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1986 Nominees
Arcade/Shooter
 | Uridium -- Hewson, © 1986 |
 | Warhawk -- Firebird, © 1986 |
Jump and Run/Platform
 | Dark Castle -- Silicon Beach Software, © 1986 (Licensed to Three-Sixty Pacific, Inc. ©
1987) |
 | Asterix Search for the Magic Cauldron -- Melbourne House, © 1986? |
Sports
 | Gridiron -- Bethesda Softworks, © 1986 |
 | Leader Board -- Access Software, © 1986 |
Fantasy Sports
 | Knight Games -- Mastertronic, © 1986 |
Flight Combat Simulator
 | Gunship -- Microprose, © 1986 |
Space Combat Simulator
 | Starglider -- Rainbird, © 1986 |
RPG
 | Dungeon Master -- FTL Games, © 1986 |
 | Might and Magic -- New World Computing, © 1986 |
 | Roadwar 2000 -- SSI, © 1986 (Jeffrey A. Johnson) |
 | Wasteland -- Electronic Arts, © 1986 |
 | Starflight -- Electronic Arts, © 1986 |
Adventure
 | Trinity -- Infocom, © 1986 |
 | King's Quest III -- Sierra On-Line, ©1986 |
 | Tass Times in TONETOWN -- Activision, ©1986 |
 | The Pawn -- Rainbird, © 1986 |
 | Killed Until Dead -- Accolade, © 1986 |
 | Space Quest -- Sierra On-Line, © 1986 |
Action/Strategy
 | Defender of the Crown -- CINEMAWARE, © 1986 |
Strategy
 | Ogre -- Origin Systems, © 1986 |
 | Lords of Conquest -- Electronic Arts, © 1986 |
Wargame
 | Gettysburg: The Turning Point -- SSI, ©1986 |
 | Battle Group -- SSI, © 1986 |
 | Battlefront -- SSG, © 1986 |
 | Warship -- SSI, © 1986 |
 | War in the South Pacific -- SSI, © 1986 |
Board/Puzzle game
 | Shanghai -- Activision, © 1986 |
 | The Chessmaster 2000 -- The Software Toolworks, © 1986 |

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