2023 Origins Awards | |
---|---|
Awarded for | Outstanding work in the gaming industry |
Location | Columbus, Ohio |
Presented by | Origins Game Fair |
First awarded | 1974 |
Website | https://www.originsgamefair.com/origins-award-winners |
The following are the winners of the 2023 annual Origins Awards, held in June 2024 at the Origins Game Fair. [1] [2] ICv2 noted that the categories "expanded substantially" to 24 whereas the previous year only had 16 categories; additionally, the "Retail Game of the year category was eliminated". [3]
In 2023, the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design inducted three people and two games in their Hall of Fame:
Category | Finalists [1] | Winner [2] [3] |
---|---|---|
Best Cooperative Board Game |
| Sky Team (SCORPION MASQUE) |
Best Gateway Board Game |
| Wandering Towers (Capstone Games) |
Best Light Strategy Game |
| Leaf (Weird City Games) |
Best Thematic Board Game |
| Freelancers: A Crossroads Game (Plaid Hat Games) |
Best Heavy Strategy Game |
| Dune: Imperium - Uprising (Dire Wolf) |
Best Party/Social Board Game |
| Smug Owls (Runaway Parade Games) |
Best Solo Board Game |
| Legacy of Yu (Renegade Game Studios) |
Best Children's & Family Board Game |
| Diced Veggies (KTBG) |
Best Fixed Constructible Game |
| Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond - The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Commander Decks (Wizards of the Coast) |
Best Randomized Constructible Game |
| Magic: The Gathering Universes Beyond The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth Collector Booster (Wizards of the Coast) |
Best Miniatures Game Product |
| Star Wars: Shatterpoint (Atomic Mass Games) |
Best Puzzle Game |
| Threads of Fate (Post Curious) |
Best Role-playing Game Adventure |
| Heckna! Deluxe Box Set (Hit Point Press) |
Best Role-playing Game Core Product |
| DIE: The Roleplaying Game (Rowan, Rook and Decard) |
Best Role-playing Game Starter Product |
| Dreams and Machines: Starter Set (Modiphius Entertainment) |
Best Role-playing Game Supplement |
| Dune: Power and Pawns (Modiphius Entertainment) |
Best Dice/Dice Related Accessory |
| Glyphic Blind Dice Bags Series 3.5 (Level Up Dice) |
Best Game Accessory |
| Frameamajigs (Hit Point Press) |
Best Role-playing Game Related Accessory |
| D&D Icons of the Realms: Adventure in a Box - Mind Flayer Voyage (WizKids) |
Best 2D Artwork |
| Kwanchai Moriya, Empire's End (Brotherwise Games) |
Best 3D Component |
| Threads of Fate - Puzzle Box (Post Curious) |
Best Game Related Writing |
| Grace Collins, Shadow in the Night Part 2, Cozy Companion Magazine (Snowbright Studio) |
Best Media Production |
| Eleni Papadopoulou, Making Board Games - The CGE Documentary (8-Part Series) |
Origins Game Fair is an annual gaming convention that was first held in 1975. Since 1996, it has been held in Columbus, Ohio at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Origins is run by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA). Origins was chartered to serve gaming in general, including wargaming and miniatures gaming.
Klaus Wilhelm Heinrich Teuber was a German board game designer best known as the creator of Catan. Originally working as a dental technician, he began designing games first as a hobby then as a full-time career.
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 gaming industry. They are presented by the Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for games released in the preceding year. For example, the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 game fair. Award categories include board games, card games, tabletop role-playing games, strategy games, and game accessories.
Flying Buffalo Inc. (FBI) is a game company with a line of role playing games, card games, and other gaming materials. The company's founder, Rick Loomis, began game publishing with Nuclear Destruction, a play-by-mail game which started the professional PBM industry in the United States. Loomis added games and players while introducing computer moderation and soon incorporated into the company Flying Buffalo Inc. The company published games in other genres, including card games such as Nuclear War and a role playing game called Tunnels & Trolls, a game similar to Dungeons & Dragons. Flying Buffalo acquired its 10,000th customer account number in 1980 and reached its largest size of 21 employees in 1983.
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.
The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is a non-profit trade association based in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to the advancement of the non-electronic social game industry – tabletop games, miniatures games, card games, collectable/tradeable card games, role-playing games, and live-action role playing games. Its members are game manufacturers, retailers, distributors, suppliers, conventions, clubs, and independent professionals related to the games industry.
Larry Harris Jr. is a game designer.
Berg's Review of Games was a publication started by game designer Richard Berg. The magazine, which featured reviews of video wargames and board wargames, debuted in 1991.
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Jennell Allyn Jaquays was an American game designer, video game artist, and illustrator of tabletop role-playing games (RPGs). Her notable works include the Dungeons & Dragons modules Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia for Judges Guild; the development and design of conversions on games such as Pac-Man and Donkey Kong for Coleco's home arcade video game system; and more recent design work, including the Age of Empires series, Quake II, and Quake III Arena. One of her best known works as a fantasy artist is the cover illustration for TSR's Dragon Mountain adventure.
Rick Loomis was an American game designer, most notable as the founder of game publisher Flying Buffalo, which he managed until his death.
Mike Elliott is a Seattle-based board game, card game and mobile game designer whose titles include Magic: The Gathering, Thunderstone, and Battle Spirits Trading Card Game. Magic head designer Mark Rosewater called him "one of the most prolific Magic designers in the history of the game." He was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design Hall of Fame at the 2017 Origins Game Fair.
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Root won Game of the Year.
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