I have now finished playing all the games that have made the first cut. As I have thought about how to select finalists, I realized that the feeling of discomfort I was having had to do with the range of types of games. Placing them all in a single category was like the proverbial apples and oranges. So I propose that we give two "best of" awards: Best Strategy Game, and Best Light Game. The Strategy games either have perfect information and no chance elements, or have a hand of cards allowing multiple turn options: - Amoeba - Capture the Flag - Dectana - Hexachess - Infiltrate - Quicksand - Spectrum - Stack Control The Light games either have turns determined by a die roll or card draw (though this does not mean there is no decision about how to do the move), or have a real time, cooperative or dexterity component. - 3-High - Apophis - Behind Enemy Lines - Capture the Card - Crosswalk - Ziggurat - Landing Zone (seeing that this was 2nd in the Spring 2009 IGDC, I tried it out, too) Here is how I envision things now: 1. We pick 3 finalists in each category, or possibly less if we think there aren't that many worthy games. 2. We announce and publicize the finalists, for people to play and judge both before and during Origins. 3. We award 1 trophy in each category, plus possible certificates for 2nd and 3rd. This division of the games into categories appeals to me a lot, for several reasons: - It eliminates the apples-and-oranges problem, allowing games with a similar feel to be judged together. - It simplifies the finalist-choosing process. - It potentially gets more votes from other players: many players only like light games, or only like deep games, so they can play just the types of games that appeal to them. If they like both types they could play both groups, if they have the time and desire. Now, most of the cases of multiple games from the same designer fall into the Strategy category, so if we just allow one game per designer, and go by the designers' preferences, we'd just have 3 games left in that category: Dectana, Quicksand, and either Infiltrate or Stack Control. We could say "Great!" and run with those, except that: a) we'd probably need to choose between Robert Dudley's two games, because I doubt he's following all this, and I don't know how to contact him; b) we should still play the games to make sure we think they're worthy; c) we may want to allow one or two others, and then choose the finalists from the larger group. Possibilities for further consideration could include Spectrum, since it doesn't bother me for a designer to have 2 finalists if they're in different categories; and Hexachess, since it doesn't bother me all that much if a designer has 2 games ending up in the same finals, if they're worthy of it. Judges, give me your thoughts about all this, please. We are still willing to accept more judges, by the way, and if we choose these categories you can help pick the finalists in just one category, if that's all you have time or inclination for. Bryan