MAGGIES 2024 (Play and VOTE)

[Stupot]

MAGGIES 2024

Voting is now open!

VOTE HERE

The deadline is TBC, but get them in as early as you can.

Of course, you are urged to try to have played most, if not all of the games before casting your votes, but we know some people have busy lives, so there is also the option to watch some of the games instead, by clicking on the clapperboard (🎬). Please use sparingly and play the game yourself if possible. Thanks to WHAM for the videos.

As always, let me know if there are any issues.
January

Trippy
Apfelmännchen
by cat
February

Into the Woods
Brian Eggs is Lost in the Woods
by OneDollar
March

Cut it in Half
Breakfast Requiem
by Babar and jfrisby
April

Finish Your MAGS Game
In Our Midst
by OneDollar
🎬 Watch
May

Sing a Song of Sixpence
Mathilde's Dream
by Speksteen
🎬 Watch
June

Tourist Attraction
The Zoo
by 4KbShort
🎬 Watch
June

Tourist Attraction
The Stew of Las Moras
by Babar and jfrisby
🎬 Watch
July

Nature
Becalmed
by GOC Games
🎬 Watch
August
Time Warp
No Entries
September

Alien
Abducted Intelligence
by Babar and jfrisby
🎬 Watch
October

Finish Your MAGS Game
The Sphinx of Time
by Babar and jfrisby
🎬 Watch
November

Body of Water
Botos do Diabo
by Babar and jfrisby
🎬 Watch
December

Diverse Perspectives
A Place of Significance
by WHAM
VOTE HERE

[cat]

I'm proud to say that I've played every single MAGS game last year. There were some really great games, it's going to be a tough decision!

Btw, most of the MAGGIES candidates are also candidates for the "Best short game" award. Nominations are still running until 9 February.

[Stupot]

Voting for MAGGIES 2024 is now open!

VOTE HERE

The deadline is TBC but I recommend getting your votes in as early as you can.

Thanks in advance. Last year we only had 11 voters. I'd love to increase that number. If we can get 20, I'd be over the moon, but every vote will help to make this a better contest.

Let me know if there are any issues.

[heltenjon]

Voted! From my end, it worked like a charm. Hard decision, though.

Spoiler

(Pancakes or stew?)

[close]

[cat]

This is really hard to decide. My favourite of the year (MORT) is not on the list (it didn't win its month), but there are lots of other games that I enjoyed. Maybe I'll have to replay some before I make a decision.

[Babar]

I know this is far too late to ask this, but since cat mentioned it, I figured I might throw it out there:

Could we have all the MAGS games that came out this year included?

(totally understand that this is an unreasonable request!)

[cat]

I think having all MAGS games included would make the task of playing them all and choosing 3 favorites almost impossible for most users. In the previous years, I managed to only play the monthly winners and cast my vote. If I had to play ALL MAGS games, I probably wouldn't even have tried.

Playing twelve short games is much more manageable and - as Stupot has pointed out - it is more important to increase the number of voters.

[Babar]

Ah, that's true, fair enough! I wasn't thinking of that, as I think this year I played so many of the games the month they came out 

[RootBound]

@cat thanks so much for saying MORT was your favorite. That's huge considering you played every MAGS game of the year, and it means a lot to hear it.    For what it's worth, I nominated Apfelmannchen in a few of the regular AGS Awards categories. 

[Kastchey]

Voted!

[Rik_Vargard]

Voted!

[Ponch]

Voted!

[Stupot]

I know this is far too late to ask this, but since cat mentioned it, I figured I might throw it out there:

Could we have all the MAGS games that came out this year included?

(totally understand that this is an unreasonable request!)

It's more of a best-of-the-best contest. Some great games have missed out on MAGGIES simply because they didn't win their month, but that's just the way of things.

If my counting is correct, there were 32 entries this year a definite improvement over 2023's 25. Asking everyone to play all those (alongside the AGS Awards nominees) is not really realistic. And on top of that, with so few voters the results would be even more thinly-spread.

[Stupot]

Huge thanks to everyone who entered MAGS in 2024.

@4KbShort
@Babar
@Blondbraid
@cat
@ddavey1983
@GooseKult
@jfrisby
@jwalt
@Kastchey
@Mandle
@newwaveburritos
@OneDollar
@pell
@Perpetuall
@Ponch
@Radiant
@RootBound
@VampireWombat
@WHAM
(Let me know if I've missed anyone who should be on the list)

Every entry mattered and we had some great contests.

Month with most entries:
February (Theme: Into the Woods) with five games.

Videos
We know some people have busy lives, so there is also the option to watch some of the games instead, by clicking on the clapperboard (🎬). Please use sparingly and play the game yourself before voting, if possible.

Thanks to WHAM for the videos. I was hoping not to rely solely on WHAM's videos, as he provides his own commentary and opinion, so if anyone has made their own videos of any of the entries, or is willing to make one or two in the name of balance, they would be very welcome.

[WHAM]

Glad to see my videos finding a potential use! I'm hoping to cover all of the entries of 2025 so you'll have a full set next year.

In case someone is confused by the context of my videos: I stream MAGS games on Twitch, mostly for my own entertainment. During those streams I get to both react to the games as I experience them and try to provide commentary on them from the point of view of both a player and a hobbyist developer. I try to point out interesting or odd designs, features and quirks and occasionally think out loud on how something might be improved or altered in a way I personally think might be better.

The videos I make are not trying to be objective reviews, nor are they always complete playthroughs, so as I always try to say when linking to them and as Stupot says above: playing the games yourself is always going to be the better option! You get to experience the game yourself, react to it yourself and form your own opinions of it without a hairy Finnish man talking over it!

[Stupot]

The return of "Finish Your MAGS Game"

Not only did 2024 see the return of the Finish Your MAGS Game (FYMG) theme, but we in fact had TWO such contests (April and October).

There had been some discussion and debate about how to implement FYMG. Running it alongside the main MAGS was considered, but the worry was that it would take away potential players from an already scarce pool of regular MAGS entrants.

In the end, it was OneDollar who solved the problem for us. Having won MAGS February, he used his right to set the theme for April to set FYMG as the theme, much to the joy of many AGSers.

Then, because there were no entries in August, I decided to set FYMG again as the theme in October.

Both editions turned out to be relatively popular, with 4 entries in each FYMG contest.

VOTE HERE