The Tyalië Mára Award is my personal
distinction for the top Tolkien computer games in the world.The Tyalië Mára Award is my personal
distinction for the top Tolkien computer games in the world.
When reading the list, bear in mind that it is one man's vote and not to be taken too seriously. You have every right in the world to disagree with my selections. I have made this list only because some people have asked for it and as a quick guide for those who do not want to browse through all the pages to read my opinions of each game.
The award icon was made using Tengwar Sindarin, one of Dan Smith's Tolkien fonts.
| Category | Title | Comment |
| Text Adventure | The Hobbit Software Adventure | Partly for nostalgic reasons, but it is a true classic. |
| RPG | The Lord of the Rings, Vol. II: The Two Towers | For its spirit and for its amusing bugs. |
| MUD | It was years since I played a MUD seriously and have too little on which to base a fair judgement, but contact me if you want to nominate a MUD. | |
|
Strategy |
War in Middle Earth | It is really about time for something new in this category... |
| Action | Shadowfax | So simple, yet so much fun. |
| Parody | Kingdom O' Magic | British humour at its best. Honourary mention in this category to Retarded Creatures and Caverns. |
| Add-On/Scenario | War of the Ring for Warlords II | Unfortunately, I have not played the scenarios for Civilization II, nor Heroes of Might and Magic II. |
| Freeware | Angband | In spite of it not being very concerned about following Tolkien's letter, it is a great game. |
| Commercial | The Hobbit Software Adventure | Later games may surpass it in terms of technical performance, but not in terms of feeling. |
| Graphics | Kingdom O' Magic | By Bob Plested, et al. In particular, some beautiful animations. |
| Prose | Thror's Ring | By Tom Zuchowski. Tolkien games should not be written in American English, but this one is very good and I could not pass it over. |
| Soundtrack | The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I (disk version, not CD-ROM) | By Charles Deenen, who has never even read a word by Tolkien. |
| In Tolkien's Spirit | Riders of Rohan | Follows Tolkien's plot very closely. |
| New Game 1999 | The 1999 games are still being evaluated. Nominations are welcome. | |
| Best Tolkien Game | The Hobbit Software Adventure | The category of all categories. Let me assure you, the choice was not an easy one to make. |
