GNZ Special Awards for #IronViz
Did y'all catch the Iron Viz 2023 Qualifiers announcement? It was such an exciting time to see who made it to the finals, and we are proud to see our very own GNV host Louis Yu making into the Top 5 for APAC. Check out his wonderful viz on Dragon Age and how it came to dominate the western role-playing games genre!
It was NEVER about the Dragons - Louis Yu
5th placing in APAC
And not to mention, congrats to the top 3 finalists who wowed everyone with their fantastic work!
The Greatest Game of All Time - Nirosh Perara
Representing EMEA
Spiel des Jahres - Brittany Rosenau
Representing Americas
The Best Board Game to Try Next - Paul Ross
Representing Asia Pacific
Also, do check out all the other Top 15 qualifier entries, they are all breathtaking! 🤩
While GNV doesn't have any fancy prizes to give out like Tableau does, the team gathered last week to pick out their favorites for some very special awards!
Calculating my salary in Skyrim - Nick Pillsbury
Most Intriguing Question - Awarded by Will Sutton
I really enjoyed Nick's analysis, using a common factor - potatoes to compare the economies and living standards of games to real life. This technique made for a very intriguing narrative to this dashboard. Definitely an idea I'll try in the future!
The Diverse World of Mancala - Shazeera Zawawi
Awesome Customization - Awarded by Will Sutton
Shazeera puts together a great dataviz but combining that with her sketching skills makes for a very unique looking viz! I'm impressed how the sketch effect is carried on throughout the viz despite Tableau being able to render similar shapes as standard the extra work to customise each chart takes this viz to the next level!
Operation: Lang Family Battleship - Ethan Lang
A Data Driven Strategy in Action - Awarded by Will Sutton
Ethan's viz reminds me of our challenge with C. Liam Brown's Battleship AI: https://cliambrown.com/battleship/play.php I enjoy Ethan's personal journey to get better at Battleship. We see different strategies being tested, then at the end we get to put these insights into action, with a competitive incentive to be the highest on the leaderboard.
The Science of Winning - Varun Jain
Cutest Iconography - Awarded by Will Sutton
I've seen many different chess icons but these have to be the cutest I've ever seen! Varun's made these the stars of the story as the icons appear throughout the viz even in the section dividers which I thought was a nice touch.
Going for Broke, The Friendship Ruining Power of Monopoly - Ann Pregler
Most Relatable - Awarded by Will Sutton
If there's one thing we can all relate to with Monopoly, it's arguments. I appreciate how Ann risked one friendship to produce this viz but cleverly outsource the remaining games to AI to build the dataset of outcomes. A great viz packed full of insights for the holidays.
Formula 1 | 2000 to 2021 - Arshad Ejaz
Hackiest Viz - Awarded by Louis Yu
The treemap that Arshad did, just blows everything away! Not to mention the trigonometry knowledge to create all those curves. And I loved how he built in 4 stories within that treemap to summarize two decades worth of data.
Games Prestons Play - Michelle Frayman
Most Heartwarming Viz - Awarded by Louis Yu
The holidays are here, and what better way to celebrate than to play family board games? Thanks Michelle for letting us in on a personal story about family, through a clean design and so many fun facts! I feel l'm missing out on this amazing game because my copy of 7 Wonders is still sitting in the cupboard, mint condition.
Tour de France | The Dark Side of the Tour - Quinn Serfass
Most Interesting Storytelling - Awarded by Louis Yu
A guided narrative is often one of the best way to tell a complex story, and that is what Quinn has essentially done here, through purposely design and color choices. I didn't know doping was such a huge problem for the cycling community and I definitely learnt something today!
Michael Chang - Dennis Kao
Boldest Background - Awarded by Tina Covelli
I'm breaking the rules a bit to include a sports viz and not our typical games, but this one really struck me. I love when visual storytelling meets photography, and Dennis did just that with his entry. You want to think that having an IRL photo as a background would be too distracting to a visualizaiton, but it works well here. The simplicity of the color palette and keeping everything on theme with tennis constructs a fantastic experience for the audience.
Diablo 2: Stay a While and Listen - Luke Abraham
Most Immersive Layout - Awarded by Tina Covelli
I am a huge fan of ALL of Luke's work, but especially loved this entry. The entire design engulfs you as soon as you enter the page, and those transitions?? *chefs kiss* Luke's minimalistic style lends *so well* to the visualizations. No axis? No problem. This truly is a piece of art. Well done, Luke!
Stardew Valley Recipes 100% - Alison Pitt
Best Game Guide - Awarded by Tina Covelli
I always thought that Stardew Valley was not for me because I don't typically like that style of game graphics, but let me tell you...Alison's viz made me want to play! (and I did...bought the game and totally love it!). This visualization is a fantastic game guide for cooking in the game, which can be somewhat confusing to noobs (like me) because there isn't much guidance in the game. Who wants to scroll through a wiki page when you can use this viz instead?!
But at the end of the day, everyone's a winner because...
Win or Learn, you can't lose! - Iron Viz
