The 17th annual Games For Change (G4C) festival takes place next month and like many others, it’ll be a digital-only event. Today, the 22 finalists for the Games For Change Awards have been announced with virtual reality (VR) titles including Bonfire and Paper Beast selected for the XR category.
The Games For Change festival as well as the awards advocate the power of videogames as drivers to impact society in meaningful ways. This year’s awards were highly competitive, seeing over 200 game submissions across the six categories.
Nominated in the Best XR for Change category are:
- Bonfire from Baobab Studios (Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR)
- Escape to the Future from Open Lab, Newcastle University (Digital Immersive Escape Game, 360 Projection)
- Paper Beast from Pixel Reef (PlayStation VR)
- The Holy City from Nimrod Shanit (Oculus Rift, Oculus Rift S, HTC Vive)
Paper Beast is probably the best known out of all those selected and the only videogame. Currently available for PlayStation VR – with a PC version on the way – its a puzzle-adventure set in a surreal world of paper creatures which can manipulate the landscape.
Bonfire, on the other hand, is more of an interactive experience, where you’re tasked with finding humanity a new home, landing on a planet filled with strange but friendly creatures.
As for the other categories they look like this:
Best Gameplay
- Arise: A Simple Story from Piccolo Studio (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
- Dear Reader from Local No. 12 (iOS, Mac, Apple TV)
- Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (PC, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS)
- Sky: Children of the Light from thatgamecompany (iOS)
Most Innovative
- Concrete Genie from Pixelopus (PlayStation 4)
- Dreams from Media Molecule (PlayStation 4)
- Sea of Solitude from Jo-Mei (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
- Sky: Children of the Light from thatgamecompany (iOS)
Most Significant Impact
- Eliza from Zachtronics (PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch)
- Life is Strange 2 from DONTNOD Entertainment (PC, Mac, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
- Sea of Solitude from Jo-Mei (PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4)
- SweetXheart from Catt Small (Web/Online)
Best Learning Game
- Funexpected Math from Funexpected LTD (iOS)
- Mightier from Mightier (Android, iOS)
- Rabbids Coding from Ubisoft (PC)
- Sci-Ops: Global Defense from Plasma Games (Web/Online)
Best Student Game
- Apollo from Team Apollo, University of Southern California (PC, Mac, Live Action)
- Gamer Girl from RIT’s School of Interactive Games and Media (Web/Online)
- Plasticity from Plasticity Games, University of Southern California (PC)
- Resilience from Sungrazer Studio, Drexel University (PC, Mac, Linux)
The Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, Most Significant Impact and Best Learning Game are all eligible for the “G4C People’s Choice” award which you can vote here for. Plus, all the finalists are eligible for the Game of the Year award.
The Games For Change Festival takes place between 14th – 16th July, with the Games For Change Awards streamed at 7:30 pm EDT on 14th. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.
