The D.I.C.E. Award for Adventure Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes titles in which "players are challenged with real-time action activities where timing, skill, and accuracy are necessary to succeed. Puzzle-solving, resource management and exploration often drive the quest oriented narrative rather than primarily combat mechanics".[1] All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category.[2] The award initially had separate awards for console action games and computer games at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 1998 with the first winners being Final Fantasy VII for console and Blade Runner for computer. There have been numerous mergers and additions of adventure-related games throughout the history of the awards ceremony. The current version was officially introduced at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 2008, which was awarded to Super Mario Galaxy.[1]
Initially the Interactive Achievement Awards had separate awards for Console Adventure Game of the Year and Computer Adventure Game of the Year.[3] The adventure category was merged with the Role-Playing category at the 2000 awards.[4][5] This was probably because the previous console adventure game winners also won the award for console role-playing, which were Final Fantasy VII in 1998[6][7] and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in 1999.[8] In 2001, the awards for action games and adventure games were consolidated to Action/Adventure awards, recognizing titles in which players are challenged with real-time action activities and combat where possibly skill, accuracy and puzzle-solving are required.[9][10] A category for Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year was also introduced in 2003.[11] Starting in 2006, genre specific awards would no longer have separate awards for console and computer games, so there would be just one Action/Adventure Game of the Year award, which also included platform games going forward.[12] This would ultimately be separated into Action Game of the Year and Adventure Game of the Year in 2008.[13][1]
Out of all the publishers, Sony has published the most nominees and the most winners for adventure-related awards. Ubisoft Montreal has developed the most nominees while Nintendo, internally, has developed the most award winners. Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft are the only developer and publisher, respectively, to win more than one adventure game award for the same game in the same year with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Rockstar North and Rockstar Games also won multiple awards in the same year, but for different games. Ubisoft Montreal is also the only developer to have back-to-back wins for the same category, being Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2004 and 2005. Ubisoft as a publisher also had back-to-back wins for Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2004 and 2005, but with different developers.
The Legend of Zelda franchise has received the most nominations and won the most awards. The Assassin's Creed franchise is second in nominations but has not won a single award. In the early years of the Interactive Achievement Awards when there were multiple awards for adventure related genres, some games received multiple nominations in the same year:
Riven: The Sequel to Myst (1998): Nominated for Console Adventure Game of the Year and Computer Adventure Game of the Year.
Full Spectrum Warrior (2005): Nominated for Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year and Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year.
Grand Theft Auto is the only franchise to win computer and console adventure game awards within the same year, but with different games: in 2003 for Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year with Grand Theft Auto III. In addition, these two games are also the only games to receive more than one nomination spread across more than one year:
Grand Theft Auto III was nominated for Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2002, and won Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2003.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City won Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2003, and was nominated for Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2004.
^"The Award - Updates". Interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 15, 1998. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
^Shanley, Patrick (February 13, 2019). "D.I.C.E. Awards: Full Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. Retrieved October 16, 2022.