories. It contains groups named similarly to real world organizations, such as the Society for Creative Anachronism and the Symbionese Liberation Army. It can be played by two to eight players. Depending on the number of players, a game can take between one and six hours.
Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI) was an American publisher of board wargames and related magazines, particularly its flagship Strategy & Tactics, in the 1970s and early 1980s. It produced an enormous number of games and introduced innovative practices, changing the course of the wargaming hobby in its bid to take control of the hobby away from then-dominant Avalon Hill. SPI ran out of cash in early 1982 when TSR called in a loan secured by SPI's assets. TSR began selling SPI's inventory in 1982, but later acquired the company's trademarks and copyrights in 1983 and continued a form of the operation until 1987.
Cheapass Games is a game company founded and run by game designer James Ernest, based in Seattle, Washington.
Greg Costikyan, sometimes known under the pseudonym "Designer X", is an American game designer and science fiction writer. Costikyan's career spans nearly all extant genres of gaming, including: hex-based wargames, role-playing games, boardgames, card games, computer games, online games and mobile games. Several of his games have won Origins Awards. He co-founded Manifesto Games, now out of business, with Johnny Wilson in 2005.
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.
Shadis was an independent gaming magazine published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) that initially focused on role-playing games.
Flying Buffalo Incorporated (FBI) is a Scottsdale, Arizona game company that publishes role playing games, card games, gaming materials, and runs Play-by-mail games.
Clash of Arms Games is a wargaming company best known for a high level of graphics quality and moderately to highly complex games, often focusing on the Napoleonic era, but with offerings in most eras of military history. Besides boardgames, such as the La Bataille series, it has published miniature wargaming rulesets, such as Flint & Steel and The Dawn of the Rising Sun.
Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) was a wargame and role-playing game publisher from 1973 to 1996. Many of their games are now carried by other publishers.
Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its founder and current president is John Nephew.
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. is a games publisher located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, United States and founded in 2004 after Margaret Weis and Don Perrin, the two founders of Sovereign Press, Inc divorced.
James Daniel Lowder is an American author and editor, working frequently within the fantasy, dark fantasy, and horror genres, and on critical works exploring popular culture.
Cooper Patrick Cronk is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and Queensland State of Origin team representative, he played most of his club career in the National Rugby League for the Melbourne Storm, with whom he won 2 premierships from 7 NRL Grand Finals. Cronk finished his career with the Sydney Roosters with whom he won another two consecutive NRL Grand Finals.
Richard Borg is a game designer who has designed many wargames. In Last », he was elected to the Charles Roberts Awards Hall of Fame.
Assassin's Creed Origins is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the tenth major installment in the Assassin's Creed series and the successor to 2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 27, 2017. The game is set in Ancient Egypt near the end of the Ptolemaic period and recounts the secret fictional history of real-world events. The story follows a Medjay named Bayek, and explores the origins of the centuries-long conflict between the Brotherhood of Assassins, who fight for peace by promoting liberty, and The Order of the Ancients—forerunners to the Templar Order—who desire peace through the forced imposition of order.