The voting for the 2010 Meeples Choice awards featured one expected runaway winner, one slightly unexpected winner, and an extraordinarily close race for the third slot. But as is so often the case, the Spielfrieks user group came up with three excellent and very interesting titles. The winning games are:
7 WONDERS
INNOVATION
LONDON
Finishing just one vote back, in the closest contest the awards have ever seen, were Fresco and Navegador. Dominant Species, which was in the mix up to the very end, was only two votes behind that.
Going in, you had to figure that 7 Wonders would dominate and it did just that. It finished 18 votes ahead of the second place game during the nomination process and wound up with twice as many votes as the runner-up during the finals. The awards go all the way back to 1995 and in that time, only Puerto Rico and Caylus have exceeded these results. But there were no obvious choices for the other two slots, so it was most interesting to see how the rest of the voting would turn out.
The three winners are very different games and feature designers with vastly different levels of experience. 7 Wonders’ Antoine Bauza is a rising star in the gaming world. For Carl Chudyk, Innovation is only his second major design, after Glory to Rome, so this is an impressive achievement for him and for the game’s tiny publisher, Asmadi Games. Finally, Martin Wallace is one of the leading designers in the world and London is his third game to win an MCA, following Age of Steam and Brass. Congratulations to all the designers and their publishers.
In all, 105 people cast 306 votes in this year’s election. Here are the results of the final vote. The number in parentheses is the vote total during the nominations process.
 1. 7 WONDERS – 54 (51)
 2. INNOVATION – 27 (21)
 3. LONDON – 23 (26)
 4. Fresco – 22 (21)
 4. Navegador – 22 (33)
 6. Dominant Species – 20 (16)
 7. Troyes – 16 (26)
 8. Forbidden Island – 11 (15)
 9. Alien Frontiers – 9 (13)
 9. Glen More – 9 (16)
 9. Inca Empire – 9 (8)
12. Age of Industry – 8 (18)
12. Founding Fathers – 8 (10)
12. Luna – 8 (9)
12. Vinhos – 8 (10)
16. Key Market – 7 (8)
16. Poseidon – 7 (12)
18. Kaigan – 6 (8)
19. Asara – 5 (9)
19. Catacombs – 5 (9)
19. Samarkand: Route to Riches – 5 (9)
19. Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Board Game – 5 (10)
23. 20th Century – 4 (9)
23. Merkator – 4  (8)
23. Sun, Sea & Sand – 4 (11)
Huzzah! At last recognition where it is truly deserved! Games that are fun, clever and, er, innovative!
A welcome poke in the eye for usual cube-pushing borefests and distinctly-humdrum ‘seen all of it’s bits before’ offerings.
There IS a gaming God after all!
Huzzah I say again!
Interesting that all 3 winners are card games – is it something about the ease of play that appeals to gamers lately?
Regardless, very happy to see 7W win (well-deserved) and that London is getting more praise (it’s a delight).
P-U :) I shoulda voted!!!
Yes, the winners really are all card games. That IS very interesting and something of a trend that can probably be traced back to Dominion’s massive success. However, none of the other nominated games can be described that way (really, Asara is the only one that’s even close), so there are limits to this. But extremely interesting and a good catch.
Yes, Jennifer, you shoulda! Although only if you were going to support Navegador. As much as I like London, I was secretly pulling for the Gerdts design, as it’s my game of the year. Alas, even the administrator only has the three votes everyone else does.
But this should serve as an object lesson to all Spielfriekers and potential ‘frieks–your vote CAN make a difference. So starting next year, make your feelings felt!
And now, in late-breaking news: Only the people who voted had an influence on the results!
I remember as a child hearing about how close the 1960 election had been, but I lived through the 2000 election, which was even closer. My daughter, who was 14 at the time, planned to stay up until the winner was determined, but neither she nor I wound up doing so.
I woulda voted but all the fun sites (other than this one) are blocked at work when I have the time to cast a ballot. :(