Board Game Discussion - 2020 Golden Geek Awards
9Everyone loves an awards show, right? Get dressed up, listen to bad jokes, judge people who are better than us. All that good stuff. Well, BGG Golden Geek Award winners were recently announced, so let's tear the whole system a new one!!! Except those that deserved it, obviously.
Awards are a weird thing in board gaming. There aren't a lot that stick to rigorous criteria, blinded testing, expert opinions, or things of that nature. In this case, were talking about the 2020 Golden Geek award winners (https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2652238/15th-annual-golden-geek-awards-winners-2020). This is similar to a people's choice award, aka a massive popularity contest. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, don't get me wrong, but it has implications in a LOT of ways.
Awards like this really do mean something for game sales and general popularity. The problem is that the already-popular games tend to win. Granted, it's likely they're popular for a reason (i.e. they're good games), but it also means that lesser-known, but still great, games often get overlooked. The big get bigger, and new players are likely to base decisions on purchases based on some awards certain games have received. While it's better than nothing, it's not a great system, in my opinion. What about you all, though? What're your thoughts on the general game award system, and why? Do you think it's right for them to have such sway over things? Let me know in the comments!
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