The Indie RPG Awards

There are so many quality Free RPGs on the Internet that, even though Free games are considered for the Indie Game of the Year Award, they really deserve their own category. This category honors the game designers who make their works of passion and then offer them for free. Note: If a Free game wins the main award and this Sub-Award, the runner up for this Sub-Award is chosen instead.

THE Best Free Game FOR 2010 IS...

Stars Without Number by Kevin Crawford / with 46 points

I've heard about this more than any other in this category.

Excellent sandboxes-in-space mechanics.

 

THE RUNNERS UP:

Misspent Youth by Robert Bohl / with 37 points

A marvelous example of a well-crafted RPG, with excellent GM support and mechanics that fit perfectly into the genre of science fiction punks rebelling against society.

A great game and a tribute to some of the best in science fiction and literature: from 1984 to Rebel without a Cause.

Not my favourite game of last year but right there in the punk ethos by giving it away.

Danger Patrol BETA by John Harper / with 37 points

It's a rare and cool game where every page makes a good handout.

A game of genius design and presentation.

Nothing packs as much retro serial fun into so elegant a package. Slick mechanics, instant character generation, inspiring setting skeleton - it's all here and ready to play!

Slick and so well presented. Danger Patrol Beta is free and you should play it. Many people already are.

Danger Patrol is the most fun I've had with my pants on in a long time. Fast, simple, colorful, and stuffed with player-authored action and excitement, this game may be in beta but it already absolutely delivers.

Bloody Forks of the Ohio by Jason Morningstar / with 24 points

Mr. Morningstar knows his history and how to make it gameworthy. The pregen characters are a treat.

A fun historical hack of Lady Blackbird. Eminently playable and free.

You had me at "Jason Morningstar's 1754."

A hack of John Harper's Lady Blackbird, Bloody Forks of the Ohio moves the action to the French and Indian War, and offers the historical crisis at Fort Necessity with some pulpy twists.