The Finalists

The five finalists for The Board Game Workshop Design Contest we’re announced back in November. Recently I’ve been doing a lot of work for the contest. Setting up the web pages for the finalists and interviewing the designers for the podcast.

The contest started kind of on a whim and has been a learning experience the whole way through. Which I’ve talked about a few times. But I’m very happy with how it’s gone and I’m excited to play all of the finalists.

The contest had a variety of different games. Different themes, complexities, and mechanics. Looking at the finalists there are some differences and some similarities.

One is a dexterity game. As far as I can tell it was the only dexterity game in the contest. One is a co-op, there were only 6 co-ops in the 87 entries. Two are first time designs. All 5 are light to medium games, mostly geared towards families. There are 3 Chrises amongst the finalist designers, which is purely coincidental.

I think the games being on the lighter side might be from the contest format. Since the early rounds were based on video submissions it can be easier to get across the concept and rules of a lighter game. They all have a unique feel to them, which was part of the goal of the contest.

I don’t have any idea which game will win. And that’s exciting. They are all so different and look fun to play. Finally getting the games in hand and playing them will be interesting.

On Wednesday, December 12, I will release the podcast episode with all of the finalist interviews and audience judging will start. That’s right, you can help judge the final round. Head over to the finalists page, watch the videos, read the rules and then fill out the judging form. You can also give optional feedback on the game. And designers love feedback. It’s the same process the judges used in rounds one and two, so it’s great practice if you want to be a judge for next years contest.