In July 2022, I posted about the launch of the Summit Award to recognize a historical board game published in the preceding year that most broadened the hobby through the ease of teaching and/or play, uniqueness of topic, or novel approach. On December 12, 2022, the San Diego History Con (SDHistCon) board announced Red Flag Over Paris as the 2022 Summit Award winner. Congratulations to Fred Serval and GMT Games!
In the press release below, you can find more details on the Summit Award, Red Flag Over Paris, as well as the three other Summit Award finalists:
Red Flag Over Paris is designed by Fred Serval, with art from Donal Hegarty, development from Jason Carr and Joe Dewherst, and solitaire mode design by Jason Carr. It is published by GMT Games. It is a 20-40 minute card-driven game for one to two players, depicting the two months of intense confrontation between the Communards and the government in Versailles during the 1871 Paris Commune. Players take control of one of those factions and battle not just for physical control of the city, but also for the hearts and minds of the population. Solitaire variants are included for both factions.
The winner of the Summit Award was determined by members of the SDHistCon Board and SDHistCon Advisory Board. The judges praised Red Flag Over Paris for its ease of teaching and play, novelty of topic, and effectiveness as a historical game.
Red Flag Over Paris was one of four Summit Award finalists announced in October following a three-month public call for nominations (sent out in Conflicts of Interest #1) that produced more than 48 submissions. Red Flag Over Paris received the highest public nominations of any candidate. The other three finalists, selected by members of the SDHistCon Board and SDHistCon Advisory Board in October, were (in alphabetical order) Atlantic Chase (designed by Jeremy White, published by GMT Games), Nicaea (designed by Amabel Holland, published by Hollandspiele Games), and No Motherland Without: North Korea In Crisis and Cold War (designed by Dan Bullock, published by Compass Games). Each of those four games was taught and demonstrated at the Nov. 11-13 San Diego Historical Games Convention. Following that, members of the SDHistCon Board and SDHistCon Advisory Board met for a final selection of the 2022 Summit Award winner.
The Summit Award will return in 2023, with games published in 2022 under consideration for that award. A call for public submissions will go out in the summer of 2023. More information can be found on the Summit Award page on the SDHistCon website.
For a more detailed overview of Red Flag Over Paris, check out my post from March 2022.
I’ve had the pleasure of playing all of the Summit Awards finalist games and enjoyed them all. They are all unique and left me wanting to explore them more. I’m loving and appreciating the year-to-year growth of accessible and approachable historical strategy games covering less common historical settings. I’m already excited to hear about 2023’s Summit Award nominees!
