The San Diego Historical Games Convention (SDHist) is proud to announce that nominations are open for the third annual Summit Award. The Summit Award aims to recognize a historical board game published in the preceding year that most broadened the hobby through the ease of teaching and/or play, uniqueness of topic, or novel approach. The 2024 Summit Award will recognize games published in 2023.
Four finalists for the Summit Award will be chosen and presented at the November 8-11 SDHist Con Summit. The public nomination process will select one of the four finalists.
To be considered for the 2024 Summit Award, entries must
– have been published in 2023
– be a manual tabletop game
– have a closed-system rules set that does not rely on role-play or referee
– simulate an historical setting through specific game mechanics rather than historical themes as an afterthought to game mechanics
– concern political, social, cultural, scientific, economic, military, or any other human affairs
The inaugural Summit Award recipient in 2022 (for games published in 2021) was Red Flag Over Paris, designed by Fred Serval and published by GMT Games. The recipient in 2023 (for games published in 2022) was Votes For Women, designed by Tory Brown and published by Fort Circle Games. More on the Summit Award, its purpose, its judging criteria, and its past recipients can be found on the SDHist website here.
New this year, in addition to the Summit Award, SDHist is launching a Bobby Nunes Memorial Award in memory of our former colleague and board member, Robert “Bobby Factor” Nunes.
Bobby, who passed away in March, brought great energy and passion to the hobby. This was clearly visible through his work with SDHist, including as editor of the first Conflicts of Interest eZine. This was all delivered with fellowship, humor and kindness, for which we will remember him fondly.
To honor Bobby’s memory, we’re launching an annual award to recognize an exceptional piece of gaming media (including but not limited to a video, podcast episode, written article, etc., or a cohesive series thereof) published in the prior calendar year. This piece should reflect Bobby Nunes’ enthusiasm for and interest in discussing important cultural issues within the historical gaming hobby.
A final selection will be made by the SDHist Board and Board of Advisors, who will weigh all criteria with an emphasis on impact, contribution, and alignment with Bobby Nunes’ core values.
Nominations for both the 2024 Summit Award and the 2024 Bobby Nunes Memorial Award are open here.