The Indie RPG Awards were annual, creator-based awards for Indie role-playing games and supplements. They were established in 2002[1]: 143 by Andy Kitkowski. The final round of awards was given in 2017.[2]
For the purposes of the Awards, there exists a following "definition" of an Indie role-playing game:[3]
- A game where the creator is the person who has written at least 50% of the actual game content.
- A game where the creator has full control of content and publishing.
- A game where the creator is the publisher, with full control over expenses and profits.
Categories
The following categories for nominations have been used throughout the history of the awards:
- Indie Game of the Year - the main award for Indie Games.
- Indie Supplement of the Year - for best Supplement for an Indie Game.
- Best Free Game - for free Indie Games.
- Best Support - for the publisher has best supported a previously published game or supplement.
- Best Production - for best written and most attractive Indie Games.
- Most Innovative Game - for games that stretch the RPG experience in new ways.
Additional categories were awarded in the first years of the awards:
- Best Use of the d20 License - presented only in 2002
- Indie RPG Zine of the Year - presented only in 2002
- Best Synergy - a game with a synergistic relationship between the setting and the rules; presented only in 2002 and 2003.
- Indie RPG "Human of the Year" - for Indie RPG creators and supporters; presented only in 2002 and 2003.
- Andy's Choice Award - determined by the originator of the awards; presented only in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
- People's Choice Award - decided by popular vote for best game and best supplement; presented only in 2004.