Origins Award
Encyclopedia
The Origins Awards are American awards for outstanding work in the game industry. They are presented by the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design at the Origins Game Fair on an annual basis for the previous year, so (for example) the 1979 awards were given at the 1980 Origins.
The Origins Award is commonly referred to as a Calliope
, as the statuette is in the likeness of the Muse
of the same name. Academy members frequently shorten this name to "Callie."
s and the Origins Awards were one and the same. Starting with the 1987 awards, the Charles S. Roberts were given separately, and they moved away from Origins entirely in 2000, leaving the Origins Awards as an entirely separate system. In 1978, the awards also hosted the 1977 H. G. Wells
awards for Roleplaying games and Miniature wargaming
.
Since the first ceremony, the game categories have widened to include Board games (Traditional, Historical and Abstract), Card games (Traditional and Trading
), Miniature wargaming
(Historical, Science Fiction
and Fantasy
), Roleplaying games and play-by-mail game
s. There are additional categories for Graphic Design
, for game expansions and accessories, and for game-related fiction
. During the 1980s and 1990s awards were also given to Computer games
. Starting in 2003, the Origins Awards began a new category called the Vanguard Award, which honored highly innovative games.
Dungeons & Dragons
and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were deemed different enough to be inducted on separate occasions.
The Origins Award is commonly referred to as a Calliope
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope was the muse of epic poetry, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, and is now best known as Homer's muse, the inspiration for the Odyssey and the Iliad....
, as the statuette is in the likeness of the Muse
Muse
The Muses in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge, related orally for centuries in the ancient culture, that was contained in poetic lyrics and myths...
of the same name. Academy members frequently shorten this name to "Callie."
History
Originally, the Charles S. Roberts AwardCharles S. Roberts Award
The Charles S. Roberts Awards are given annually for excellence in the historical wargaming hobby. It is named after Charles S. Roberts the "Father of Wargaming" who founded Avalon Hill. The award is informally called a "Charlie" and officially called a "Charles S...
s and the Origins Awards were one and the same. Starting with the 1987 awards, the Charles S. Roberts were given separately, and they moved away from Origins entirely in 2000, leaving the Origins Awards as an entirely separate system. In 1978, the awards also hosted the 1977 H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
awards for Roleplaying games and Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
.
Categories
The Origins Awards were originally presented at the Origins Game Fair in five categories: Best Professional Game, Best Amateur Game, Best Professional Magazine, Best Amateur Magazine and Adventure Gaming Hall of Fame.Since the first ceremony, the game categories have widened to include Board games (Traditional, Historical and Abstract), Card games (Traditional and Trading
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
), Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming
Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play...
(Historical, Science Fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
and Fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
), Roleplaying games and play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail game
Play-by-mail games, sometimes known as "Play-by-post", are games, of any type, played through postal mail or e-mail. One example, chess, has been played by mail for centuries . Another example, Diplomacy, has been played by mail since the 1960s, starting with a printed newsletter written by John...
s. There are additional categories for Graphic Design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
, for game expansions and accessories, and for game-related fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
. During the 1980s and 1990s awards were also given to Computer games
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
. Starting in 2003, the Origins Awards began a new category called the Vanguard Award, which honored highly innovative games.
Hall of Fame games and publications
- Ace of Aces
- AcquireAcquireAcquire is a board game designed by Sid Sackson.The game was originally published in 1962 by 3M as a part of their bookshelf games series. In most versions, the theme of the game is investing in hotel chains. In the 1990s Hasbro edition, the hotel chains were replaced by generic corporations,...
- Advanced Dungeons & Dragons
- Amber Diceless Roleplaying
- Axis & Allies
- Battletech Mechs & VehiclesBattleTechBattleTech is a wargaming and science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2000, and owned since 2003 by Topps. The series began with FASA's debut of the board game BattleTech by Jordan Weisman and L...
- Berg's Review of GamesBerg's Review of GamesBerg's Review of Games is a publication started by game designer Richard Berg. The magazine debuted in 1991 and has since made its archive available on online. The publication featured reviews of wargames, a genre of video game that emphasizes warfare.The magazine is known for its thoughtful but...
- Call of CthulhuCall of Cthulhu (role-playing game)Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
- ChampionsChampions (role-playing game)Champions is a role-playing game published by Hero Games that is designed to simulate and function in a four-color superhero comic book world. It was created by George MacDonald, Steve Peterson, Bruce Harlick, and Ray Greer....
- Chivalry & Sorcery
- Cosmic EncounterCosmic EncounterCosmic Encounter is a science fiction-themed strategy board game, designed by "Future Pastimes" and originally published by Eon Games in 1977...
- The CourierThe Courier (magazine)The Courier was until recently the oldest game magazine in existence. Started in 1968 by war-gaming enthusiasts Dick Bryant and Bob Beattie as a newsletter of the New England Wargamers Association, The Courier underwent a glossy reboot starting in 1979...
- DiplomacyDiplomacy (game)Diplomacy is a strategic board game created by Allan B. Calhamer in 1954 and released commercially in 1959. Its main distinctions from most board wargames are its negotiation phases and the absence of dice or other game elements that produce random effects...
- Dragon MagazineDragon (magazine)Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
- Dungeons & DragonsDungeons & DragonsDungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
- EmpireEmpire (miniatures game)Empire is a classic Napoleonic wargame first published by Scott Bowden in 1975. It was inducted into the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design's Hall of Fame in 1978.The latest edition of Empire can be seen athttp://www.thewarevent.com/forums/...
- Fire & Movement Magazine
- GURPSGURPSThe Generic Universal RolePlaying System, or GURPS, is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting...
- IlluminatiIlluminati (game)Illuminati is a standalone card game made by Steve Jackson Games , inspired by The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea. The game has ominous secret societies competing with each other to control the world through sinister means, including legal, illegal, and even mystical...
play-by-mail game - Mage KnightMage KnightMage Knight is a miniatures wargame using collectible figures, created by WizKids, Inc. The game was designed by founder Jordan Weisman along with Kevin Barrett. The game is the first to use Wizkids' Clix system, combining roleplaying and wargaming elements with aspects of collectible card games....
- Magic: The GatheringMagic: The GatheringMagic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
- Middle-earth play-by-mailMiddle-earth PBMMiddle-Earth PBM is a turn-based, strategy play by email and play-by-mail game set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, including elements from ICE's Middle-earth Role Playingunder licence from GSIL....
game - MythosMythos (card game)Mythos is a collectible card game published by Chaosium. It is based on the Cthulhu Mythos stories of the horror author H. P. Lovecraft, as well as on Chaosium's own Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.-Overview:...
- Nuclear WarNuclear War (card game)Nuclear War is a card game designed by Douglas Malewicki, and originally published in 1965. It is currently published by Flying Buffalo, and has inspired several expansions...
- ParanoiaParanoia (role-playing game)Paranoia is a dystopian science-fiction tabletop role-playing game originally designed and written by Greg Costikyan, Dan Gelber, and Eric Goldberg, and first published in 1984 by West End Games. Since 2004 the game has been published under licence by Mongoose Publishing...
- RiskRisk (game)Risk is a strategic board game, produced by Parker Brothers . It was invented by French film director Albert Lamorisse and originally released in 1957 as La Conquête du Monde in France. Risk is a turn-based game for two to six players...
- The Settlers of CatanThe Settlers of CatanThe Settlers of Catan is a multiplayer board game designed by Klaus Teuber and first published in 1995 in Germany by Franckh-Kosmos Verlag as Die Siedler von Catan. Players assume the roles of settlers, each attempting to build and develop their settlement while trading and acquiring resources...
- Squad LeaderAdvanced Squad LeaderAdvanced Squad Leader is a tactical-level board wargame, originally marketed by Avalon Hill Games, that simulates actions of approximately company or battalion size in World War II. It is a detailed game system for two or more players . Components include the ASL Rulebook and various games called...
- Star Fleet BattlesStar Fleet BattlesStar Fleet Battles is a tactical board wargame set in an offshoot of the Star Trek setting called the Star Fleet Universe. Originally created in 1979 by Stephen V. Cole,...
- Strategy & TacticsStrategy & TacticsStrategy & Tactics is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue...
- TravellerTraveller (role-playing game)Traveller is a series of related science fiction role-playing games, the first published in 1977 by Game Designers' Workshop and subsequent editions by various companies remaining in print to this day. The game was inspired from such classic science fiction stories as the Dumarest saga series by...
- TwixTTwixTTwixT is a two-player abstract strategy game invented by Alex Randolph. It is a member of the connection game family, along with games such as Hex, Havannah, Y, PÜNCT and *Star...
- Vampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The MasqueradeVampire: The Masquerade is a role-playing game. Created by Mark Rein·Hagen, it was the first of White Wolf Game Studio's World of Darkness role-playing games, based on the Storyteller System and centered around vampires in a modern gothic-punk world....
- StarcraftStarCraftStarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The first game of the StarCraft series was released for Microsoft Windows on 31 March 1998. With more than 11 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2009, it is one of the best-selling...
- Warhammer Fantasy BattleWarhammer Fantasy BattleWarhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles is a tabletop wargame created by Games Workshop. It is the origin of the Warhammer Fantasy setting....
- Warhammer 40000
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons
Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...
and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were deemed different enough to be inducted on separate occasions.
Awards by year
- 2006 Origins Award winners2006 Origins Award winnersThe following are the winners of the 33nd annual Origins Award, held in 2007:...
- 2005 Origins Award winners2005 Origins Award winnersThe following are the winners of the 32nd annual Origins Award, held in 2006:-Hall of Fame inductees:* Aaron Allston* Jolly R. Blackburn* Rodger MacGowan* Dennis Mize * Mike Pondsmith* James Ernest-External links:* *...
- 2004 Origins Award winners2004 Origins Award winners-Best of Class Awards:-Vanguard Awards:* All Wound Up * Flames of War * Fire as She Bears! 2.1 * Pirates of the Spanish Main -Gamers' Choice Awards:* Legends...
- 2003 Origins Award winners2003 Origins Award winnersThe following are the winners of the 29th annual Origins Award, held in 2003:-Hall of Fame inductees:* Larry Bond* Bob Charrette* Ed Greenwood* Reiner Knizia* Klaus Teuber* Loren Wiseman-External links:*...
See also
- Charles S. Roberts AwardCharles S. Roberts AwardThe Charles S. Roberts Awards are given annually for excellence in the historical wargaming hobby. It is named after Charles S. Roberts the "Father of Wargaming" who founded Avalon Hill. The award is informally called a "Charlie" and officially called a "Charles S...
- Spiel des JahresSpiel des JahresThe Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...
- Diana Jones AwardDiana Jones AwardThe Diana Jones Award is an annual award for "excellence in gaming". The award is unusual in two ways: first, it is not an award for a specific class of thing, but can be awarded to a person, product, publication, company, organization, event or trend – anything related to gaming; second, it does...
- ENnie Awards