Always a highlight of the Nordic Game conference, this year’s online show hosted by Matilda Alborn from Mademoiselle Carousel spotlighted the talent and expertise of the region’s studios as well as the amazing games they’ve released over the past year.
Now it’s a great pleasure to unveil the winners of the Nordic Game Awards 2020, presented by Epic Games and Unreal Engine and streamed live from Malmö, Sweden on Thursday, 28 May during NG20 online.
Nordic Game of the Year: Control from Remedy Entertainment (FI)
Jury’s motivation: All departments of the studio came together to create scenes containing immense godlike freedom in this year’s Nordic Game of the Year, Control. Though not groundbreaking the game offers a unique atmosphere that draws players into a mystic and surreal world that David Lynch would be proud to call his own.
Nordic Game of the Year runners-up:
Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (FI)
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (DK)
Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (NO)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (SE)
Nordic Game of the Year – Small Screen: Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (SE)
Jury’s motivation: There’s nothing predictable when this audiovisual rollercoaster takes players for a dance across the screen. Its minimalist, yet dizzyingly beautiful visuals set players up into a cart and then the catchy music pushes them forward at a million miles an hour. It’s easy to learn, but not hard to love.
Nordic Game of the Year – Small Screen runners-up:
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (DK)
Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (NO)
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two from Other Tales Interactive (DK)
What the Golf? from Triband (DK)
Best Art: Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (SE)
Jury’s motivation: The unique visual style of this modern masterpiece brings the player back to the golden age of music videos and demoscene. Fluid visual motion, beautiful choreography and ever-surprising world design show us that gaming as an art form can redefine itself again and again.
Best Art runners-up:
Control from Remedy Entertainment (FI)
Draugen from Red Thread Games (NO)
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (DK)
Little Misfortune from Killmonday Games (SE)
Best Fun for Everyone: What the Golf? from Triband (DK)
Jury’s motivation: This year’s fun for everyone game is like being a child again, and constantly changing the rules in your game of Monopoly to try and win… only this time it is the game itself trying to win and all you can do as the player is to try and keep up. It’s kind of like if Monty Python made a sports game. It’s really fun, and truly unique.
Best Fun for Everyone runners-up:
Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (FI)
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (DK)
Minecraft Earth from Mojang (SE)
The Stretchers from Tarsier Studio (SE)
Best Design: Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (FI)
Jury’s motivation: Game design is about deciding what the player can and cannot do. Often the design is hidden within beautiful production, but occasionally it is laid bare before the player. Baba is You really pushes the boundaries of the game’s world, it asks us a philosophical question: “who rules?” But does it provide an answer?
Best Game Design runners-up:
Control from Remedy Entertainment (FI)
Degrees of Separation from Moondrop (NO)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (SE)
What the Golf? from Triband (DK)
Best Technology: Control from Remedy Entertainment (FI)
Jury’s motivation: New technology brings new opportunities. Sometimes it’s a foundation for something original, but other times it’s an opportunity to take something great and make it spectacular. Control amplifies the atmosphere of the game world while simultaneously adding depth and richness to the gameplay.
Best Technology runners-up:
Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (DK)
Minecraft Earth from Mojang (SE)
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 from Ubisoft Massive (SE)
Trailmakers from Flashbulb (DK)
Best Audio: Mutazione from Die Gute Fabrik (DK)
Jury’s motivation: Audio can be the quickest way to the soul. Every part of Mutazione lives and breathes in its own subdued rhythm through the audio. The game even acknowledges the collaborative nature of music, inviting you to create a life intertwined with its beats.
Best Audio runners-up:
Control from Remedy Entertainment (FI)
Moons of Madness from Rock Pocket Games (NO)
Rain of Reflections: Chapter I from Lionbite (SE)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (SE)
Best Debut: My Friend Pedro from Deadtoast (SE)
Jury’s motivation: If Buster Keaton was armed with guns in a John Woo-directed version of The Matrix – but it was a comedy… and crossed with Max Payne… in 2D. Or something like that. It’s violent, hilarious and, most importantly, instantly fun!
Best Debut runners-up:
Barotrauma from FakeFish, Undertow Games (FI)
Burning Daylight from Burning Daylight Team (DK)
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest from Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd. (FI)
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two from Other Tales Interactive (DK)
Best VR/XR: Ghost Giant from Zoink Games (SE)
Jury’s motivation: Extended reality gives us a new perspective into gaming. Its goal is to bring virtual experiences as close to real experiences as possible. The winning game is beautiful, fun, and thought-provoking, utilizing virtual reality as a platform to connect players both to the world and events.
Best VR/XR runners-up (NEW category for 2020):
Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency from Neat Corporation (SE)
Curious Tales of the Stolen Pets from Fast Travel Games (SE)
Glyph from Bolverk Games (DK)
Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition from Aldin Dynamics (IS)
Jury’s Special Mention: Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (NO)
Jury’s motivation: Beside all the fun and business, modern games handle serious issues and important phenomenon. Depression, burn-out and apathy can make us all feel insignificant. This game shows us that we are more than just gears of a giant machine. There are colors among the shades of gray. For the meaning this game gave us, we give the Jury’s Special Mention to Mosaic.
Congratulations to all of this year’s Nordic Game Awards winners and nominees, and thank you for participating in our online awards show during NG20 on 28 May.
About Nordic Game Awards
Since 2006, Nordic Game has presented the Nordic Game Awards, an annual celebration of the year’s very best Nordic games in different categories, selected by a jury of games industry peers chosen in cooperation with the Nordic Game Institute.
The Nordic Game Awards 2020 is sponsored by Epic Games/Unreal Engine.
About the Nordic Game Awards 2020 jury
The following industry profiles from the Nordic region served as nominee jurors for the Nordic Game Awards 2020:
Gísli Konráðsson, Iceland
A game industry veteran and founder of Órói Game Studios. Gísli has for the past twelve years worked on a wide variety of games in Europe, Asia and the US
Jarle Hrafn Grindhaug, Norway
Jarle Hrafn has been writing about video games for close to twenty years and co-founded PressFire.no in 2008. He was also a part of the Nordic Game Awards jury in 2019.
Jaakko Kemppainen, Finland
Jaakko works as the regional artist of Games as Art. He has almost twenty years of experience in the games industry and education. Game design as an art form is his not-so-secret love.
Albertina Sparrhult, Sweden
From game designer to management consultant/team coach, Albertina has spent over ten years in the industry, on both indie and AAA titles. She loves coffee, dogs, dancing and pen & paper RPGs.
Victor Breum, Denmark
Victor leads Nordic Game Jam by night, studies creative direction at the National Film School of Denmark by day, while also cooking up his own games as designer and programmer.
Our warmest thanks to this year’s Nordic Game Awards jury, and thank you for participating in our online awards show during NG20 on 28 May.
About the Nordic Game conference
Nordic Game is the leading games conference in Europe, and 2020 marks its seventeenth and eighteenth editions. Gathering thousands of industry professionals in Malmö annually, Nordic Game is the one and only “home turf” meeting place for the highly successful game developers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
This year Nordic Game doubled up on their digital debut at NG20 in May with twice the knowledge, emotion and business at NG20+ this November.
Experience both Nordic Game events for one low price with a flashback pass right here!
Get all the latest Nordic Game, NGDC and Nordic games industry news, including updates about our conferences in 2021 at nordicgame.com.
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