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INDEPENDENT GAME OF THE YEAR, 2007
This is the highest honor of the Indie RPG Awards. It is awarded to the best overall Independently produced RPG of the year, as chosen by peers and members the gaming community. It is given to the RPG and the designer who made it. Everything which makes a game good; from game elements of story, setting, rules, innovation, and overall game design; to physical qualities like graphical design and layout, are taken into account for the awarding of this honor.
THE INDEPENDENT GAME OF THE YEAR FOR 2007 IS...
Grey Ranks, by Jason Morningstar / with 52 points
Selected Peer Feedback:
I've been following Grey Ranks since it's inception at MACE, Jason deserves credit for taking an esoteric and practically unplayable concept and turning into a clever and moving game.
This game just works. It deals with a serious subject in a sensitive way. The gameplay is like no game before (The Grid!) and the tone isn't all doom and gloom. The writing and presentation are top notch.
Another dark topic of doomed heroes. For some reason I like games where everyone dies. The only choice is how you die.
It's no mistake this made the Diana Jones short list. Just incredible: dark, intense, tender, desperate.
It is nice to see Steal Away Jordan and Grey Ranks show us how we can take very specific parts of history and honor and remember them through our wondrous hobby.
Historical without being nit-picky, tragic without being hopeless, innovative without being trendy, Grey Ranks tackles a difficult topic and handles it in a pitch-perfect way. The rules shapes and supports the affecting narrative that easily takes on a life of its own. A superb work!
See the Runners Up in this category for more games and feedback!