Just coming in here to shout a big “hurrah!” for @natalia.theodoridou and @plausible.fabulist for having their Choice of Games titles from last year be named as finalists for this year’s Nebula Award for Game Writing!
You can watch the relevant part of the official SFWA announcement on YouTube here and a screenshot / text description of all the finalists with links is below:
- 1000xRESIST by Remy Siu, Pinki Li, and Conor Wylie
- Restore, Reflect, Retry by Natalia Theodoridou (COG title!)
- A Death in Hyperspace by me, Phoebe Barton, James Beamon, Kate Heartfield, Isabel J. Kim, Sara S. Messenger, Naca Rat, Natalia Theodoridou, M. Darusha Wehm, and Merc Fenn Wolfmoor (Not a COG title, but a lot of us are COG authors!)
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree by Hidetada Miyazaki
- The Ghost and the Golem by Benjamin Rosenbaum (COG title!)
- Pacific Drive by Karrie Shao and Alexander Dracott
- Slay the Princess: The Pristine Cut by Tony Howard-Arias and Abby Howard
- Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast by Jay Dragon, M Veselak, Mercedes Acosta, and Lillie J. Harris
Congrats, all! 
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I have been saying for months now that The Ghost and the Golem and Restore, Reflect, Retry were shoo-ins this year. In some ways they couldn’t be more different, but they are easily two of the most powerful pieces of interactive fiction I have read in my life, making the most of the unique qualities of the medium. They made me laugh and cry and shiver, and they deserve every bit of this honor and more.
And if you haven’t yet read A Death in Hyperspace, you really ought to change that. You can play it for free and it takes less than an hour, but you’ll probably want to play several times to unlock different endings. Mr. Baker was kind enough to ask me to beta test this game before it was submitted to IFComp; he told me he was working with several other authors, but when I saw the actual list I kind of sputtered and used the word “pantheon.” So many brilliant minds came together to create something weird and wonderful, and I hope this nomination will bring it the attention it deserves.
Congratulations to all the authors involved, and to the CoG team for another year of great work.
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I can say with confidence that The Ghost and the Golem is genuinely one of the best games I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. Not just from the CoG catalogue, but from anywhere around. I haven’t played Restore, Reflect, Retry yet, but I hope to soon as it sounds like a gem. Congratulations to both of these authors!
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That’s absolutely amazing, congratulations!
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Thanks everyone! I’m excited to see TGTG, RRR, ADiHS, and also Yazeba’s B&B on the list – haven’t played the others, but it looks like a very strong field!
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