Avalon Hill's Vegas Showdown board game in which players build their own hotel/casinos by bidding against other players for tiles representing slots, lounges, restaurants and gaming tables, was named 'Game of the Year' by Games Magazine. 

 

This award marks the first time that a Wizards of the Coast product (or a pre-WotC Avalon Hill release) has won 'Game of the Year,' and the first time since 1995 (Milton Bradley's Sharp Shooters) that any of the many games produced under the Hasbro umbrella has taken the award.

 

Games Magazine, which was first published in 1977, is a U.S.-based publication devoted to puzzles and games (Will Shortz of the N.Y. Times crosswords fame was editor from 1989-1993) with a circulation of 81,500.