Dice Tower Awards 2011 Nominees

Apparently Tom Vasel over at the Dice Tower is having difficulty getting so called "serious" gaming news sites to post anything regarding the Dice Tower Awards.  This is a shame as those same sites will regularly post news about the travesties that are the Origins Awards and other lists of "best games" that make people who actually play a lot of games go "WTF?"

As a result, Tom has sent out a call for bloggers to post this year's nominee listing in an effort to get greater visibility for the awards, and I'm more than happy to oblige given that the Dice Tower Awards have consistently provided a better look at the truly deserving games out there than any other award I'm aware of aside from possibly the Diana Jones Award, which is both broader in what it covers, and narrower in the sense that there is only a single winner each year.

So, on to the nominees (note, I'm not providing links or pictures, if you want those click through to the link to the Dice Tower Awards):

Best Game of the Year:

• Eclipse
• Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Quarriors!
• Risk Legacy
• Star Trek: Fleet Captains
• King of Tokyo
• Die Burgen von Burgund
• Mage Knight Board Game
• The Ares Project

Best Family Game:

• Flash Point: Fire Rescue
• Kingdom Builder
• King of Tokyo
• Quarriors!
• Say Anything Family Edition

Best New Game Designer:

• Jason Little for Blood Bowl: Team Manager
• Kevin Lanzing for Flash Point: Fire Rescue
• Brian and Geoff Engelstein for The Ares Project
• Christopher Baddell and Paul Bender for Sentinels of the Multiverse
• David Gregg for Nightfall

Best Game Reprint:

• Can't Stop
• Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War
• Evo
• A Game of Thrones:  The Board Game (Second Edition)
• Puerto Rico: Anniversary Edition

Best Production Values:

• Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game
• Mansions of Madness
• Risk Legacy
• Super Dungeon Explore
• Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of Ashardalon Board Game

Best Small Publisher:

• Indie Boards and Cards for Flash Point: Fire Rescue
• Plaid Hat Games for Dungeon Run
• Rallyman for Rallyman
• Greater Than Games, LLC for Sentinels of the Multiverse
• Fireside Games for Bears!

Best Party Game:

• Crappy Birthday
• Dixit Odyssey
• Reverse Charades Junior Edition
• Faux*Cabulary
• Train of Thought

Best Game Expansion:

• Ticket to Ride Map Collection: Volume 1 - Team Asia & Legendary Asia
• Thunderstone: Dragonspire
• Small World Underground
• 7 Wonders: Leaders
• Summoner Wars: Master Set

Most Innovative Game:

• The Ares Project
• Ascending Empires
• Paperclip Railways
• Quarriors!
• Risk Legacy

Best Game Artwork:

• Dixit Odyssey
• The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game
• Mansions of Madness
• Flash Point: Fire Rescue
• A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second Edition)

Best War Game:

• Sekigahara: Unification of Japan
• Band of Brothers
• A Few Acres of Snow
• Julius Caesar
• Sergeants Miniatures Game

Best Game Theme:

• Dungeon Petz
• Flash Point: Fire Rescue
• Last Will
• Yggdrasil
• Takenoko

Best Digital Boardgame:

• Asension: Chronicle of the Godslayer
• Ticket to Ride
• Forbidden Island
• Ghost Stories
• Elder Sign

There you have it, the 2011 Dice Tower Awards Nominees... a far more deserving list of games than you're likely to see from any of the other more established awards this year.