The Awards Debrief in brief.

After one year of judging, three months of drafts, and four days of posting, the awards debrief is finally complete. 15,422 words and 60-minutes of reading. It's finally over, I will no longer feel obligated to shed light on the Ennies. If you've been following along, thank you. This has been a lot of work and wouldn't be possible without other nerds to share it with.

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. 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?

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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?

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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?

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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've spent a lot of time writing this series. It has consumed most of my productive and creative bandwidth. I don't regret it, mind you, the project was (and still is) important to me. People should know about their community's institutions. That said, I feel a lot lighter without the experience hanging over me. Now I'm free to redirect my energy to the things this studio is known for—grid-gazing and theory slop.

What you can do to help out Explorers.

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 floating around that deserve conversation.

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

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