XYZZY Awards 2021: final results

The 2021 XYZZY Awards are complete! Here are the winners; congratulations to all, and thanks to everyone who participated.

Best Game: What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best Writing: Sting (Mike Russo)

Best Story: What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best Setting: The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)

Best Puzzles: Grooverland (Mathbrush)

Best NPCs: Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires (E. Joyce, N. Cormier)

Best Individual Puzzle: The hair swap, in The Libonotus Cup (Nils Fagerburg)

Best Individual NPC: Liz, in Sting (Mike Russo)

Best Individual PC: Marid, in The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)

Best Implementation (tie): The Libonotus Cup (Nils Fagerburg); The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)

Best Use of Innovation (tie): 4×4 Archipelago (Agnieszka Trzaska); Excalibur (J.J. Guest, G.C. Baccaris, Duncan Bowsman); The Last Night of Alexisgrad (Milo van Mesdag)

Best Technological Development: Gruescript (Robin Johnson)

Best Use of Multimedia: Fish & Dagger (grave snail games)

Congratulations again to the winners and nominees. See you next year!

XYZZY Awards 2021, final round

Voting is complete in the first round of the 2021 XYZZY Awards. Congratulations to our finalists!

Voting is open for the final round, and will remain open through December 17th. The XYZZYs use your IF Comp login; if you need to register an account with the Comp, or you’ve forgotten your account details, go here. You can log in here (you’ll get kicked back to the front page, but you are in fact logged in) and then vote here

(Anyone may vote, but you are asked not to vote for your own work, or to organise voters to support a particular game or slate thereof.)

Best Game

  • And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)
  • The Best Man (Stephen Bond)
  • Even Some More Tales from Castle Balderstone (Ryan Veeder)
  • The Faeries Of Haelstowne (Christopher Merriner)
  • The Libonotus Cup (Nils Fagerburg)
  • The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)
  • What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best Writing

  • The Best Man (Stephen Bond)
  • Dr Horror’s House of Terror (Ade McT)
  • Sting (Mike Russo)
  • What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best Story

  • And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)
  • The Best Man (Stephen Bond)
  • Excalibur (J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris, Duncan Bowsman)
  • Off-Season at the Dream Factory (B.J. Best (as “Carroll Lewis”))
  • What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best Setting

  • Even Some More Tales from Castle Balderstone (Ryan Veeder)
  • The Faeries Of Haelstowne (Christopher Merriner)
  • The Golden Heist (George Lockett, Rob Thorman)
  • The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)

Best Puzzles

  • Dr Horror’s House of Terror (Ade McT)
  • Grooverland (Mathbrush)
  • Gruesome (Robin Johnson)
  • The Song of the Mockingbird (Mike Carletta)
  • What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best NPCs

  • And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)
  • Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires (E. Joyce, N. Cormier)
  • Mean Mother Trucker (Bitter Karella)

Best Individual Puzzle

  • Dead Armadillo in Mean Mother Trucker (Bitter Karella)
  • Hair Swap in The Libonotus Cup (Nils Fagerburg)
  • The movable stage with the laserfight in Grooverland (Mathbrush)
  • The statuette puzzle in The Golden Heist (George Lockett, Rob Thorman)

Best Individual NPC

  • Cécile in The Libonotus Cup (Nils Fagerburg)
  • The Green Knight in At King Arthur’s Christmas Feast (Travis Moy)
  • Liz in Sting (Mike Russo)
  • Melpomene in Lady Thalia and the Seraskier Sapphires (E. Joyce, N. Cormier)
  • Ottoline in The Faeries Of Haelstowne (Christopher Merriner)
  • Riley in And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)
  • Skeleton in Gruesome (Robin Johnson)
  • The Witch in And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)

Best Individual PC

  • Aiden Tunney in The Best Man (Stephen Bond)
  • Big Ester in Mean Mother Trucker (Bitter Karella)
  • Emerson in And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)
  • Marid in The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)

Best Implementation

  • And Then You Come to a House Not Unlike the Previous One (B.J. Best)
  • Dr Horror’s House of Terror (Ade McT)
  • Even Some More Tales from Castle Balderstone (Ryan Veeder)
  • The Libonotus Cup (Nils Fagerburg)
  • Open Sorcery: Sea++ (Abigail Corfman)
  • The Weight of a Soul (Chin Kee Yong)

Best Use of Innovation

  • 4×4 Archipelago (Agnieszka Trzaska)
  • Even Some More Tales from Castle Balderstone (Ryan Veeder)
  • Excalibur (J. J. Guest, G. C. Baccaris, Duncan Bowsman)
  • Fish & Dagger (grave snail games)
  • The Last Night of Alexisgrad (Milo van Mesdag)
  • What Heart Heard Of, Ghost Guessed (Amanda Walker)

Best Technological Development

  • FrankenDrift release
  • Gruescript release

Best Use of Multimedia

  • Cygnet Committee (P.B. Parjeter)
  • Fish & Dagger (grave snail games)
  • Off-Season at the Dream Factory (B.J. Best (as “Carroll Lewis”))
  • [PYG]MALION* (C.J.)

XYZZY Awards 2021: first round

The first round of the XYZZY Awards, celebrating the best interactive fiction of 2021, is now open.

The XYZZYs are open-voting, and use your IF Comp login; if you need to register an account with the Comp, or you’ve forgotten your account details, go here. You can log in here (you’ll get kicked back to the front page, but do not adjust your set: you are in fact logged in) and then vote here

In the first round, anyone can nominate up to two eligible games in each category. (You are asked not to vote for your own work, or to organise voters to support a particular game or slate.)

First-round voting will remain open through December 3.

XYZZY Awards 2020: winners

Voting is complete on the 2020 XYZZY Awards, and the recipients of the Awards are as follows:

Best Game: Vampire: The Masquerade — Night Road (Kyle Marquis)
Best Writing: Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale (Kreg Segall)
Best Story: A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
Best Setting: Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale (Kreg Segall)
Best Puzzles: The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
Best NPCs: Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale (Kreg Segall)
Best Individual Puzzle: Leaving the house in The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
Best Individual NPC: tie: the parrot in The Magpie Takes the Train (MathBrush), and Kingfisher in Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)
Best Individual PC: The doppelganger in Doppeljobs (Lei)
Best Implementation: The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
Best Use of Innovation: The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
Best Technological Development: Adventuron
Best Use of Multimedia: Crocodracula: The Beginning (Ryan Veeder, Harrison Gerard)

Congratulations to the winners!

XYZZY Awards 2020: final round

The results of the first round are complete; congratulations to our finalists! Voting is now open for the second and final round, and will remain open through October 3rd.

The XYZZYs use your IF Comp login; if you need to register an account with the Comp, or you’ve forgotten your account details, go here. You can log in here (you’ll get kicked back to the front page, but you are in fact logged in) and then vote here

(Anyone may vote, but you are asked not to vote for your own work, or to organise voters to support a particular game or slate thereof.)

The finalists of the Awards are as follows:

Best Game

  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Tavern Crawler (Josh Labelle)
  • Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)
  • Vampire: The Masquerade – Night Road (Kyle Marquis)

Best Writing

  • Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale (Kreg Segall)
  • Limerick Quest (Pace Smith)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Scents & Semiosis (Sam Kabo Ashwell, Cat Manning, Caleb Wilson, Yoon Ha Lee)
  • Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)

Best Story

  • Electric word, “life” (Lance Nathan)
  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • Lore Distance Relationship (Naomi “Bez” Norbez)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)
  • Tavern Crawler (Josh Labelle)
  • Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)

Best Setting

  • Ascension of Limbs (AKheon)
  • The Eleusinian Miseries (Mike Russo)
  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale (Kreg Segall)
  • The Magpie Takes the Train (MathBrush)
  • A Murder in Fairyland (Abigail Corfman)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Shadow Operative (Michael Lauenstein)
  • Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)

Best Puzzles

  • The Eleusinian Miseries (Mike Russo)
  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • JELLY (Tom Lento, Chandler Groover)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Sage Sanctum Scramble (Arthur DiBianca)
  • Seasonal Apocalypse Disorder (Zan, Xavid)
  • Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)
  • Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)

Best NPCs

  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • Jolly Good: Cakes and Ale (Kreg Segall)
  • The Magpie Takes the Train (MathBrush)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)
  • Tavern Crawler (Josh Labelle)

Best Individual Puzzle

  • Cow tipping in Seasonal Apocalypse Disorder (Zan, Xavid)
  • Following the cat through the forest in Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)
  • Leaving the house in The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • Registering the game in Crocodracula: The Beginning (Ryan Veeder)

Best Individual NPC

  • Kingfisher in Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)
  • The parrot in The Magpie Takes the Train (MathBrush)
  • Sassy Britches in Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)
  • Sister in Lore Distance Relationship (Naomi “Bez” Norbez)

Best Individual PC

  • The Demon in Vain Empires (Thomas Mack, Xavid)
  • The doppelganger in Doppeljobs (Lei)
  • Elizabeth Boldan in Sense of Harmony (Scenario World)
  • Ichabod Stuff in Stuff of Legend (Lance Campbell)
  • Magpie in The Magpie Takes the Train (MathBrush)
  • Open Sorcerer in A Murder in Fairyland (Abigail Corfman)

Best Implementation

  • 4×4 Galaxy (Agnieszka Trzaska)
  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • Limerick Quest (Pace Smith)
  • The Magpie Takes the Train (MathBrush)
  • A Murder in Fairyland (Abigail Corfman)
  • A Rope of Chalk (Ryan Veeder)
  • Several Other Tales from Castle Balderstone (Ryan Veeder)

Best Use of Innovation

  • The Cursèd Pickle of Shireton (Hanon Ondricek)
  • The Impossible Bottle (Linus Åkesson)
  • JELLY (Tom Lento, Chandler Groover)
  • A Murder in Fairyland (Abigail Corfman)
  • The Prongleman Job (Arthur DiBianca)
  • Sense of Harmony (Scenario World)
  • Shadow Operative (Michael Lauenstein)

Best Technological Development

  • Adventuron
  • Dialog

Best Use of Multimedia

  • Babyface (Mark Sample)
  • Congee (Becci)
  • Crocodracula: The Beginning (Ryan Veeder)
  • A Murder in Fairyland (Abigail Corfman)
  • Present Quest (Errol Elumir)
  • Sense of Harmony (Scenario World)
  • Shadow Operative (Michael Lauenstein)

XYZZY Awards 2020: first round

The XYZZY Awards, celebrating the interactive fiction of 2020, are open for first-round voting.

The XYZZYs are open-voting, and use your IF Comp login; if you need to register an account with the Comp, or you’ve forgotten your account details, go here. You can log in here (you’ll get kicked back to the front page, but do not adjust your set: you are in fact logged in) and then vote here

In the first round, anyone can nominate up to two eligible games in each category. (You are asked not to vote for your own work, or to organise voters to support a particular game or slate.)

First-round voting will remain open through the 21st of September (US-Pacific time).

XYZZY Awards 2020, and an announcement for 2021

It’s the New Year, so we’re ramping up to Awards season.

If there’s a 2020 game you would like to see eligible for the Awards, make sure it’s listed on IFDB by January 15.

Looking forwards to 2021, we’re planning on a fairly radical experiment in how nomination for the XYZZYs work. An ongoing issue with the Awards is that the list of games listed on IFDB for any one year is pretty large. This is a bottleneck in getting the XYZZYs running, since we have to check them all for basic eligibility requirements (such as ‘this is a real game that exists’), and it makes first-round voting more difficult.

Roughly speaking: the goal is that for 2021 games, anyone will be able to nominate any game for consideration, with submissions open throughout the year. You’ll be able to self-nominate in round 0, but will also be able to nominate other works. (The details aren’t fully ironed out on this yet; I’d like to avoid the case, for instance, where someone writes a script to automatically nominate every single game in IFDB, or some other extensive listing; but it’s also not ideal if people feel like they have to save their nominations). We’ll probably want to periodically update a list of existing nominees. )

(The last time we considered this change, we had fairly mixed reports about the ‘zeroth round’. We welcome your feedback. Either way, the plan is to have the system set up to go by the end of the 2020 Awards.)

XYZZY Awards 2019: final results

The XYZZY Awards are over for the year, and the winners have been decided.

Congratulations to all of our winners – and thank you to everyone who took part.

Best GameCrème de la Crème, by Hannah Powell-Smith; and Zozzled, by Steph Cherrywell (tie)
Best WritingCrème de la Crème, by Hannah Powell-Smith
Best StoryCrème de la Crème, by Hannah Powell-Smith, and Turandot, by Victor Gijsbers (tie)
Best SettingHeretic’s Hope, by G.C. Baccaris
Best PuzzlesZozzled, by Steph Cherrywell
Best NPCsZozzled, by Steph Cherrywell
Best Individual Puzzle – Inspiring the artist in Zozzled, by Steph Cherrywell
Best Individual NPC – Turandot from Turandot, by Victor Gijsbers
Best Individual PC – Hazel Greene from Zozzled, by Steph Cherrywell
Best ImplementationRyan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing, by Ryan Veeder
Best Use of InnovationAI Dungeon, by Nick Walton
Best Technological DevelopmentAI Dungeon, by Nick Walton
Best Use of MultimediaDull Grey, by Provodnik Games, and Heretic’s Hope, by G.C. Baccaris (tie)

XYZZY Awards 2019: final round

The results are in for the first round of the 2019 XYZZY Awards. Congratulations to our finalists!

Voting in the second round will be open through September 27th.

The XYZZYs use your IF Comp login; if you need to register an account with the Comp, or you’ve forgotten your account details, go here. You can log in here (you’ll get kicked back to the front page, but you are in fact logged in) and then vote here

(Anyone may vote, but you are asked not to vote for your own work, or to organise voters to support a particular game or slate thereof.)

Best Game

  • Crème de la Crème (Hannah Powell-Smith)
  • Skybreak! (William Dooling)
  • Turandot (Victor Gijsbers)
  • Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)

Best Writing

  • Crème de la Crème (Hannah Powell-Smith)
  • The good people (Pseudavid)
  • Limerick Heist (Pace Smith)
  • Out (Viktor Sobol)
  • Speed Demons (Pleroma)
  • Turandot (Victor Gijsbers)
  • Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)

Best Story

  • Crème de la Crème (Hannah Powell-Smith)
  • Dull Grey (Provodnik Games)
  • The good people (Pseudavid)
  • Heretic’s Hope (G.C. Baccaris)
  • The Missing Ring (Felicity Drake)
  • Out (Viktor Sobol)
  • robotsexpartymurder (Hanon Ondricek)
  • Turandot (Victor Gijsbers)
  • Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)

Best Setting

  • Additional Tales from Castle Balderstone (Ryan Veeder)
  • Dull Grey (Provodnik Games)
  • Founder’s Mercy (Thomas Insel)
  • Heretic’s Hope (G.C. Baccaris)
  • Pirateship (Robin Johnson)
  • Ryan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing (Ryan Veeder)

Best Puzzles

  • Chuk and the Arena (Agnieszka Trzaska)
  • Hard Puzzle 4: The Ballad of Bob and Cheryl (Ade McT)
  • Pirateship (Robin Johnson)
  • Skies Above (Arthur DiBianca)
  • Sugarlawn (Mike Spivey)
  • Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)

Best NPCs

  • Crème de la Crème (Hannah Powell-Smith)
  • Heretic’s Hope (G.C. Baccaris)
  • Mental Entertainment (Thomas Hvizdos)
  • The Missing Ring (Felicity Drake)
  • robotsexpartymurder (Hanon Ondricek)
  • Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)

Best Individual Puzzle

  • Finding the good ending in Dull Grey (Provodnik Games)
  • Helping Madame Ping Ping with the séance in Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)
  • Inspiring the artist in Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)

Best Individual NPC

  • Kim Kitsuragi in Disco Elysium (ZA/UM)
  • The mother in Night Guard / Morning Star (Astrid Dalmady)
  • Pontiff Apocrita in Heretic’s Hope (G.C. Baccaris)
  • Turandot in Turandot (Victor Gijsbers)

Best Individual PC

  • Hazel Greene in Zozzled (Steph Cherrywell)
  • Leonora in Night Guard / Morning Star (Astrid Dalmady)
  • Sniff Chewpaw in Dungeon Detective 2: Devils and Details (Wonaglot)

Best Implementation

  • AI Dungeon (Nick Walton)
  • Dull Grey (Provodnik Games)
  • Pas De Deux (Linus Åkesson)
  • Pirateship (Robin Johnson)
  • Ryan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing (Ryan Veeder)
  • Skies Above (Arthur DiBianca)
  • Sugarlawn (Mike Spivey)

Best Use of Innovation

  • AI Dungeon (Nick Walton)
  • The Ballroom (Liza Daly)
  • Dull Grey (Provodnik Games)
  • Flight of the Code Monkeys (Mark C. Marino)
  • Heretic’s Hope (G.C. Baccaris)
  • Pas De Deux (Linus Åkesson)
  • Pirateship (Robin Johnson)
  • Ryan Veeder’s Authentic Fly Fishing (Ryan Veeder)

Best Technological Development

  • AI Dungeon
  • Chapbook
  • dMagnetic

Best Use of Multimedia

  • Dull Grey (Provodnik Games)
  • The good people (Pseudavid)
  • Heretic’s Hope (G.C. Baccaris)
  • Mushroom Hunt (Polyducks)
  • robotsexpartymurder (Hanon Ondricek)
  • Wolfsmoon (Marco Innocenti)

XYZZY Awards 2019, first round

The XYZZY Awards, celebrating the interactive fiction of 2019, are open for first-round voting. (Unprecedentedly belated, I know. How’s everyone else doing?)

The XYZZYs use your IF Comp login; if you need to register an account with the Comp, or you’ve forgotten your account details, go here. You can log in here (you’ll get kicked back to the front page, but you are in fact logged in) and then vote here

Anyone can nominate up to two eligible games in each category. (You are asked not to vote for your own work, or to organise voters to support a particular game or slate thereof.)

First-round voting will remain open through the 13th of September (on US-Pacific time, if you feel like cutting it close).