1KM1KT / FRPGB 24 Hour Competition People's Choice

[tygertyger]

As a prelude to the official award for this contest I invite you all to join me in handing out some mini-awards. In honor of my all-too-brief career in film production I have decided to call these the Mickeys (no, not after the mouse).
The way this works is thus: I will provide the categories and name my own nominees (in addition to giving some nods to other games which I think did well). Those who choose to join in may second my nominations or give nominees of their own. There is no limit to the number of seconds. We narrow it down to three nominees in each category based on the number of "me, toos" each one gets; I'll be happy to tally those up. Then we vote on the nominees in each category to see who gets slipped a Mickey. I will gladly tally the votes, unless we can get one of our kind and generous admins to set up a poll. There's no cash prize, alas. The benefit of winning a Mickey is the inevitable ego boost you get from knowing that the other contestants liked something about your game.

And so, without further ado (aside: why isn't there ever any further adon't?), I present the categories and my nominees for the first annual Mickey awards!

The "I Feel Pretty" Award: this award is for the overall look of the game... layout, font selection, etc. There are four games that really stand out in this area. Verge, Geodesic Gnomes, Bloody Stuffing and Keeton Must Die are all beautiful testaments to the power of having the right software on hand (I MUST get Adobe InDesign, yes indeed). But since I can only nominate one game, I have to go with Keeton Must Die. Of the three this one looks the most professional.

The "Worth a Thousand Words" Award: yep, you guessed it; this award is for art. Most of the entries don't even qualify for this one. Of the ones that do, it's no surprise that two of the nominees in the previous category also made good showings here (Bloody Stuffing and Keeton Must Die). Extended Mission, Big Hearts in Big Country and The Great Hamster Rebellion all did a good job of matching art to theme. But the creampuff, IMHO, is Doom and Cookies. The choice of pictures meshes perfectly with the Victorian theme of the game. Including some classic art from Alice in Wonderland is just icing on the cake.

The "Secret Identity" Award: this category describes a game that may or may not work as an rpg but would definitely be great as some other form of game. Doom and Cookies has a feel that would make it great as a parlor game (i.e. Baron Munchausen), and the cookie mechanic could easily be adapted into a drinking game. But I have to go with Extended Mission for this one. EM has the makings of an awesome board game. Seriously, I'd play it.

The "My God, It's Full of Stars" Award: this rather nebulous category is for a game that turns out to be bigger on the inside than the outside gave any clue about. The name of the game here is grand scope, epic theme and evocative setting. Big Hearts in Big Country has a lot of this feel, but for sheer hugeness of concept I must go with the most excellent Out of Frame. The setting has room in it for some truly great mysteries, and the fact that the GM doesn't necessarily know the answers at game start is way friggin' cool. Of all the entries, this is easily the biggest sandbox to play in.

The "Honey, Where's My Dicebag?" Award: of course I saved the best for last. This category is for the game that evokes the greatest itch to play. If I can understand how to make a character after reading the rules, that's good. If I find myself thinking up character concepts as I'm reading the rules, that's very good. If I also find myself coming up with dialogue for that character, the game rocks. Only two games had that effect on me this go-round. Keeton Must Die, by the standard mentioned previously, is very good. But my nominee in this category, Big Hearts in Big Country, rocks. Mind, this is very much a "your mileage may vary" award -- but for me, a cowboy game in which white hat and black hat are practically part of the game mechanics is way cool.

That's it from me. I look forward to reading what y'all have to say!

[Rob Lang]

Well, I can't actually join in on this but I can wholeheartedly support it I think it even deserves its own thread. If you get something of a consensus, when I write up on the Free RPG Blog, I'll include the People's Choice awards too. For the overall People's Choice you might want to put up a poll.

[Dyson Logos]

Thanks for the notice. As a footnote - the layout for Geodesic Gnomes was done entirely in Open Office. For all intents and purposes, it is basically a word document.

[molub]

Heh. I used Open Office too.

By the way, Geodesic Gnomes looks great. It's probably my favorite entry so far.

[Nephilim]

I haven't had a chance to read all the entries yet, but I have to say I like Hundedammerung, even though I don't think I can pronouce it. Back in the day, I actually ran a game very similar to this where the players take on the role of dogs. It was an offshoot of playing the old game Bunnies and Burrows, which was basically Watership Down: the RPG. I can't speak to the mechanics of Hundedammerung at the table, since I haven't played it, but I can say to anyone skeptical that an RPG about dogs could provide enough richness for some real fun at the table has nothing to worry about. My own "dog game" long ago didn't have the darker stuff happening, like zombie cats, so Hundedammerung brought something fresh, even though it's a place I've already been to. My only gripe, really, is that I would have liked less fiction and more sample adventure, but the former can help feed the latter, so it's really only a minor gripe (if you can even call wanting more a gripe).

I liked Rob's game, too, as I mentioned elsewhere, if he qualifies for People's Choice as a judge.

I liked the one where you played the robot, Extended Mission. I was a little confused by how the core game mechanics work at first, but they certainly evoke robotic decision-making, so I suspect it would be worth taking the time to internalize them because of how well they'd mesh with the theme of the game, and just how original they seemed. I agree that it would probably make for a good board game, too.

I have to say I have a bit of a soft spot for the games that did the "French invade Texas" theme. I like the idea of a game that hinges on some quirky event from history, and I appreciate that people did some research and tried to tie this in with history rather than just getting wild with it.

Finally, I'd like to say that I've enjoyed reading every one I've read so far. There's something cool about seeing these rough sketches of games, and every one of them has had something interesting. Even if I don't get around to playing most of these games, they will be touchstones and inspiration for future design and game refereeing, because there's at least one interesting twist or concept in each one.

Fun contest!

[Starglim]

I still have several entries to read. I can't find The French Invade Texas - has it been posted?

I'd like to nominate Hypothermia for "Worth a Thousand Words" and "My God, It's Full of Stars". There are some really big and stark ideas in the setting.

No argument with the nominees for layout. I particularly liked Bloody Stuffing.

[tygertyger]

[Maeglin Dubh]

[Starglim]

[Corone]

I thought it was time to weight in with a vote.

Although I've not had time to read everything,
its been interesting to look at the favourites.

Generally, in all categories I'm a fan of Keeton Must Die.
I love the demon bears and the layout is just brilliantly done.
It also made me want to print it out right there and then and play it.

However, I wanted to join the general kudos to Hundedammerung,
as the idea is really solid, and stands out among animal rpgs for not playing cats

Extended mission didn't grab me until I took a proper look.
I'd love to see it developed as 24 hours wasn't long enough to do justice to this really interesting idea.

I also really like the idea of a living city in Verge.
The layout is excellent as well, all hail indesign

I obviously can't vote for my Doom and Cookies,
but thanks for saying nice things about it in previous posts