In Celebration of Interactive Fiction, the 2014 XYZZY Awards Go to…
A few weeks back, I asked people to vote on the 2014 XYZZY awards, and this weekend… the victors were announced! Good stuff? You bet ya, including no less than three from last year’s IFComp, which is pretty darn groovy. Oh and two of the finalists even picked up several awards. An undeniably impressive feat.
With awards spanning no less than thirteen categories, one would think that quite a few of the 21 finalists are now able to add ‘XYZZY Awards winner’ to their creation. That’s not quite the case however, as both 80 Days and Hadean Lands grabbed several each! Nothing wrong with that though. Quite the opposite in fact, as it simply goes to show how much fans of interactive fiction appreciate the two tales.
Besides, not even the runner(s)-up have reason to dislike the outcome, honestly. Sure, ‘finalist’ doesn’t have the same ring as ‘winner’, but it’s still quite an accomplishment to say the least. It does after all mean that each of the 21 entries garnered enough votes to stand out from a list spanning no less than 342! Some hefty competition, right there.
- Best Game: 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Best Writing: With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
- Best Story: 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)
- Best Setting: Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Best Puzzles: Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Best NPCs: Creatures Such As We (Lynnea Glasser)
- Best Individual Puzzle: Sequence of time-travel in Fifteen Minutes (Ade McT)
- Best Individual NPC: The Empress in With Those We Love Alive (Porpentine, Brenda Neotenomie)
- Best Individual PC: the PC in the uncle who works for nintendo (michael lutz)
- Best Implementation: Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Best Use of Innovation: Hadean Lands (Andrew Plotkin)
- Best Technological Development: Tie! Inform 7 6L02 and Twine 2
- Best Use of Multimedia: 80 Days (inkle, Meg Jayanth)