XYZZY Award for Best Game

Below, the winners of the award for each year are listed, followed by the other finalists for that year.

• 1996: So Far by Andrew Plotkin
• * The Light: Shelby's Addendum by Colm McCarthy
• * Lost New York by Neil deMause
• * The Meteor, the Stone, and a Long Glass of Sherbet by Graham Nelson
• * by Andy Phillips
• 1997: I-0 by Adam Cadre
• * Babel by Ian Finley
• * A Bear's Night Out by David Dyte
• * The Edifice by Lucian P. Smith
• * Glowgrass by Nate Cull
• 1998: Spider and Web by Andrew Plotkin
• * Anchorhead by Michael Gentry
• * Little Blue Men by Michael Gentry
• * Once and Future by G. Kevin Wilson
• * Photopia by Adam Cadre
• 1999: Varicella by Adam Cadre
• * For a Change by Dan Schmidt
• * by Mike Snyder
• * The Mulldoon Legacy by Jon Ingold
• * Worlds Apart by Suzanne Britton
• 2000: Being Andrew Plotkin by J. Robinson Wheeler
• * Galatea by Emily Short
• * LASH by Paul O'Brian
• * Rameses by Stephen Bond
• * Shade by Andrew Plotkin
• 2001: All Roads by Jon Ingold
• * Best of Three by Emily Short
• * Fallacy of Dawn by Robb Sherwin
• * First Things First by J. Robinson Wheeler
• * Pytho's Mask by Emily Short
• 2002: Savoir Faire by Emily Short
• * by Peter Nepstad
• * Earth and Sky 2: Another Earth, Another Sky by Paul O'Brian
• * Lock & Key by Adam Cadre
• * Till Death Makes a Monk-Fish out of Me by Jon Ingold and Mike Sousa
• 2003: Slouching Towards Bedlam by Daniel Ravipinto and Star Foster
• * City of Secrets by Emily Short
• * Risorgimento Represso by Michael J. Coyne
• * Scavenger by Quintin Stone
• * To Hell in a Hamper by J. J. Guest
• 2004: Blue Chairs by Chris Klimas
• * Future Boy by Kent Tessman
• * Necrotic Drift by Robb Sherwin
• * Return to Ditch Day by Michael J. Roberts
• * The Dreamhold by Andrew Plotkin