2019 Aggie Award Nominees
Written by AG Staff
It will take you 10 minutes to read this feature.
The calendar may have already turned to a new year, a new decade, but we’re not quite finished with the old one just yet. Not when there are still Aggie Awards to give out!
Yes, hard as it is to believe, it’s that time of year once again where we recognize the best and brightest games (and their creators) from the past twelve months. And if you thought the last couple years were insane in terms of new releases, that ain’t nuthin’ compared to the ridiculous 180 that came out in 2019!
This embarrassment of riches is a great thing, of course, but so much selection makes paring it all down to the best of the best all the more daunting. So… we cheated! In the past we’ve only recognized five final nominees for each category, but this year let’s spread the wealth and bump it to TEN!
Not every game can make the cut, but really there’s no such thing as a “snub,” only an abundance of deserving competitors. With so many great games and so few finalists (and even fewer winners!), something had to give.
Ours aren’t the only voices that count, mind you, so you too will have your chance to vote your (dis)pleasure with our choices when the reader poll arrives on Monday, January 27th.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, our Aggie Award final nominees for 2019. Tune back in Friday, February 7th for our single-day awards presentation to find out who won!
Best Story
One of the core components of any adventure, the game’s narrative must engage the player’s interest and imagination. Entertaining in its own right, a good story also immerses the player in a believable game world and serves as motivation to overcome the challenges presented. While often accompanied by quality writing, the plot is a distinct feature that may or may not be ably supported by the actual dialogue – if in fact it has dialogue at all.
Best Writing – Comedy
Arguably the hardest genre to write well, comedy done right has the ability both to amuse and uplift, finding humour in the ordinary and laughter in the unexpected. Often dismissed for not being “serious writing” (oh, the irony!), comedy has long been a beloved adventure staple and deserves appropriate recognition.
Best Writing – Drama
If comedy lifts the soul, then drama explores and challenges it. Though sometimes misrepresented as dry and boring or overly theatrical, a gripping drama simply engages players on a deeper emotional level. Quality writing is essential in maintaining the player’s connection to the characters, game world, and the story unfolding.
Best Character
Gabriel Knight... April Ryan... Guybrush Threepwood. These names roll off the tongue of any adventure gamer as a testament to the importance of compelling protagonists in an adventure. But just as important are the villains, sidekicks, and significant supporting characters, which are often the juiciest parts. This category recognizes those who have made the most memorable contribution, regardless of role.
Du Lac and Fey (tie), Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey
Kim Kitsuragi, Disco Elysium
Ophelia, Elsinore
Molly, Feria d’Arles
Frog Detective, Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard
Kitteh, Gibbous: A Cthulhu Adventure
Chowder Man, Hypnospace Outlaw
Jenny LeClue, Jenny LeClue – Detectivú
Sean and Daniel (tie), Life Is Strange 2
Misfortune Ramirez Hernandez, Little Misfortune
Best Gameplay
Puzzles are an integral aspect of adventure gameplay, but not the only one. Good pacing, rich exploration, and variety of activities are all factors in player enjoyment as well, all suitably integrated into the storyline. The best games seek the right balance of these elements for the most rewarding gameplay experience, whatever the approach.
Best Concept
A somewhat ambiguous category meant to highlight any unusual, distinctive element. A creative concept can run the gamut from unique story premise to clever game mechanics, from stylistic choice to technical innovation. For the purpose of this award, it doesn’t even need to have been successfully implemented, as it’s the idea itself that deserves the acknowledgement in a genre renowned for its conservative approach. (Note: VR is a shared evolution among many new adventures, so that alone does not constitute an individual game concept.)
Best Setting
Adventures can transport us to memorable places we’ve never been before, including those we never even imagined. Or perhaps to locales inspired by real-world locations, but never quite like this, making them feel fresh and new and awe-inspiring all over again. In these games, the setting is like an integral character of its own, inseparable from the story taking place within its borders.
Best Graphic Design
If a picture is worth a thousand words, this category speaks volumes. Regardless of technique, this award recognizes games that are not only visually attractive but stylistically distinctive. One look at a screenshot should elicit not only jaw-dropping admiration, but intuitive recognition of the game to which it belongs. This award includes both game world and character design, but not cinematics.
Best Animation
From “bustling” city streets that look deserted to clouds that never move, animation is rarely the genre’s strong suit, often the victim of budget constraints. But richly animated adventures add so much to player immersion that any game that goes the extra mile in this area is deserving of appreciation. This category includes in-game character and ambient animations, plus cinematic cutscenes.
Best Music
As a complementary element playing in the background, often a game’s music is noticeable only when it becomes intrusive, but a strong score and attention to timing can add so much to the ambience. Dramatic escalations can heighten tension at just the right moments, while a catchy theme song can make a soundtrack truly memorable, and an in-game number even more so. Whatever its particular strengths, the game that excels musically deserves its accolades, even if its impact is subtle.
Best Acting (Voice or Live Action)
Often under-valued by publishers but never by gamers, good acting can enhance a player’s investment in characters as surely as poor acting can ruin it. With so much international localization, voice-overs can be difficult to skillfully oversee, but any game benefits greatly from proper direction and believable acting. Live acting, meanwhile, adds an entirely new realistic dynamic, but the added realism makes it that much harder to pull off successfully. This category refers to the overall quality of performances in a game, not to individual characters.
Best Sound Effects
As with animation, sound effects are frequently given short shrift in adventures, but effective use of audio adds a vital layer of moody ambience. You may not be able to put your finger on the reason, but some games make you feel like you’re really there, and often the atmospheric sounds have drawn you in subconsciously.
Best Non-Traditional Adventure
For a genre that’s remained largely unchanged for decades, it’s actually got a rich history of experimental titles that push the creative envelope in unique, memorable ways. They don’t “evolve” or “redefine” adventures, but rather expand our understanding of what an adventure can be with their bold vision. Purists may resist, but this award honours those games that stretch beyond traditional genre conventions to offer something completely new, or at least present the familiar in imaginative new ways.
Best Traditional Adventure
Why mess with a good thing? While innovative adventures provide a welcome breath of fresh air, the lifeblood of the genre continues to be the many games that closely adhere to the comfortable, tried-and-true design formulas. Full of inventory and/or logic puzzles, memorable character dialogue, epic storylines and immersive exploration, they may not have changed much since Monkey Island and Myst – or even the original Zork for some – but they’re no less enjoyable when done well.
Best Adventure of 2019
Naaah, finding out now would be like using a walkthrough. You’ve got to savour the process and try to piece it together with the hints provided. One thing’s for sure: the answer is on this page somewhere! Tune back in Friday, February 7th to see if you’ve figured it out correctly.
Final Notes
To be eligible, a game must have been commercially released in English for the first time in the calendar year 2019.
Any series designed to be episodic in nature that was completed in 2019 is eligible, even if the series was begun earlier. Conversely, any series that was begun in 2019 but not yet completed is ineligible.
Ports and remakes of commercial games released in previous years are disqualified from contention, though updated re-releases of former freeware games are eligible.