The Diana Jones Award

The Diana Jones Award 2012

The Winner | The Nominees | The Award Ceremony

The Winner

The 2012 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming has been given to Nordic Larp, a book by Jaakko Stenros and Markus Montola.

Nordic Larp is a history of the Nordic larp (live-action roleplaying) scene, from its inception in post-D&D fantasy through experimental drama, historical recreation, and far-freaking weirdness, done as a massive and profusely illustrated coffee-table book, written by two gaming scholars. The book documents more than thirty larps that took place over 15 years, including ones with animatronic dragons and a space opera played out on a submarine.

The Nordic Larp book assembles photos, memories, and designer notes, allowing the reader to survey these fantastic and sometimes legendary events. These records are bracketed by an introduction that summarizes the recurrent elements of the larps and a final essay on Nordic larping as art, theater, and game. Nordic larping is a major, dynamic branch of the gaming family tree, fully deserving of this massive, beautiful book that takes larping and game history as serious business.

It is the opinion of the Diana Jones Award Committee, that Nordic Larp exemplifies excellence in gaming, and we are proud to award it our trophy for this year.