New-look Origins Awards has a massive 120 nominees this year; new Hall of Fame inductees revealed
The Origins Awards, one of board gaming’s longest-running prizes voted on by industry professionals, has picked out a huge slate of 120 nominees for its 2024 competition – which coincides with the 50th anniversary of its namesake gaming convention.
The awards, which are organised by non-profit trade organization GAMA, have been in heavy flux over the past few years, going from 10 categories in 2019 to 24 last year, and significantly shaking up the make-up of those categories from year to year.
GAMA has shrunk the awards back down to 12 categories this year, with no room for new segments introduced in 2024 to better represent GAMA’s growing expansion beyond just retailers, publishers and wholesalers.
Categories cut from the list this year include Best Media Production, Best Game Related Writing and Best 2D artwork, although the miniatures segment has been expanded from two categories to three this time around, covering games, the miniatures themselves, and paint and accessories.
But the overall number of nominated games competing across the reduced categories this year has soared by more than 50%, from 79 to 120.
A total of 50 board games will fight it out this year across five categories, with co-op and solo games being pulled together into a single award, and the other prizes covering light and heavy strategy games, gateway games and party games.
Trading card games and collectible card games will compete in constructible and randomised categories – the latter of which awards booster boxes and displays – while RPGs are represented across two categories, games and supplements.
Winners will be announced at this year’s Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, which is taking place between June 18 and 22.
Origins sealed a record post-Covid attendance last year, with visitor numbers up 10% to 17,700 compared to the 2023 event – a steady recovery from the lows of about 10,500 and 11,500 posted in 2021 and 2022, when many people were still reluctant to attend large gatherings in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The recovery in Origins’ visitor numbers has not been as marked as other large conventions, however, and despite sales growth for some publisher attending last year, some reported losses, while other attendees bemoaned the fair’s lack of larger publishers.
GAMA executive director John Stacy told BoardGameWire after last year’s Origins that he anticipated some larger companies returning this year for the 50th anniversary.
The trade organisation has also revealed its hall of fame entrants this year, awarded – like the Origins Awards – by its division the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design.
AAGAD describes itself as “a peer based network of gaming industry professionals whose mission is to promote innovation and excellence in design and production of games and game related materials”.
Individuals inducted into the hall of fame this year include Qwirkle designer Susan McKinley-Ross, Castles of Burgundy creator Stefan Feld and Ryo Mizuno, the Japanese writer behind the Record of Lodoss War.
Vlaada Chvátil design Codenames and R&R Games’ charades-like game Time’s Up have also been inducted to the hall of fame this year.
The Full List of Origins Awards Nominees for 2024
Co-op/Solo
Bomb Busters – Pegasus Spiele North America
The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game – Office Dog Games
Slay the Spire: The Board Game – Contention Games
Ultimatch – Fireside Games
Wolves – Coyote & Crow
A Gentle Rain – Kinfire Chronicles
Wilmot’s Warehouse – CMYK
The Gang – Thames & Kosmos
Marvel United: Multiverse – CMON
Daybreak – CMYK
Gateway
Captain Flip – Play Punk
Castle Combo – Pandasaurus
River Valley Glassworks – Allplay
Seaside – Hachette
YRO – Play to Z
Gnome Hollow – Levity Games & The Op
Explorers of Navoria – Dranda Games
Trio – Happy Camper
MLEM – Rebel Studio
River of Gold – Office Dog
Party
Caution Signs – Wise Wizard
Change My Mind – Change My Mind
Flip 7 – The Op
Hurt Party – Pink Tiger
Ito – Arcane Wonders
This Game is Killer – Smirk & Dagger
Tiger Banana Pancake – Right Wrong Games
Cloud Nine: A Game of Wonderful Things – Pink Tiger
Ghosts Can’t Draw – Big Potato Games
Things in Rings – Allplay
Heavy Strategy
Arcs: Conflict and Collapse in the Reach – Leder Games
Dune: War for Arrakis – CMON
Endeavor: Deep Sea – Burnt Island Games
SETI: Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence – Czech Games
Andromeda’s Edge – Lucky Duck
Rock Hard 1977 – Devir
Ascending Empires: Zenith Edition – Play to Z
Prime Minister – GMT Games
Unconscious Mind – Lucky Duck
Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth – Asmodee
Light strategy
boop the Halls! – Smirk & Dagger
Confusing Lands – Envy Born
Creature Caravan – Red Raven
Faraway – Pandasaurus
Fromage – Allplay
Lure – Allplay
Lynx – Play to Z
Zoomies – Fireside Games
Star Realms Academy – Wacky Wizard Games
Wonderous Creatures – Bad Comet
Constructible (including TCG, CCG, and deckbuilding among other games)
Fixed
Compile: Main 1 – Greater Than Games
Magic: The Gathering Foundations Starter Collection – WOTC
Pagan: Fate of Roanoke – Capstone Games
Star Wars Unlimited – Spark of Rebellion Two-Player Starter Set – Fantasy Flight
Magic: The Gathering – Fallout Commander Deck Bundle – WOTC
Disney Lorcana Gateway Shimmering Skies – Ravensburger
Altered TCG Beyond the Gates Starter Deck Set of 6 – Altered
Flesh & Blood – Part the Mistveil Blitz Deck Collection – Legend Story Studios
Marvel Heroclix: Starter Set 2025 – WizKids
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game Anniversary Collection Set 2024 – Square Enix
Randomized
Neopets Battledome Trading Card Game: Defenders of Neopia Booster Box – Upper Deck
Round Table Trading Card Game Starter Decks Nimue – Innovation Studio
Star Wars: Unlimited – Spark of Rebellion Booster Box – Fantasy Flight
Altered – Beyond the Gate Booster Display – Altered
Sorcery: Contested Realm – Arthurian Legends Booster Box – Erik’s Curiosa Limited
Pokémon Trading Card Game: Scarlet & Violet-Surging Sparks Booster Box – Pokemon
Disney Lorcana – Into the Inklands Booster Pack Display – Ravensburger
Magic: The Gathering – Bloomburrow Collector Booster Box – WOTC
Konami Yu-Gi-Oh Collectible Card Game: 25th Anniversary: Rarity Collection 2 Booster Box – Konami
Flesh & Blood – Rosetta Booster Box – Legend Story Studios
Miniature games
Miniature Core Product
Car Wars Sixth Edition: Two-Player Starter Set: Orange/Purple – Steve Jackson Games
Field of Screams with Seven Sleeping Kings – The WitchBorn Corporation
Halo: Flashpoint Starter Spartan Edition – Mantic Games
Heroscape: Age of Annihilation Master Set – Renegade Game Studios
Mutant Year Zero: Zone Wars – Free League
Mythic Earth Core Rule Book 2.0 – Mythicos Studios
Warhammer Underworld: Embergard – Games Workshop
Warhammer: The Old World Core Set – Tomb Kings of Khemri Edition – Games Workshop
Battletech: A Game of Armored Combat 40th Anniversary – Catalyst Game Labs
Star Trek: Into the Unknown – Federation vs. Dominion Core Set – WizKids
Miniature
Game Workshop’s Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen – Games Workshop
Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Electro & Sandman & Shocker & Vulture – Atomic Mass
Cyber Pet Quest Diorama (75 mm) – Dead Alive Games
Fool’s Gold: Tarrasque (Gray) – Hit Point Press
Marvel: Crisis Protocol – Apocalypse – Atomic Mass
Star Wars: Shatterpoint This Is Some Rescue! Squad Pack – Atomic Mass
The Stormlight Archive Premium Miniatures – Brotherwise Games
Conquest – Sorcerer Kings: Efreet Flamecasters/Sword Dancers (Dual Kit) – Para Bellum Games
Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team – Night Lords Nemesis Claw – Games Workshop
GodTear: Durthax, Branchlord of the Weald & Treekin – Steamforged Games
Miniature Paint/Hobby Accessory
One Page Rules Brush Set – Chronicle RPGs
Paint Weaver Full Airbrush Kit – Lethal Shadows
Pro Acryl Signature Series Set 6 – Rogue Hobbies – Rogue Hobby
Turbo Dork Thinning Medium – Turbo Dork
Two Thin Coats: Omega Blue – Duncan Rhodes Painting Academy
AK Interactive Real Colors Markers Set – AK Interactive
Vallejo Model Colour – Light Violet – Vallejo Acrylics
Gamers Grass Alien Grass Tuft Starter Set – GamersGrass
Artis Opus Series D Medium Drybrush – Artis Opus
AK Interactive Rubble Dust – Enamel Liquid Pigment – AK Interactive
Role-playing games
RPG Core
Arzium Roleplaying Game – Red Raven
Cowboy Bebop Roleplaying Game – Corebook – Mana Project Studio
PARA: The Role-playing Game – Eerie Games
Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast – Possum Creek/SJG
Arkham Horror: The Roleplaying Game – Core Rulebook – Asmodee
Mothership Deluxe Set – Tuesday Knight
Pathfinder Player Core 2 – Paizo
Dungeons & Dragons Players Handbook (2024) – WOTC
Eat the Reich – Rowan, Rook & Decard
Star Trek Adventures: The Roleplaying Game Second Edition Core Rulebook – Modiphius
RPG Supplement
The One Ring: Moria – Through the Doors of Durin – Free League
The Making of Original Dungeons and Dragons: 1970-1977 – WOTC
Call of Cthulhu: No Time to Scream – Chaosium
Heroes of Mythic Americas – Mythicos Studios
Through the Hedgerow: A Roleplaying Game of Rustic Fantasy – Osprey Publishing
The Wildsea: Storm and Root – Mythoworks
Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game – Starter Kit (2nd Edition) – Greater Than Games
Blades in the Dark: Deep Cuts – JohnHarper.itch.io
Mothership: Warden’s Operations Manual – Tuesday Knight
Star Crossed: Love Letters – Bully Pulpit Games
