Boardgames Australia

Home | About Us | Contact Us | Site Map | Media

The Awards
...Key Dates
...Judging Panel
...About Us
...Award guidelines
...Other awards
...Submit a game

Game Recommendations
...Gateway to Gaming
...Games to promote literacy
...Games to promote numeracy
...Games that feature sheep
...Games for puzzle lovers

About Boardgames
...Designers' forum event
...The industry
...Links

Boardgames in Australia
...Where to play boardgames
...Where to buy boardgames
...Host a boardgames night

Boardgames Australia Announces Boardgame Award for Australian Families

News Release - For Immediate Release (download this as a Microsoft Word document)
9 June 2007

Boardgames Australia today announced the establishment of a new award for quality board games. The inaugural winners of the awards will be announced in June, 2008.

The Best International Game award will be awarded to the best new game available on the australian market that is suitable for families. Best Australian Game will be awarded to the best new game with Australian creative content. Best Children's Game will be awarded to the best new game for 4-8 year old children.

Research shows that families that work well and produce happy, resilient children spend time doing things together. More and more families are looking for an interactive alternative to solitary computer games. The many wonderful new board games appearing in the specialist market in the "new golden age" of the boardgame offer social interaction as well as intellectual stimulation. Every year brings more exciting board games that challenge children's higher order and strategic thinking skills, expose them to new themes and ideas, and offer countless opportunities for negotiation and discussion. And the best thing is, they're fun!

Boardgames Australia aims to stimulate the growth and raise the profile of boardgaming in Australia by establishing and promoting awards that recognise and reward excellent new local and international boardgames.

The Boardgames Australia awards fill an important niche. Although there are recognised independent international awards such as the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) award from Germany, these awards do not reflect the games' availability and suitability for the Australian market. The Best Australian Game award will help to raise the profile of creative Australians internationally as well as at home, while the set of awards will offer a relevant, independent and highly credible overview of the best games available to Australians today.

The members of Boardgames Australia have come together to create a credible award that is independent of game publishers or retailers. The Committee includes teachers, journalists, parents, academics and business people united by a passion to foster positive engagement of families and friends around the games table.

Like most things, boardgames have developed a lot over the last century. While we may be familiar with music and films made after the 1950s, this is generally not true for boardgames: did you know Monopoly is more than 70 years old? The "Hollywood" for modern boardgames is Germany where family gaming is very popular, and a wide range of these games are now available in English. They are easy to learn and play, and typically last less than an hour.

---ENDS---

Weblink: Boardgames Australia - http://www.gamesaustralia.org.au
Contact: gamesaus @ gamesaustralia.org.au
PO Box 125, Parkville Vic 3052