Wow! A silver medal for Heistronic!? Here are my overviews/reasons for medals:

Plateau Chess

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Journey to Eden

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Honorable Mention: Vasectomy Surgeon - It’s in the Bag

I would have given this a medal if the game didn't seem to degrade in quality over time. The theme is really interesting, although polarizing. I think it had one of the best uses of the criteria for the competition.

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Bronze Medal: Space Fight

I really liked the idea that different players could purchase different ships to match their personalities and playstyles. Expansions could be released over time so you could surprise someone with a new attack or bonus they hadn't seen yet.

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Silver Medal: Camera Obscura

This received the silver medal because I really liked the theme, and the use of the box/camera.

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Gold Medal: Quadplex

This got my gold medal because it is the game I would most likely want to buy after reading the descriptions. The game could have done without using the box, but the cramped feeling of the box really fits in with the theme.

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Thank you everyone for the votes. What a close contest. Great job everyone!

I voted Camera Obscura Gold and Heistronic Silver. It was a tough choice. Even though I like the gameplay a bit better for Heistronic, I settled on Camera Obsucura for Gold because I thought it was the most innovative and integral use of the box.

Heistronic did an great job of applying the theme. I like the idea of buying your way out of trouble when you get caught. I think there's room for a bit more tactical depth by adding an element of "casing the joint" where you have to check out what you're up against and build up enough skill to complete the job. The use of the box was creative, but in the end it is more gimmick than necessary. However, it is a gimmick that would probably go over well and work.

As I said, Camera Obscura had the best use of the box. I think the gameplay would work. The action paths could be interesting. I'd be concerned about how well the glow in the dark ink would work and how well you would be able to see the composite images. I'm not sure it makes total sense thematically, but I don't think that would matter too much.

First off, A+ for originality! Having said that I had no idea what to make of this. I imagine the theme would limit the game's reach. I'd have the same concerns as mentioned about the components degrading. In the end maybe it's a great idea, maybe it's a terrible idea. I'm not sure. Fortunately, I didn't feel I had to try and decide when I was contemplating my votes, as I don't think you'd be able to get away selling and storing the game without a box. Therefore, I didn't feel it totally satisfied the challenge, but again I have to say great job on originality.

I like the sound of things going on with this game. It seems like it would have a lot of interesting elements going on. It missed out on a medal for me because the use of the box while novel is not actually integral or needed for the gameplay. Having said that, I'm sure there would be a market for this as collectable make your own ship boxes. Good job.

Very interesting use of the box. As a variant of an existing game, I was hoping to see more that would change the feel of the game. The special unit that travels to the other side of the box fits this, but overall I was hoping for more to separate this game from standard chess. I know this was in my top 4 but can't remember if I voted on it.

This game seems like it's based entirely on luck, since you just have to have the right equipment when you get a random location from the sack. Although you would work on balancing the game so this doesn't happen, it also sounded like you would end up losing more progress markers than you gain, since you can only have one equipment at a time and would be more likely to fail a location than to succeed.

I think it would be fun to have more information available, and more decisions being made by the player. Maybe they can have multiple pieces of equipment at once, and have more control to choose the location they go to (like if multiple locations were drawn and you could choose one, leaving behind the others for other players to choose). A push your luck mechanic might fit well with that too, giving the player the option to keep going, with the risk of losing the progress they've made.