2017 Origins Awards Nominees Announced

At the end of last week, the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design announced the nominees for the 2017 Origins Awards.  Here's the list, with some inane commentary by me.  

1. Family Games (6 Nominees)

• Cartoon Network Crossover Crisis Deck-building Game by Cryptozoic Entertainment 
• Garbage Day by Mayday Games 
• Happy Salmon by North Star Games 
• Junk Art by Pretzel Games 
• Karuba by HABA 
• Speechless by Arcane Wonders

Fun fact:  I listed none of these items in my monthly The Apathy of New Releases post covering... well... new releases.   Either they MSRP was too high, there was zero pomotion within the Game Trade Monthly, or I just have poor decision making skills.  As I see dozens of poor board/family/card games cluttering the shelves at stores and cons that I would not have order with serious fanfare, I'll chalk it up to the first two issues.

ViscountEric's Pick:  NONE

2. Role-Playing Game (10 Nominees)

• 7th Sea: Second Edition by John Wick Presents 
• Curse of Strahd by Wizards of the Coast-D&D
• No Thank You, Evil! by Monte Cook Games 
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens by Fantasy Flight
• Shadowrun-Seattle Sprawl by Catalyst Game Labs 
• Symbaroum by Järnringen and co-published by Modiphius Entertainment 
• Storm King’s Thunder by Wizards of the Coast-D&D 
• Star Wars: Edge of the Empire-Special Modifications by Fantasy Flight 
• The One Ring: Horse: Lords of Rohan by Cubicle 7 
• Volo’s Guide to Monsters by Wizards of the Coast-D&D 

Two FFG Star Wars products and three WotC D&D give the other five a fair shake in the voting.

ViscountEric's Pick: No Thank You, Evil!

3. Traditional Card Games (8 Nominees)

• Dream Home by Asmodee 
• Fabled Fruit by Stronghold Games 
• Kanagawa by IELLO 
• Kodama: The Tree Spirits by Action Phase Games
• Lotus by Renegade Games 
• Mystic Vale by AEG
• Oh My Goods by Mayfair Games
• The Big Book of Madness by IELLO 

Oddly enough, the only item on this list that caught my eye was Oh My Goods, which warranted enough interest for me to post the game blurb with it, something I rarely do. 

Viscounteric's Pick: Oh My Goods

4. Game Accessories (4 Nominees)

• Blood Rage Organizer by The Broken Token
• Dungeon Morph Dice Adventurer Set by Inkwell Ideas / Q-Workshop
• Flip ‘N Tray Mat Case by Ultimate Guard 
• Improved D Total by Gamescience 

Very disappointing nominees for the category.  The new Gamescience still piques my old-school fascinations.

Viscounteric's Pick:  Improved D Total

5. Board Games (10 Nominees) 

• Blood Rage 
• Clank! by Renegade Games
• Cry Havoc by Portal Games 
• Feast for Odin by Z Man Games/AsmodeeIslebound by Red Raven Games 
• Mansions of Madness by Fantasy Flight/Asmodee 
• Scythe by Stonemaier Games 
• Star Wars Rebellion by Fantasy Flight 
• Terraforming Mars 
• World’s Fair 1893 by Renegade Game Studios and Foxtrot Games 

Finally, a category I have familiarity with!  Most of these are solid games, but I did enjoy Terraforming Mars far more than the sales pitches I've gotten from fans of the others.  And unlike Scythe, the set-up/clean-up of Terraforming is far less arduous for more playing time.

Viscounteric's Pick:  Terraforming Mars.

6. Collectible Games (5 Nominees)

• Yu-Gi-Oh Breaker of Shadow Booster by Konami 
• Pokémon XY11 Steam Siege Booster by Pokémon USA
• Magic the Gathering: Kaladesh Booster Pack by Wizards of the Coast
• Marvel HeroClix: Uncanny X-Men Booster Brick by WizKids
• Cardfight Vanguard Fighters Collection by Bushiroad

I didn't hear any raving reviews of any of the collectible games that aren't for Magic.

Viscounteric's Pick:  Kaladesh

7. Miniatures (5 Nominees)

• Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team by Games Workshop
• Konflikt ’47 by Warlord Games 
• Dragon Rampant by Battlefront/Gale Force Nine
• TANKS by Battlefront/Gale Force Nine 
• Dropfleet Commander by Hawk Wargames 

Wow, the one category I'm truly interested in and 40K Kill Team is on it?  Yuck.   I'm assuming Dragon Rampant is the one released through Osprey Publishing... correct me if I'm wrong.

Viscounteric's Pick:  Dragon Rampant