Zenobia Award continues push to lift up underrepresented game designers, reveals nine nominees diversifying historical tabletop design

Games grappling with subjects including Indian revolutionaries fighting the British Raj and the moral dilemmas of enslaved textile workers in colonial Mexico are among the nominees for the second Zenobia Award, which looks to shine a light on diverse historical game designs from creators in marginalised groups.

The award aims to showcase games from women, people of colour and the LGBTQ community which explore hitherto overlooked or ignored areas of human history, covering political, social, cultural, scientific, economic or military affairs – with the hope of mentoring their designers and bringing those games towards publication.

That ideal has already been successful in the case of a string of games from the first Zenobia Award in 2021, with published titles including Dutch Resistance: Orange Shall Overcome by Marcel Köhler, Rising Waters by Scout Blum and Tindaya by Lolo Gonzalez.

Other games featured in the debut Zenobia Award which have since been announced for publication include Molly House by Jo Kelly & Cole Wehrle (to be published by Wehrlegig), Publish or Perish: Wiñay Kawsay by Alison Collins (WizKids) and Kartini: From Darkness To Light by Sherria Ayuandini (Ion Game Design).

Those games feature diverse subjects ranging from Molly House’s gender-defying mollies of early eighteenth century London, looking to throw masquerades and cruise back alleys while avoiding the police and informants, to the flooding of the Mississippi Delta in 1927 in Rising Waters, forcing African Americans to fight the forces of nature in addition to racism from white landowners.

Akar Bharadvaj, the winner of the inaugural 2021 award with his exploration of the caste system in India via Tyranny of Blood, is now leading the Zenobia Award process himself, alongside a board of industry professionals including COIN series designer Volko Ruhnke, BoardGameGeek writer and podcaster Candice Harris and former Netrunner lead designer Damon Stone.

Ruhnke told BoardGameWire, “Zenobia was an experiment that Harold [Buchanan] and I launched, hoping to recruit an army of volunteers, and without any specific intent of repeating it.

“Harold had to step back almost entirely (for other projects), and I remained purely in a supportive role, in case anyone involved wanted to pick up the baton. An aspect of that was that we felt we were not the most representative leaders available.

“And indeed, standing board member and history professor Christienne Hinz did pick up that baton and led the way for Zenobia II. Christienne wisely determined to take the time to digest and exploit lessons learned from the first round, rather than rush anything for an annual schedule – which no one had promised in any case.

“Happily, Zenobia II came together under a mix of old and new leadership, and I am delighted to remain involved myself as a mentor and board member. Christienne recently has had to step down from the board, again due to competing priorities in her life. Now Akar Bharadvaj has stepped into that role – quite fitting, as he was the first prize winner in Zenobia I.”

The full list of nominees for this year’s Zenobia Award is below. Finalists have until October 15 to revise their prototypes following feedback from the Zenobia judges, with the announcement of the top three games slated for November.

Zenobia Award 2024 Nominees:

The Porters (Set in the years 1900 to 1950)
by Lucas Cockburn, Neco Cockburn, Alex Goss
Canadian railways employ black porters to serve the white passengers of luxury sleepers. An informal brotherhood of porters forms, overcoming racism and fatigue to secretly organize unions that will admit black workers.

Obraje (17th Century)
by Diego Javier Luis
In colonial Mexico’s infamous textile mills, enslaved people confined to brutal labor confront moral dilemmas as they seek freedom, perhaps eking out a surprising mobility, perhaps living and dying in servitude.

Silencio (2010s)
by Luis M Salas
In a Mexican community suffering a terrible wave of violence, a victim struggles to survive. Some years later, a journalist investigates what happened in the town, hoping to interview the victim and also to avoid harm.

Aguirre (1560)
by Annabel Journey
When madman Don Lope de Aguirre takes over a Spanish colonial expedition searching for El Dorado, members of the party must survive both the dangers of the Amazon jungle and Aguirre’s growing paranoia.

An Outstretched Hand (1793 – 1914)
by Max Bentovim
Russia’s annexation of Poland and Lithuania brings a huge Jewish population into a society previously hostile to Jews. The state, Polish nobles, and Hasidic and Jewish modernity movements seek different fates for the Jews.

House of Wisdom (750 – 1258)
by Fagner Lima da Silva
Abbasid Baghdad hosts scholars who study, copy, and translate works of mathematics, philosophy, cartography, astronomy, and physics. Caravans cross North Africa, Europe, and Asia pursuing books for the great library.

Melaka – The Forgotten Empire (15th Century)
by Effendy Norzaman
The Malay Sultanate of Melaka has risen to become a great maritime empire. Nobles loyal to the Sultan outsmart each other by executing each royal command to build Melaka and expand its supremacy differently.

The Pursuit of Aguinaldo (1899 – 1902)
by Nicanor Marco P Valdez
As the Philippine President evades capture by US forces in Luzon, his outgunned army mounts a defensive campaign. Will growing US antiimperialist sentiment end the war, or will Aguinaldo be captured first?

Sabotage the Raj (1905 – 1918)
by Mohit Patel, Aakansha Patel, Chirag Prakash Arora
In colonial Bengal, secret revolutionaries plot against the British. Can they grow networks, set hideouts, get weapons, or make the bombs to incite a troop mutiny or popular rebellion?