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The Ion Award is the largest board game design competition in the United States. It is held annually in Utah at the SaltCON board game convention. [1] [2] [3] The competition started in 2009 for unpublished game designs, with the intent to bring designers and publishers together, [4] and to recognize excellence in game design. [5] The first Ion Awards had the support of national publishers including Eagle-Gryphon Games, Mayday Games, Rio Grande Games, and Out of the Box Publishing, and has continued to get national and international support. [6]
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The competition has received game design entries from all over the world. Board game designs that have won the Ion Award or have been selected as finalists have been published every year since its inception. [7] [8] [9]
Each year local [10] and international board game publishers are selected as judges for the competition, including longtime judges Eagle-Gryphon Games, Mayday Games, Gamelyn Games and others. [11] [12]
The competition has two rounds of judging. First all the entering designers submit rules, images, videos, and summaries of their unpublished game designs. Those entries are then reviewed by judges all over the world, and finalists are selected. The 4 finalists in each category [13] are invited to attend the final round of judging at the SaltCON convention, where they present their game design in person to the final judges. After the final judging, the winners are announced at the Awards Ceremony at the convention. [14]
The Ion Award at first featured only a single Best Game winner each year, but since 2011, it has featured both a Light Game category and a Strategy Game category. [15]
Finalists are announced about a month before the live event. Winners are announced a few days after the final judging. [16] [17] [18]