“Crowded Frontier” Awarded 2024 Cardboard Edison Award for Unpublished Board Game Designs

Cardboard Edison has announced that “Crowded Frontier” is the winner of the 2024 Cardboard Edison Award for its innovative approach to unpublished board game design.

The game, created by Myles Wallace, allows players to explore and claim land in a competitive environment where they must efficiently manage and deploy resources. “Crowded Frontier” incorporates elements of worker placement, area control, and resource management. The game is designed for 3-5 players and typically takes about 45 minutes to complete.

Judges of the award praised “Crowded Frontier” for its straightforward yet engaging mechanics. They noted that the game presents a challenging puzzle aspect and a resource collection system that creatively enhances gameplay. Additionally, the strategic use of resources to expand into new areas was recognized as a standout feature.

Myles Wallace, the designer of “Crowded Frontier,” is based in Austin, Texas, and serves as the president of the ATX Game Designers Club. His background includes working in community outreach for a nonprofit organization.

The 1st runner-up was “Snowy Peaks,” designed by Yuri Morroni & Gabriel Toschi, which features two players ascending cold mountains with a focus on strategic card play and thematic elements. The 2nd runner-up, “Cart’nage” by Loïc Lamy, offers a dynamic experience where players use dominoes to build structures and then attempt to knock down opponents’ buildings using various tokens.

The Cardboard Edison Award assesses games based on several criteria, including player engagement, originality of theme and mechanics, replayability, smooth gameplay, and suitability for the intended audience.