Round 1: The first round involves a small group (5-10) of judges who will first vote and then discuss the merits of the results of that vote.  Acting as a panel, the judges nominate several games from each category.

Round 2:  The second round of judging is to be conducted by a public vote.  Members of the AIF authoring and playing community are strongly encouraged to vote on the nominated games.  Authors of nominated games are also encouraged to vote.  A text file ballot will be made available on numerous web sites.  Voters are asked to complete the ballot online.

Voting and Tabulation:

The voting form will ask each voter to list each entry in each category in order of preference.  In other words, if the voter believes Game A is better than Game B but not as good as Game C, he would vote for Game C as his first choice, Game A as his second and Game B as his third. 

Instant runoff voting will be used to tabulate the winner in each category.  Runoff voting will ensure that people can vote for their favourite game in a particular category, but can be assured that if their obscure vote doesn't win, their second or third choice still has a shot.  Runoff voting is most accurate when a large number of voters participate, so we are encouraging everyone to vote.