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ENNIE Awards

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ENNIES
Awarded forBest role-playing games of previous year
CountryUnited Kingdom & United States
Presented byGen Con
Formerly calledENnie Awards
First awarded2001
Websiteennie-awards.com

The ENNIE Awards (previously stylized as ENnie Awards)[1][2] are awards for role-playing game (RPG) products (including game-related accessories, publications, and art) and their creators. The awards were created in 2001 by Russ Morrissey of EN World in partnership with Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D Third Edition News.[3] The ceremony has been hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis since 2002.[2] Since 2018, EN World is no longer associated with the awards.

The ENNIES comprise two rounds. In the first round, publishers submit their products for nomination. Entries are judged by five democratically elected judges. The nominated products are voted on by the public in the second round. Winners of the annual awards are then announced at a ceremony at Gen Con.

History

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The award ceremony initially focused on the d20 System products and publishers. It has come to include "all games, supplements, and peripheral enterprises".[4] Since 2002, the awards have been announced at a live ceremony at Gen Con. It is now considered a "signature part" of the convention.[4] Author George R. R. Martin referred to the ENNIE Awards as "the most prestigious honors in role-playing" in 2010.[5]

The nominees are chosen by a panel of judges, and the winners are voted on by the public and presented at an award show done in collaboration between Gen Con and EN World.[6]

In 2007, the ENNIES were sponsored by the corporation Your Games Now, followed by Avatar Art in 2008. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, they were sponsored by both Indie Press Revolution and DriveThruRPG. From 2013 to 2016, they were sponsored by DriveThruRPG alone. In 2015, Campaign Coins made the medals as a sponsorship; Lone Wolf Development became a sponsor in 2017. The awards were run and owned by Morrissey until 2019.[7]

In 2015, the awards disqualified the unofficially licensed Mass Effect RPG for copyright violations.[8]

In 2020, Massif Press withdrew its RPG Lancer from the competition over a 2017 controversy, where a game module for the Lamentations of the Flame Princess system titled Blood in the Chocolate received a Gold award in the Adventure category, despite being widely described as 'offensive', 'particularly icky', and 'simply ridiculous' by press, industry members and the publisher itself.[9][10] Charlie Hall commented for Polygon in 2020:[11]

The Ennies are unique among gaming awards. Judges are volunteers, who follow a strict set of ethical guidelines. Chief among them is the vow not to have any professional relationship with any RPG publisher in the lead up to the awards. They help ensure that the Ennies aren’t just a popularity contest by winnowing down the dozens upon dozens of submissions to only the very best. Once the short list has been created, voting on the final winners is open to all.

Categories

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The ENNIE Awards bestow a Gold Winner and a Silver Winner for 1st and 2nd place winners, respectively. As of 2024, the current categories are:[12]

  • Judge's Spotlight
  • Best Adventure - Long Form
  • Best Adventure - Short Form
  • Best Aid/Accessory - Digital
  • Best Aid/Accessory - Non-digital
  • Best Art, Cover
  • Best Art, Interior
  • Best Cartography
  • Best Community Content
  • Best Family Game/Product
  • Best Free Game/Product
  • Best Game
  • Best Layout and Design
  • Best Monster/Adversary
  • Best Online Content
  • Best Production Values
  • Best RPG Related Product
  • Best Rules
  • Best Setting
  • Best Streaming Content
  • Best Supplement
  • Best Writing
  • Product of the Year (first introduced in 2007 as Best Product)

Winners by year

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The categories change yearly, depending on the nominations.

References

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  1. ^ "ENnie Awards Present the Best in Tabletop Role-Playing". Wired. August 20, 2009. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b Hall, Charlie (July 5, 2017). "The best tabletop RPGs of 2017". Polygon. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  3. ^ "About – ENNIE Awards". Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  4. ^ a b Rome, Ben H. (2013). Games' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Players, Pawns, and Power-Ups. Chris Hussey. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-59797-724-1. OCLC 855019926.
  5. ^ "22 | July | 2010 | Not a Blog".
  6. ^ "Annual ENnie Awards Honor Best of Roleplaying Games". August 20, 2014.
  7. ^ "ENnies Leadership Change Announcement". ENnie Awards. February 15, 2019. Archived from the original on April 21, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  8. ^ "Tabletop RPG Award Nominates Copyright Infringing Game For Multiple Awards(UPDATE)". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Bleeding Cool. June 29, 2015.
  9. ^ "RPG: Lancer Withdraws From ENnies, Protesting Controversial Title Receiving Award". Bell of Lost Souls. July 2, 2020.
  10. ^ "ENnies 2020 nominee will refuse any awards until organisers address 2017 controversy". Geek Native. June 30, 2020.
  11. ^ Hall, Charlie (June 30, 2020). "2020's best tabletop RPGs (so far), as chosen by fans". Polygon. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  12. ^ Jovanée, Alice (August 3, 2024). "Where to buy the best TTRPGs from Gen Con 2024". Polygon. Retrieved August 5, 2024.
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