Polaris (2005 role-playing game)

{{Short description|Tabletop collaborative role-playing game}}

{{refimprove|date=June 2021}}

{{italic title}}

File:Polaris, role-playing game.jpg

Polaris: Chivalric Tragedy at Utmost North (2005) is an indie role-playing game{{cite web| url=http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/13/13254.phtml|title=Polaris (Review)|last=Holter|first=Matthijs| publisher=RPGnet |year=2007|accessdate=2007-09-28}} written by Ben Lehman and published by These Are Our Games. Polaris is a collaborative roleplaying game, and as such differs from many role-playing games in that there is no single "game master". A player's "opposition" is controlled by the other players in the game.

The game participated in the Game Chef in 2004, an annual design competition for non-electronic games, challenging participants to write a playable draft of an original game in just over one week, based on a theme and a set of “ingredients". The 2004 ingredients were ice, island, dawn, assault, which ended up inspiring Polaris (arctic elves struggle against themselves and a demonic assault, with the dawn finally coming for the first time in hundreds of years).{{cite web|url=http://www.game-chef.com/history/|title=Game Chef - The annual game design competition}}

Polaris won the Indie RPG Award for Innovation (2005){{cite web|url=http://www.rpg-awards.com/2005/most_innovate.shtml|title=Innovation in a Roleplaying Game, 2005|publisher=Indie RPG Awards|accessdate=2007-09-28}} and Indie RPG Game of the Year Award (2005),{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg-awards.com/2005/game_of_year.shtml|title=Independent Game of the Year, 2005|publisher=Indie RPG Awards|accessdate=2007-09-28}} was "Runner up" for Best Support (2005){{cite web|url=http://www.rpg-awards.com/2005/best_support.shtml|title=Best Support for a Game or Supplement, 2005|publisher=Indie RPG Awards|accessdate=2007-09-28}}

and Best Production (2005),{{cite web|url=http://www.rpg-awards.com/2005/best_production.shtml|title=Best Production in a Game or Supplement, 2005|publisher=Indie RPG Awards|accessdate=2007-09-28}} and was also "Runner Up" for the Outie Award Best Sui Generis RPG (2005).{{cite web|url=http://www.gamingreport.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=178|title=2005: Legends of the Fall|last=Hite|first=Kenneth|publisher=GamingReport.com|year=2006|accessdate=2007-09-28}}

An Italian language translation of the game was released by Janus Designs in 2009{{cite web|url=http://janus-design.it/news/non-%C3%A8-pi%C3%B9-storia-non-%C3%A8-ancora-una-storia|title=Non è più Storia, non è ancora una storia.|publisher=janus-design.it|year=2009|accessdate=2009-11-01}} and a Spanish one was scheduled for 2012.[http://www.sinergiaderol.com/entrevistacastillo.html Interview with Francisco Castillo, editor of the Polaris Spanish version.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618155851/http://www.sinergiaderol.com/entrevistacastillo.html |date=2013-06-18 }}