Year in Review - The 2010 Hopefuls

This year I'd like to start a new tradition here at The Hopeless Gamer. Everyone does their year-end review of the best of whatever crap they love. We're going to be no different. Since the crap we love is tabletop games, that's what we're going to give rewards out for.

So starting tomorrow and then every day through January 1st, we'll be posting a new category of award and announcing the winner. I've decided to call our year-end awards the "Hopefuls" for reasons that should be obvious. As The Hopeless Gamer, sometimes I feel my psuedonym is a misnomer. You see, now is kind of a tumultuous time amongst tabletop gamers. The future of our hobby seems to constantly be in question. Because of this, it may appear that the site was named after this pessimistic trend.

Fear not fellow traveller! I'm actually incredibly optimistic that now is the best time to be gaming. We have some incredibly innovative games surfacing on what feels like a weekly basis. The pdf market is full to the brim with great settings and tools. Now is a time for optimism. To this end, I bring you the "Hopfuls" a.k.a. games and concepts that make us excited to talking about and participating in the hobby. This year's categories are:

1. Biggest Surprise of 2010
2. Game We'll Miss Most from 2010
3. Game We're Most Hopeful For in 2011
4. Rookie of the Year
5. Best Gaming Accessory
6. Product of the Year
7. Game of the Year

We're very much influenced by what we write about often on the blog, so feel free to make your guesses on what we're going to choose in the comments below. Alternatively, feel free to let us know what your pick or picks would be. After all, as Obi-Kenobi once said, "“My loyalty is to the Republic.... to DEMOCRACY.”