The Awards Debrief in brief.

After one year of judging, three months of drafts, and four days of posting, the awards debrief is complete. This post is an overview for everyone who wasn't following along last week. An introduction to 15,422 words and 60-minutes of reading. If you've been following along, thank you. This ludicrously long series wouldn't be possible without the support of other community members.

If this is your first time hearing about the Ennies post-mortem, congratulations. You now have something to do besides work this week. Below, you'll find all four articles in the series. Plainly presented with each article getting progressively more inside-baseball than the last. If you make it to the final article, you belong to a rare class of sicko. But don't worry, you are not alone.

Here they are in proper reading order:

Why an Awards Debrief?

An in-depth look at the Ennie Awards, its process, design, and role. Part 1. What is the goal of this series and why?

Explorers DesignClayton Notestine

How Do the Ennies Work?

An insider’s look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part two. What is the award process like behind closed doors, and how do the judges select nominees?

Explorers DesignClayton Notestine

How Are the Ennies Designed?

An insider’s look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part three. How does the structure of the Ennies determine its outcomes? And what does it mean for others?

Explorers DesignClayton Notestine

Where Do Awards Go Next?

An insider’s look into the 2025 Ennie Awards. Part four. What’s the point of an rpg award show? And what do we want to see in the future?

Explorers DesignClayton Notestine

What's next in awards-posting?

Hopefully nothing. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this series. It has consumed most of my productive and creative bandwidth. I don't regret it. The project was (and still is) important to me. After all, people should know about their rpg institutions. That way, next time there are criticisms or plans for the future, they can be more informed than they were before. Now that I'm done, I'm returning to the things this little studio is known for—grid-gazing and theory slop.

What you can do to help out the series.

Please share, like, and comment on this series. Your engagement helps this project find more people, which I hope results in meaningful change within our industry. There are so many opportunities and ideas out there that just need a little context or hindsight to move forward—this series is that context.

Thanks again for reading, enjoy the debrief, and never stop exploring.

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