Where to Buy the Best TTRPGs from Gen Con 2024

Each year, the tabletop RPG community votes on a collection of the best TTRPGs and other products to be showcased at Gen Con. Known as the Ennie Awards, games and other products can be nominated in a variety of categories, including excellence in art direction, design mechanics, writing, and more.

If you’re eager to try out some of these new titles, you’ll be happy to hear that many of the Gen Con 2024 winners are already available to purchase.

Below you will find links to all the first and second prize winners in all relevant categories of this year’s Ennie Awards.

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Product of the year

This category represents the overall fan favorite shown at Gen Con 2024. This year, that distinction belongs to Shadow Dark RPG, which can be purchased directly from The Arcane Library in both PDF And hardcover formats. Second place went to Less armed, which is for sale at DriveThruRPG as PDF for $11.90.

Best Adventure – Short Form / Long Form

The gold medal for Best Short Adventure, awarded to the top seeds and one-shots, went this year to Eat the Empirewhich is available in both variants physically And PDF formats from publisher Rowan & Deckard. Second place went to One-time miracles which is available from Roll & Play Press.

The award for best long adventure goes to works with great campaign ideas. This year, that award belongs to Delta Green: God’s Teethwhile number two Call from Cthulu: Alone Against the Noise took home silver.

Best tool/accessory (digital/non-digital)

Extra bits and bobs can make a campaign or setting feel more realistic. This category is among the best physical and digital accessories that add a little extra flavor to your game. The first place in the digital category goes to LegendKeeperwhich is available as a free trial but offers monthly subscriptions for $7.50. Second place goes to Hexrol 2E, a hex-based world building tool that is available for free, but offers additional perks to Patreon subscribers for $2.50 per month.

For physical accessories, the first place went to luxury Arkham Investigator’s Walleta $100 prop set developed for Call of CthuluWhile the second place belongs to the Hexcrawl Toolbox.

Best Art (Cover)

You can’t always judge a book by its cover, but sometimes you can. This year the best cover art belongs to Eat the Empirewith illustrations by artist Will Kirkby. Koriko: A Magical Year was the runner-up with its cozy and suggestive cover, drawn by Deb JJ Lee.

Best Art (Interior)

Eat the Empire also took home first place for interior illustrations. But UVG-2E won the second prize, with illustrations by designer Luka Rejc.

Best cartography

As the martial poet Karen O once said: “CardsThey don’t love you like I love you.” Every year, Gen Con awards the best cartography to games that do an excellent job of capturing the topography of a given setting. This year, first place went to the Dragonbane core setwhich is available at Amazon And Modiphius for about $44. The expansion for the Alien RPG, Building better worldstook home second place.

Best family game

The Gold Award for Best Family Game at Gen Con 2024 goes to BREAK!! Tabletop RPG, which can be purchased as a $25 PDF directly from the publisher. Second place goes to the cleverly named If I was a Lich, man, which can be purchased in hardcover for $35 at Hit Point Press.

Best game

Ready to play right out of the box, the Best Game category is all about RPGs that bring together the best overall art, writing, and rules under one roof. This year, that award belongs to the Shadow Dark RPGwhile Less armed took second place.

Best layout and design

Shadow Dark RPG once again took home the gold medal for layout and design at Gen Con 2024. The silver medal, however, belongs to CBR+PNK: Enlargedwhich is available as a deluxe, $30 box set from the publisher, or a $10 PDF from itch.io.

Best Monster/Opponent

The Best Monster/Opponent category is awarded exclusively to books filled with beasts, villains, and other XP-granting nightmares. The gold medal in this 2024 category was split evenly between Warhammer 40,000 Wrath & Glory Threat Rating Xenos And Monstrous.

Best production values

The devil really is in the details. Best Production Values ​​is a category that recognizes attention to detail and quality. This year, first and second place replicate the recipients of the best physical accessories of 2024. The Arkham Investigator’s Wallet and the Hexcrawl Toolbox.

Best RPG Related Product

Not necessarily awarded to games, this category is awarded to products inspired by TTRPGs and their communities. This year, first place goes to the long-winded but extremely helpful GM text, So You Want to Become a Game Master: Everything You Need to Start Your Board Game Adventure for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, and Other Systems. Second place in this category went to the KOBOLD Roleplaying Game Guide.

Best rules

Sometimes referred to as the “crunchiest game,” with perfectly meshed gears turning each other with Swiss precision, Best Rules is awarded to games with outstanding mechanical design. This year, Shadow Dark RPG took the gold, and the Pathfinder Player Core Set was the second.

Best setting

A few clear favorites from Gen Con 2024 took home awards for best setting, complementing their respective worlds with a powerful combination of rich text and artwork. This year, first place went to Pathfinder Lost Omens: Tian Xia World Guide, and the second place went to Valley of flowers.

Best supplement

Building better worldsthe extension for the Alien RPG, took first place for best additional content of 2024, while The Griffon’s Saddlebag: Book Two received a second place.

Best writing

This category is awarded to games with the best prose and other descriptive text. The gold medal winner, Call of Cthulhu: Alone Against the Noise is available from Amazon or Chaosium in print for $29.99, or at Chaosium for $15 PDF. Second place Cloud Empress: Land of the Cicadas, a fantasy campaign setting for the Mothership RPG system, can be purchased at DriveThruRPG as PDF for $11.99.

Best Free Game/Product

The open-source nature of tabletop gaming is one of its greatest strengths, as evidenced by the wealth of free tools, systems, and campaigns available online. This award celebrates the best things you can use to spice up your next campaign for free. While these all deserve a gold medal in my book, first place went to Rivers of London: The Inland, and the second place went to Level 1: The Free RPG Day Indie RPG Anthology 2023.