Free League Publishing has added another award to the cabinet after Vaesen: City of My Nightmares took home Gold for Best Adventure – Long Form at the 2026 ENNIE Awards.
The tabletop RPG campaign picked up the award during Gen Con, beating a field that also included Historica Arcanum: Serenade for the Damned, which received Silver. The ENNIE Awards recognise tabletop roleplaying games across a wide range of categories, with nominees selected by judges before the final winners are decided by a public vote.
That community vote makes the win particularly meaningful for Free League, with co-founder Tomas Härenstam thanking players who supported the campaign and the wider Vaesen series.
Murder and monsters in 19th-century Stockholm
Written by Kiku Pukk Härenstam, City of My Nightmares is a four-part campaign for Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying.
Players are called to 19th-century Stockholm to investigate a series of grisly murders, only for the case to spiral into something much larger involving supernatural threats and the origins of the Society itself.
Free League describes the campaign as threatening to throw the entire city into chaos, with the mysteries taking players through a considerably darker version of Stockholm than the one found on most tourist brochures.
The campaign is illustrated by Johan Egerkrans and Anton Vitus and includes a separate map of Stockholm alongside a large newspaper handout for players to use during the investigation.
While Stockholm provides the default setting, Free League also says the adventure can be adapted to other Gothic cities of the period, including London and Prague.
Vaesen already has plenty of horror behind it
City of My Nightmares builds on Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying, Free League’s tabletop RPG inspired by Scandinavian folklore and the work of Swedish illustrator and author Johan Egerkrans.
The core game mixes investigation, horror and traditional Nordic myths using an adapted version of Free League’s Year Zero Engine, with players confronting supernatural creatures that most ordinary people can no longer perceive.
That makes Stockholm a particularly suitable destination for City of My Nightmares.
Moving the supernatural investigation into a crowded city allows the campaign to play with the idea that civilisation and busy streets offer very little protection when something deeply unpleasant is lurking underneath the cobblestones.
Apparently moving somewhere with more neighbours does not solve the monster problem.
Who knew?
A strong year for Free League
City of My Nightmares was not Free League’s only title recognised by the ENNIE Awards this year.
Coriolis: The Great Dark Core Rulebook received nominations for both Best Game and Product of the Year, giving the publisher three nominations across the two releases.
The Gold win continues Free League’s long history at the awards, with previous releases across its catalogue earning recognition over the years.
For City of My Nightmares specifically, though, the award puts a spotlight on a campaign that only launched earlier this year and expands one of Free League’s most distinctive horror settings.
Our take
We spend most of our time talking about independent video games, but the same creativity we love seeing there is alive and well across tabletop gaming too.
City of My Nightmares sounds like exactly the sort of expansion that understands what makes its parent game interesting rather than simply providing another collection of encounters.
Taking Vaesen’s folklore-driven horror into 19th-century Stockholm gives the supernatural side of the game a new backdrop, while tying the mystery into the history of the Society makes it feel significant to the wider setting rather than something players can simply wander through and forget.
And having the eventual winner decided by tabletop players themselves makes the Gold award a particularly nice bit of recognition for everyone involved.
Vaesen: City of My Nightmares is available now in physical and digital formats, with a Foundry VTT version also available for groups who prefer their supernatural investigations slightly less dependent on everyone finding the same free evening.
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