Tabletop gaming too often ends up being a white boy hobby, unfortunately. That holds double for historical or war games, whose players and designers make up a significant subsection of the gaming community.
A new partnership of publishers and enthusiasts is trying to change that with its new Zenobia award. Tailored specifically to underrepresented groups, the Zenobia award is exclusively available to new designers of historical games who are women, BIPOC, LGBTQ, or are otherwise scarce in the board game community.
The award is less a recognition of excellent work than it is a grant to boost new designers to the next level. Winners of the award take away a stipend and trophy, but more importantly, they are paired with a veteran designer to help in the development process of their game.
From the release introducing the award:
The Zenobia Award is more than a fancy name. It’s a mentorship, intended to pair you with industry veterans who will help develop your game into its best form. It’s an entry point, with partner publishers standing by to discover the most interesting titles and help bring them to print
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Is there a hitch? Nope. There’s no cost of entry, no obligation to list your mentor as a co-designer, and you keep the rights to your game—unless you sign a contract with a publisher, of course. That’s entirely up to you. Being a game designer, you know the importance of the little rules.
Source: Zenobia Award
If you are interested in applying for the Zenobia award, you can fill out this application until January 15, 2021.
