The Indie RPG Awards

There are so many quality Free RPGs on the Internet that, even though Free games are considered for the Indie Game of the Year Award, they really deserve their own category. This category honors the game designers who make their works of passion and then offer them for free. Note: If a Free game wins the main award and this Sub-Award, the runner up for this Sub-Award is chosen instead.

THE Best Free Game FOR 2009 IS...

Lady Blackbird: Adventures in the Wild Blue Yonder by John Harper / with 105 points

Jesus, John Harper. Sell this thing so you can't camp in two categories!

Such a cool game in such a short space - and to believe it's free!

A game of genius design and presentation.

Lady Blackbird by a parsec.

Simply stunning and free. A launch pad for a thousand ideas and a world of adventure.

Lady Blackbird combines attractive design and compelling play into a package that many, many paid-for products could, and should, aspire to.

Captures the enthusiasms of internet culture beyond the gaming scene by delivering a Whedonesque mashup of steampunk, romance, visual style, adventure, and character drama.

Great game with some very nice tropes for the genre

 

THE RUNNERS UP:

44: A Game of Automatic Fear by Matt Snyder / with 58 points

Solid, solid game from a talented designer who knows what he is doing. Deserves more love than it gets, which is a mark on the community as much as it is praise for 44. Shame on us.

Unlike many free games, this one is both professional and complete.

Last Train Out of Warsaw by Jason Morningstar / with 28 points

MonkeyDome by Epidiah Ravachol, Emily Care Boss, Jason Keeley, John Stavropoulos and Jim Sullivan / with 17 points

Thrilling and precocious, which will spawn a litter of talented children.