Each year The Ramanan Sivaranjan Awards for Excellence in Gaming highlight gaming books that are exceptional in their quality and character. To qualify for contention a book must have been purchased by Ramanan Sivaranjan during the proceeding calendar year—i.e. the awards given in the summer of 2016 are for books published from January 2015 - December 2015. Winners are chosen by Ramanan Sivaranjan based on his moods about gaming at a particular moment in time. The Ramanan Sivaranjan Awards for Excellence in Gaming prides itself on selecting the finest RPG books. Previous winners have gone on to win at the EN World Awards, 3 Castles, Indiecade, the Indie-RPG Awards, and The Ramanan Sivaranjan Awards for Excellence in Gaming. The first awards were given in the summer of 2015. They originated because Ramanan Sivaranjan found it incredulous that Jez Gordon’s work in Death Frost Doom wasn’t nominated for Best Art at the Ennies—like, why even have an award?
2024
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Books of 2023: Trophy Gold by Jesse Ross.
- Best Necromunda RPG: Gangs of Titan City by Nick Spence, Ben Brown, and Zachary Cox.
- Best Gaming Supplement: Hull Breach , brought to life by Ian Yusem.
- Honourable Mentions:
- Barkeep on the Borderlands by Prismatic Wasteland
- The Black Sword Hack by Alexandre ‘Kobayashi’ Jeannette
- Brindlewood Bay by Jason Cordova
- CY_BORG by Christian Sahlén and Johan Nohr
- The Doomed by Chris McDowall
- NooFutra by Scrap Princess
- Sword Weirdos by Casey Garske
- Warped Beyond Recognition by Quadra
2023
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Books of 2022: Into the Odd Remastered by Chris McDowall, with art and graphic design by Johan Nohr.
- Best Attempt at Distilling 800 Blog Posts into a Game: Errant by Ava Islam
- Best Gaming Supplement: Gig Economy by Colin Sproule
- Honourable Mentions:
- Demon Bone Sarcophagus by Patrick Stuart and Scrap Princess
- &&&&&&&& Treasure by Luke Gearing
- ANNA-X66: Redux by Slade Stolar
- The Book of Gaub by Charlie Ferguson-Avery, Evoro, The Furtive Goblin, Ivy H, John “Unlawful Games” Gregory, Rowan A. and Paolo Greco
- Downtime in Zyan by Ben Laurence
- Fermentvm Nigrvm Dei Sepvlti by Gord Cellar
- The Frost Spire by Jacob Hurst and Joshua Alvarado
- Skorne by Sam Doebler
- Where the Wheat Grows Tall by Camilla Greer & Evlyn Moreau
- Wanderhome by Jay Dragon.
2022
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Books of 2021: Cartel by Mark Diaz Truman
- Best Skirmish Game: Space Weirdos by Casey Garske
- Best Adventure: Tomb Robbers of the Crystal Frontier by Gus L
- Honourable Mentions:
- Forbidden Psalm by Kevin Rahman
- Fimbria by Giuliano Roverato
- The Haunted Hamlet and other Hexes by the Lazy Litch
- Kriegsmesser by Gregor Vuga
- Lowlife by Sam Sorensen
- Rebel Crown & Serpent Oak by Michael Dunn-O’Connor & Eric Swanson
- Reign in Hell by Adam Loper and Vince Venturella
- Ross Rifles by Daniel Kwan, Patrick Keenan, and Daniel Groh
2021
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Books of 2020: Gradient Descent by Luke Gearing, Nick Tofanni, Jarrett Crader, and Sean McCoy.
- Best Setting Book: The Ultraviolet Grasslands by Luka Rejec.
- Best Game: Electric Bastionland by Chris McDowall and Alec Sorenson.
- Honourable Mentions:
- Prison of the Hated Pretender by Gus L
- Pound of Flesh by Sean McCoy, Donn Stroud, and Luke Gearing
- Ordure Fantasy by Michael Raston
- Acid Death Fantasy also by Luke Gearing (who is this man?!)
- Stygian Library Remastered by Emmy Allen
- Sunken by Mike Martens
- Lorn Song of the Bachelor by Zedeck Siew
2020
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Books of 2019: Zombie World by Brendan Conway and Mark Diaz Truman
- Best Settings and Adventure: Patrick Stuart and Dirk Detweiler Leichty for Silent Titans (with layout by Christian Kessler and editing by Fiona Maeve Geist)
- Best One Page Dungeons Collected into a Fancy Book: Trilemma Adventure Compendium by Michael Prescott.
- Honourable Mentions:
- Mork Borg by Pelle Nilsson and Johan Nohr
- Girl Underground by Lauren McManamon and Jesse Ross
- Dirk’s Mystery Zine (that would became Super Blood Harvest) by Dirk Detweiler Leichty
- The Demon Collective Volume 1 by David Shugars, Camilla Greer, Comrade Pollux, and Mabel Harper
- Fungi of the Far Realms Alex Clements and Shuyi Zhang.
2019
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Books of 2018: Mothership & Dead Planet by Sean McCoy, Donn Stroud, and Fiona Maeve Geist
- Best Setting Book: Jason Sholtis for Operation Unfathomable (with layout by Jez Gordon)
- Best Game: David Black for the Black Hack 2e
- Honorable Mentions:
- Games Workshop, Kill Team
- Jesse Ross, Trophy (found in the Gauntlet Codex Dark 2)
- Emmy Allen, The Dolorous Stroke
- Ben Milton, Knave
- Ben Laurence, Through Ulthans Door
2018
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Book of 2017: Jacob Hurst, Gabriel Hernandez, Evan Peterson and Donnie Garcia for The Dark of Hot Springs Island
- Best Setting Book: Patrick Stuart & Scrap Princess for Veins of the Earth (with layout by Jez Gordon)
- Best Game: Daniel Sell and Jeremy Duncan for Troika
- Honorable Mentions:
- Games Workshop, Warhammer 40,000: Dark Impterium
- Adam Poots, Kingdom Death Monster
- Luke Gearing, Fever Swamp
- Ben Milton, Maze Rats
- Emanuele Galletto, Fleshscape
- Whitney Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, and Sarah Richardson, Bluebeards Bride
- Evlyn Moreau, Chromatic Soup
2017
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Book of 2016: Patrick Stuart & Zak Smith 😬 for Maze of the Blue Medusa
- Best Setting Book: Rafael Chandler for World of the Lost
- Best Art: Jeremy Duncan for Towers Two
- Honorable Mentions:
- D. Vincent Baker & Meguey Baker, Apocalypse World 2e
- David Black, The Black Hack
- Kiel Chenier, Blood in the Chocolate
- Jeff Rients and Ian Maclean, Broodmother Sky Fortress
- James Maliszewski and Jez Gordon, The Cursed Chateau
- Cecil Howe, Do not let us Die in this Cold Winter
- Cecil Howe, HexKit
2016
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Book of 2015: Scrap Princess and Patrick Stuart for Fire on the Velvet Horizon
- Best Not D&D: Jason Lutes for The Perilous Wilds
- Best Setting Book: David McGrogan for Yoon-Suin: The Purple Lands
- Honorable Mentions:
- Paolo Greco, The Chthonic Codex
- Pearce Shea, In the Woods
- Kiel Chenier, The Hell House Beckons
- Marshall Miller, The Warren
- Atsuhiro Okada, Ryuutama
- Mateo Diaz Torres, A Pernicious Pamphlet
2015
- The Ramanan Sivaranjan Excellence in Gaming Best God Damn Book of 2014: Zak S 😬, A Red and Pleasant Land.
- Best Writing: Patrick Stuart, Deep Carbon Observatory
- Best Art: Jez Gordon, Death Frost Doom
- Honorable Mentions:
- Zzarchov Kowolski, Scenic Dunnsmouth
- Kelvin Green, Forgive Us
- Johnstone Metzger, Evil Wizards in a Cave
- James Maliszewski, The Excellent Traveling Volume
- Brendan S., Wonder and Wickedness
- Mike Mearls & Wizards of the Coast, 5th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide
- Thor Olavsrud & Luke Crane, Torchbearer