It’s the awards we never knew we needed, but always, somehow, knew deep inside. For those games that specifically get us right in the feels, the 2018 edition of the Emotional Games Awards recognized the standouts of the past year.
The seven person awards committee comprised a broad cross section of developers and experts, ranging from indie developer CEOs to a Parisian philosopher. Seven categories produced seven distinct winners.
The were:
- Best Emotional Game : Hellblade : Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Best Emotional Artistic Achievement : Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)
- Best Emotional Game Design : Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory)
- Best Emotional Music : Inside (Martin Stig Andersen-Playdead)
- Best Emotional Indie Game : _Observer_ (Bloober Team)
- Best Emotional VR Game : Lone Echo (Ready at Dawn)
- Best Emotional Mobile & Handheld Game : Bury me, my love (The Pixel Hunt/ Arte / Figs / Playdius)
The jury was composed of Wael Amr (CEO – Frogwares, Kiev); Mark Cecere (Narrative Designer and Game Writer – WB Games, Montreal); Laura Glibert (Virtual Reality & Game User Researcher – Sony Playstation, London); Damien Mayance (CEO – Pixelnest Studio, France); Swann Pichon (Senior Researcher in Video Game and Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Geneva); Jehanne Rousseau (CEO – Spiders, Paris); Mathieu Triclot (philosopher, Paris).
The nominees across all categories were announced on February 7th. Original nominations were as follows:
Best Emotional Game Nominees
Abzû (Giant Squid-505 Games)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory Ltd.)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla-Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Inside (Playdead)
Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Deck Nine Games-Square Enix)
The First Tree (David Wehle)
Best Emotional Artistic Game Achievement Nominees
A.L.F.R.E.D (ISART Digital- Miyu Distribution – Sève Films)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla-Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Inside (Playdead)
Last Day of June (Ovosonico-505 Games)
Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)
Robinson : the Journey (Crytek)
Best Emotional Game Design Nominees
Abzû (Giant Squid-505 Games)
Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory)
Dee Zaster on Monster Island (Glance Creative Ltd.-Prime Apps Ltd.)
Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory Ltd.)
Inside (Playdead)
Pyre (Supergiant Games)
Abzu
Best Emotional VR Game Nominees
Lone Echo (Ready At Dawn)
Robinson : the Journey (Crytek)
Statik (Tarsier Studios)
Best Emotional Mobile & Handheld Nominees
Ana the Game (Almost Games Studio-Plug in digital)
Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story (Accidental Queens -Playdius)
Bury me, my love (The Pixel Hunt-Playdius)
Is it Love? Mystery Spell – Peter (1492 Studio)
Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)
Save me Mr Tako: Tasukete Tako-San! (Christophe Galati-Nicalis)
Best Emotional Music Nominees
Far from noise (George Batchelor)
Inside (Playdead)
Little Nightmares (Tarsier Studios-Namco Bandai Entertainement Europe)
Perception (The Deep End Games)
Spike: Under the Leaves (ISART Digital-Miyu Distribution – Sève Films)
The first Tree (David Wehle)
Little Nightmares
Best Emotional Indie Game Nominees
Another Lost Phone : Laura’s Story (Accidental Queens-Playdius)
Along the edge (Nova-box)
Far from noise (George Batchelor)
Epistory – Typing Chronicles (Fishing Castus)
_observer_ (Bloober team)
Perception (The Deep Endgames)
Past Cure (Phantom 8)
