This post is from Akar Bharadvaj. Akar is the director of the Zenobia Award. He was previously selected as the first-place winner of the award in 2021 for his game Tyranny of Blood, on changes to India’s social structure under British colonialism. He is also a member of the SDHist board.

After more than a year of board game design, mentorship, and judging, the second iteration of the Zenobia Award for historical board games has chosen its winners!

The Zenobia Award is both a competition and a mentoring program in which game designers from underrepresented groups develop and submit historical tabletop game prototypes. Throughout the design process, competitors received mentoring and feedback from industry leaders, to help them move towards successful game publication. This year, the Zenobia judges had a tremendously difficult time narrowing from 37 semifinalists down to nine finalists (as announced in September), and an even more difficult time picking the winner!

As runners-up, the judges and board have selected Melaka: the Forgotten Empire by Effendy Norzaman and Silencio by Luis Salas. Each design will be awarded a cash prize of $500. Melaka tells the story of the Sultanate of Melaka in the Malay peninsula, where nobles loyal to the Sultan attempt to build a great empire. Judges praised the game’s unique take on the 4X genre, action selection, and rondel mechanics, modeling exploration while vying for the Sultan’s favor.

Silencio, in contrast, considers a much more modern dynamic. In the game, members of a Mexican community attempt to find family members missing due to cartel-related violence. Judges applauded the balance between complexity and depth, and how the gameplay engaged with the difficult theme.

For the grand prize of $1,000 and a travel grant of matching value to a game convention of their choice, the judges and board selected The Porters, by Lucas Cockburn, Neco Cockburn, and Alex Goss. This game covers the story of Black porters on Canadian railways working to organize unions. Judges praised the clever design, the unique and compelling theme, and the game’s original balance of organizing a labor movement all while having to work a tiring, full-time job.

Please join the Zenobia board in congratulating the winners, the finalists, and all of the Zenobia contestants! If the first Zenobia contest is any indication, many of these games should be going into publication in the next few years.

Additionally, many thanks go out to all the volunteers, who put in the hours of work to mentor and judge the entrants. The board also wishes to thank this year’s major sponsors: Board Game Guides, Fort Circle Games, GMT Games, Leder Games, San Diego Historical Games Convention, Wehrlegig Games, and Spielworxx.