| 2001 Gamers' Choice Award Winners | |
|
by Erik Arneson
The Strategy Gaming Society has announced the winners of the 2001 Gamers' Choice Awards, which for my money* have quickly (last year was the first year GCAs were handed out) established themselves as the most significant strategy gaming awards available.
Quite simply, the games that get nominated for and win GCAs are the cream of the crop for serious strategy boardgaming.
With that, here are this year's GCA winners:
General Strategy, Multi-Player: The Princes of Florence (compare prices)
The Princes of Florence is available in the United States from Rio Grande Games and by Alea internationally.
This year's nominees were: Aladdin's Dragons, Attila, Carcassonne, La Citta, Lord of the Rings, Merchants of Amsterdam, Metro, Morisi, Ohne Furcht und Adel (Citadels), The Princes of Florence, Taj Mahal, Traumfabrik, and Web of Power.
General Strategy, 2-Player: Battle Cry (compare prices)
Richard Borg of Florida designed this fast moving, entertaining game recreating famous battles of the U.S. Civil War. Its simple yet clever system makes this game appealing to the entire family. The game is published by Avalon Hill, a division of Hasbro.
This year's nominees were: Babel, Battle Cry, Hera & Zeus, Star Wars: The Queen's Gambit, and Zertz.
Historical Simulation: Drive on Paris
Designed by Al Wambold, this historically accurate game takes place during the Great War in Europe as the German forces drive towards Paris. The game is released by The Gamers, a firm specializing in historical simulation gaming.
This year's nominees were: Battle Cry, Battle of Brandywine Creek, Bonaparte in Italy, Drive on Paris, Pacific Victory, Risorgimento, Simple GBOH, Solomon Sea, Ukraine '43, and Xenophon.
*Full disclosure: I'm the vice-president of the Strategy Gaming Society, so my comments about the GCAs in the first two paragraphs of this story could be seen as biased. However, given the impressive makeup of the judging panels for these awards and their fine choices, I will gladly stand by my comments.
