Indie RPG of the Year Chosen
GameTunnel.com announced the winners of the 2007 Indie RPG of the year tonight. As with most such awards, arguments will ensue.

GameTunnel's 2007 Indie RPG of the Year

I have to say that this year, I may not agree with the order (or placement) of the runners-up, but the winner matches my own pick: Depths of Peril, by Soldak Entertainment.

Also placing were Mr. Robot by MoonPod, Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest by Amaranth Games, Nethergate: Resurrection by Spiderweb Software, and Loonyland II: Winter Woods by Hamumu Games. I can vouch for three of the four - they are all very worthy games. I still haven't played Mr. Robot --- shame on me.

Notable by its absence is Eschalon: Book 1 by Basilisk Games. While I'd hate to bump any of the above games off the list of finalists, I have a tough time choosing between it and Aveyond 2 for my "second favorite" choice of the year. You may recall that Eschalon: Book 1 won by a landslide in RPGWatch's reader's poll last week, but that is a somewhat different audience. Depths of Peril squeaked in a distant second over the two Spiderweb offerings in that poll.

But hey - last year, I assumed the original Aveyond would be the indie RPG GOTY, and that award went to dark-horse Fastcrawl. 2005's winner was, of course, Cute Knight, in a year where there were so few RPGs that they stuck it in the "special awards" category.

The thing that took Depths of Peril over the top for me was that it didn't play it safe. Aveyond 2 and Eschalon: Book 1 are also extremely well-done, but they stick a little closer to convention That's not a bad thing - I don't believe an RPG should need to reinvent the wheel every time. But Depths of Peril's innovation and dynamic world really sucked me in. The NPCs pushing their own agenda along during the game just worked for me. While I wouldn't do it often, I got a kick out of adventuring with a member of another covenant that I'd worked hard to get an alliance with. Incidentally, they were MY henchman, not the other way around. :)

I'm just pleased the competition was so fierce. This was a great year to be an indie RPG fan. And I'll be doing my best to contribute to an ever more fierce competition in 2008 :)

If you like RPGs, but haven't yet tried what the indies have to offer, do yourself a favor and pick any of the above-mentioned titles - or any of Spiderweb's recent offerings. Or - dang, anything you find HERE that sounds interesting. I can't promise that any of them will be to your liking --- but that's the joy of indie gaming. You can almost always try them out for free


(Vaguely) related yakking about all the great RPGs this year
* What Were the Best RPGs of 2007?
* Let's Talk About Depths of Peril
* Aveyond 2 First Look
* Initial Scouting Report: Eschalon Book 1

Wanna Rant About Who Shoulda Won? Here's a Forum Thread For Ya!

Labels: Indie RPG News

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 9:15 PM (Permalink)