Kurt Vonnegut’s long-lost board game, the ‘clean Wehrmacht’, and ethical action in game design among finalist topics in award celebrating exceptional media coverage of historical gaming culture

The Bobby Nunes Memorial Award, launched last year to recognise historical gaming’s most exceptional culture writers, podcasters and video essay makers, has unveiled its second annual cohort of finalists.

Board game designer and Hollandspiele co-founder Amabel Holland is one of three creators to have been nominated in both years of the award, this time with her video essay on author Kurt Vonnegut’s long-lost board game GHQ, its cultural relevance and the wider subject of game preservation.

She is joined again as a 2025 finalist by A Gest of Robin Hood designer Fred Serval, the creator of the Homo Ludens podcast and YouTube channel, for his work hosting a panel which addressed the sensitive and often contentious portrayal of the Wehrmacht in historical wargames.

The panel, which featured Professor Alastair Kocho Williams, Jan Heinemann, Volko Ruhnke, and Dr Waitman Beorndrew, drew praise from judges for how it discussed the legacy of World War II design models and the evolution of opinion on framing, mythology, and representation of atrocities in those games.

Board game writer and reviewer Dan Thurot, whose site Space-Biff! exemplifies thoughtful insight and commentary about the deeper nature, workings and cultural positioning of tabletop game designs, also picked up his second nomination – this time for his audio interview with designer Francisco Gradaille about his game Onoda, which centres on a Japanese soldier who continued a campaign of guerilla warfare on a Philippines island for almost three decades after the end of World War II.

Judges noted that Thurot had consistently examined how players grapple with discomfort and alienation in the framework of play throughout his work, and that in the context of this conversation, listeners received particular insight into how Gradaille grappled with depicting a controversial figure such as Onoda and the struggles with defining victory conditions for such a tragic story.

This year’s award also saw long-time board game reviewer Charlie Theel nominated for the first time for his written essay on ethical action and game design, which he tied into the work of Immanuel Kant and deontology more broadly as well as magic circle theory, player agency and framing.

The judges said Theel’s work discussing the limits of imposing a moral quandary on players through competing incentives, and the comparative power of immersion and storytelling, offered valuable insight to players and designers alike.

The Bobby Nunes Memorial Award was launched last year in memory of the eponymous Robert “Bobby Factor” Nunes – a hugely popular figure in historical gaming circles who was central to the recent growth of the San Diego Historical Games Convention – who died of cancer in early 2024.

Finalists are chosen by the SDHistCon board, with this year’s winner expected to be announced at its Summit convention November 8.

SDHistCon founder Harold Buchanan, the designer of games including Liberty or Death: The American Insurrection, said last year that the award aimed to reflect Nunes’ enthusiasm for and interest in discussing important cultural issues within the historical gaming hobby.

This year’s award aimed to emphasise individual essays, videos, and interviews rather than larger bodies of work.

BoardGameWire noted last year that the award was a welcome addition to a board game industry which, understandably, largely sees its awards focused on celebrating outstanding game designs, designers and successful publishers.

The work of writers and audiovisual creators – many of whom are producing perceptive, considered investigations of the culture in and around game design – remains very poorly recognised, with the Diana Jones Award the only real major prize to acknowledge excellence outside of design work or general game popularity.

SDHist also highlighted a trio of honourable mentions for the 2025 award which did not make it to the final four.

They included veteran wargame designer Mark Herman’s book Wargames According To Mark: A Historian’s View of Wargame, The Art of Rodger B. MacGowan, a book showcasing the work of the prominent artist and graphic designer who passed away in February, and Maurice Suckling’s book Paper Time Machines: Critical Game Design and Historical Board Games.

The inaugural Bobby Nunes Award last year was won by board game designer Liz Davidson for her interview podcast series Beyond Solitaire.