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!

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.)