A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are more common in co-operative games in which players work together than in competitive games in which players oppose each other. The act performed by a gamemaster is sometimes referred to as "Gamemastering" or simply "GM-ing".
A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters. The players pursue goals within a fictional setting represented by real-world environments while interacting with each other in character. The outcome of player actions may be mediated by game rules or determined by consensus among players. Event arrangers called gamemasters decide the setting and rules to be used and facilitate play.
Macrophilia is a fascination with or a sexual fantasy involving giants, most commonly expressed as giantesses, which may encompass either gender, as well as giant objects. In 2023, the Giantess kink was found to be the most popular kink searched for on the website Clips4Sale. Generally, depictions range from sexually explicit actions to non-sexual interactions while still providing sexual stimulation for those with the fantasy.
An eroge is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. The term encompasses a wide variety of Japanese games containing erotic content across multiple genres. The first eroge were created in the 1980s, and many well-known companies in the Japanese gaming industry originally produced and distributed them. Some eroge are primarily focused on erotic content, while others, such as Key's Kanon, only contain occasional scenes in an otherwise non-erotic work. Games in the latter category are often re-released with sexual content removed for general audiences. Throughout its history, the genre has faced controversy for its use of explicit sexual content, and as a result has been banned from several console platforms.
The Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The original award was made from a burned book encased in lucite. The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does not count popularity or commercial success as a sign of "excellence". The award was first presented in 2001.
Video games featuring sexual content has been found since the early days of the industry and can be found on most platforms and can be of any video game genre.
A role-playing game theory is the ludology of role-playing games (RPGs); a study of the topic as a social or artistic phenomenon. RPG theories seek to understand what role-playing games are, how they function, and how the gaming process can be refined in order to improve the experience and produce more useful game products.
Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is co-owned by Simon J Rogers and Cat Tobin. It currently produces GUMSHOE System RPGs, 13th Age, the Diana Jones award-winning Hillfolk RPG, The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, and other related products. It publishes fiction under the Stone Skin Press imprint.
Evil Hat Productions is a company that produces role-playing games and other tabletop games. They are best known for the free indie RPG system Fate, Blades in the Dark, and Thirsty Sword Lesbians, all of which have won multiple awards.
David Vincent Baker is a designer and theorist of tabletop role-playing games and the owner of indie role-playing games publisher Lumpley Games, which also hosts the archives of The Forge. He and his wife Meguey Baker designed Apocalypse World, the first game in the Powered by the Apocalypse system. Apocalypse World won Game of the Year, Best Support, and Most Innovative game at the 2010 Indie RPG Awards, and was 2011 RPG of the Year at both the Golden Geek Awards and Lucca Comics & Games. Baker also designed Dogs in the Vineyard, which won the 2004 Indie RPG Game of the Year and Innovation Award and was one of three games shortlisted for the 2004 Diana Jones Award.
Emily Care Boss is an indie roleplaying game designer, theorist and publisher. She was a foundational member of The Forge, an early leader in the indie role-playing game movement and is considered the creator of the American Freeform genre of roleplaying games, which combine indie RPG principles and mechanics with Nordic freeform and American chamber live action role-playing techniques. She has been referred to as the "Dean" of the North American school of structured freeform game design.
Whitney "Strix" Beltrán is a narrative designer and Project Narrative Director at Hidden Path Entertainment. Her writing and design career includes the indie game Bluebeard's Bride. She also founded the advocacy initiative Gaming as Other to promote inclusivity in the gaming community.
Jubensha , also known as script murder games, are a Chinese genre of live action role-playing (LARP) murder mystery game. This genre became popular in China in the late 2010s and has been described as a "mix of Cluedo, Werewolf and LARP".
Lucian Kahn is an American role-playing game writer/designer and musician based in Brooklyn. His work focuses on LGBT, Jewish, and subcultural themes, typically utilizing satire and farce. His games include Visigoths vs. Mall Goths and his music includes Schmekel.
Alex Roberts is a Canadian tabletop role-playing game designer. Her games typically lack a gamemaster (GM) and include romantic themes.
Jonaya Kemper is an American game design academic and game writer/designer. Kemper's work includes LARP, tabletop role-playing games, and computer games. Kemper coined the term and developed the theory of "emancipatory bleed."
Bluebeard's Bride is a gothic horror tabletop role-playing game based on the Bluebeard folktale. It was designed and written by Whitney "Strix" Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, and Sarah Richardson, and published by Magpie Games in 2017. Players represent five aspects of a woman's mind as she explores the mansion of her frightening new husband.
Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall is a tabletop role-playing game about Chinese immigrants to North America managing a family restaurant while battling Jiangshi, legendary hopping vampires. The game was designed by Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim, who are both Chinese immigrants. It was published independently in 2021 after a Kickstarter campaign raised over US$100,000. The instructions focus heavily on authentic portrayals of Chinese history and immigrant experiences. The default scenario takes place in San Francisco's Chinatown during the 1920s, but the game box comes with a book of scenarios by a variety of writers offering more adventures in different cities and historical periods. The game's tone can range from serious to comedy horror. Themes include fighting racism, exploring intergenerational knowledge and relationships, coping with economic hardship, and working together as a family.
The following are the winners of the 23rd annual ENNIE Awards, held in 2023.
Lust for Darkness is a 2018 horror game developed by Movie Games Lunarium and published by Movie Games. It is an erotic horror story inspired by Zdzisław Beksiński, H. R. Giger, and H. P. Lovecraft. It was originally released for Windows and macOS. SimFabric published it for Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2019 and 2020, respectively. A sequel, Lust from Beyond, was released in 2021.
