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Games for Change, the nonprofit focused on the power of games as drivers of social impact, has announced the finalists for its annual G4C Awards.
The 19th annual Games For Change Awards will be streamed at 4:30 pm Pacific time on July 15 as part of the first-ever hybrid Games for Change Festival, July 13 to July 16.
This year’s awards are the most competitive and global in the festival’s history – with over 400 submissions across nine categories: Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, Most Significant Impact, Best Learning Game, Best Student Game, Best Civics Game, Best Health Game, Best Narrative Game, and Best XR for Change.
“The Games for Change awards program has grown into a global event that attracts the most creative and inventive games and XR experiences for learning, for wellness, for civic responsibility and so much more,” said Susanna Pollack, president of Games for Change, in an email to GamesBeat. “This year’s Games for Change awards attracted hundreds of worthy games and XR experiences. It’s a great honor to share the 28 unique game finalists from 14 countries, which exemplify how social impact games and XR can actively create positive change in the world.”
A group of 125 game developers, researchers, and experts in game design reviewed the games and selected the finalists. Game entries came from established triple-A studios, indie developers, and university-level students.
The 2022 Game For Change Award finalists include:
Most innovative
Before Your Eyes — GoodbyeWorld Games
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown — Falling Squirrel
Inua – A Story in Ice and Time from Iko – The Pixel Hunt ARTE France
Unpacking — Witch Beam
Best XR for change
The Choice — Joanne Popinska
Diagnosia — Mengtai Zhang and Lemon Guo
Gravitational — Electric Monkeys
Steps of Privilege — Matt Foreman
Best civics game
Svoboda 1945: Liberation — Charles Games
VOXPOP — Gigantic Mechanic
Dot’s Home — Weathered Sweater & Rise Home Stories Project
MadeVR: Take me to the end of the Assembly Line — Singing Cicadas
Best gameplay
Road 96 — DigixArt
Before Your Eyes — GoodbyeWorld Games
Midnight Protocol — LuGus Studio & Sixty Four
Lost Recipes — Schell Games
Best learning game
Lingo Legend — Hyperthought Games
Ava — Team Ava
Culture Overlord — Lucas Vially
Math Makers — Ululab
Most significant impact
Svoboda 1945: Liberation — Charles Games
Blackhaven — Historiated Games
Dot’s Home — Weathered Sweater and Rise Home Stories Project
MadeVR: Take me to the end of the Assembly Line — Singing Cicadas
Best health game
Smileyscope MRI — Smilescope
REThink Game — Babes-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
BeatNic Boulevard — skillsgapp
Best narrative game
Before Your Eyes — GoodbyeWorld Games
Dot’s Home — Weathered Sweater and Rise Home Stories Project
The Vale: Shadow of the Crown — Falling Squirrel
Unsighted — Studie Pixel Punk
Best student game
There You Are — Funky Dango
P.A.N.I.K.O. — Bluv Studio
The Social Engineer — Fabian Fischbach & Pascal Jansen
Project Anomaly: Urban Supernatural Investigator — Dark Science
Additionally, games from the Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, Most Significant Impact, Best Health, Best Narrative, Best Civics, and Best Learning Game categories are eligible for the “G4C People’s Choice” Award, presented by Facebook Gaming.
“Facebook Gaming is proud to sponsor Games for Change once again this year. Games are a powerful tool for innovation, creativity, and social impact which is why we are excited to see who will win the 2022 People’s Choice Award,” said Sabs Meditz, head of gaming partnerships for Americas at Facebook Gaming, in a statement.
