Maurice Suckling, a professor of practice in the Games and Simulation Arts and Sciences program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and renowned video game writer, has been nominated for a 2019 Charles S. Roberts Milieu Award for his design of his first board game, Freeman’s Farm 1777.

Freeman’s Farm 1777 is one of five games selected as the best of 2019 in the category of best ancients to pre-Napoleonic-era board wargame. It is a strategic board game for one to two players based on the military tactics of the actual Revolutionary War battlefield at Freeman’s Farm near Saratoga, New York.

“Having my first board game design included with this year’s nominees means a huge amount to me,” Suckling said. “Now I’m linked by association with those landmark games of the past and I’m plugged into the mainstream of the history of the hobby, like I belong in a community of designers. Ten-year-old me, setting up the board for one of those past winners, would have blinked in wonder at such a future.”

Suckling, a writer and historian, is best known for his video game work on Driver, Fortnite, and the Wii Fit series.

Presented annually, the Roberts Awards honor excellence in the Conflict Simulation Game Industry and are given to board games, computer games, and individuals for merit in the design, development, and production of war or conflict simulations of historical, hypothetical, science fiction, or fantasy conflicts.

This year, the awards will be presented virtually on the No Enemies Here podcast on YouTube in mid-September.