G4C Awards: Never Alone, This War of Mine, Bounden, and more named as 2015 finalists

[Meghan Ventura]

Drumroll, please! Here are your nominees for the Games for Change Awards, which celebrate the year's best social impact games. Narrowed down from a field of over 150 titles, these eight finalists will also be considered for the top honor, Game of the Year, which is awarded to the game that best exemplifies all three categories.

The winners will be announced at the Games for Change Festival's Awards Ceremony on April 22, hosted by Jesse Schell. Also at the ceremony, we will honor acclaimed game designer, educator, and author Tracy Fullerton with the annual Game Changer Award, which recognizes the significant global contributions of individuals who inspire and mentor new generations of game creators and researchers. 

Thank you to everyone who submitted their game and to our jury of leaders from the gaming community, philanthropic sector, media, and tech, who dedicated their time to rigorously evaluating all entries.

/// Best Gameplay ///

Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)

Developer: E-Line Media

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Mac

An atmospheric puzzle-platformer created in collaboration with the Iñupiat, an Alaska Native people, and the Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s Upper One Games. Nearly 40 Alaska Native elders, storytellers, and community members contributed to the game, which shares, celebrates, and extends Iñupiat culture through engaging cooperative gameplay.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/never-alone-kisima-ingitchuna/

This War of Mine

Developer: 11 bit studios / Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux

Experience war from an entirely new angle. Instead of fighting as elite soldiers, players lead a group of innocent civilians, who struggle to survive another day in a city under siege. Players make life-and-death decisions, driven by their conscience.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/this-war-of-mine/

That's Your Right

Developer: Filament Games / Platform: Web/Online

A captivating single- or multiplayer digital card game that teaches students in middle school and high school about the first 10 amendments of American Constitution, known collectively as the Bill of Rights. The game is integrated into the comprehensive, multimedia Constitution curriculum at AnnenbergClassroom.org. 

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/thats-your-right/

/// Most Significant Impact ///

Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)

Developer: E-Line Media

Platforms: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows, Mac

Also nominated for Best Gameplay. (See description above.)

MindLight

Developers: GainPlay Studio, The PlayNice Institute

Platforms: Windows, Mac

A 3D game that uses the mind as a game controller. Using a neurofeedback headset, it incorporates evidence-based relaxation techniques and attention-bias modification methods to help children learn to face and overcome their anxiety and fears.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/mindlight/

Zoo U

Developer: 3C Institute / Platform: Web/Online

The first evidence-based game that assesses and builds social emotional skills. Through adaptive, personalized gameplay, children navigate social situations in a virtual world and learn essential social emotional skills for the real world, including communication, cooperation, and empathy.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/zoo-u/

/// Most Innovative ///

Bounden

Developer: Game Oven / Platforms: Android, iOS

A dancing game for two players, with choreography by the Dutch National Ballet. Holding either end of a device, players tilt the device around a virtual sphere, following a path of rings on-screen. Players swing their arms and twist their bodies, and before they know it, they are already dancing.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/bounden/

Skip a Beat

Developer: Happitech / Platform: iOS

The world’s first game that uses the player’s actual heart rate as the game controller. Players control their heart rates to earn score multipliers, while the game provides feedback on how their heart rate is changing. The game challenges players to influence their heart rates using thoughts, emotions, and breathing.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/skip-a-beat-heart-rate-game/

Parable of the Polygons

Developers: Nicky Case, Vi Hart / Platform: Web/Online

A playable blog post demonstrating how seemingly harmless choices can make a harmful world. This half-video-game, half-blog-post is formatted like an article, but with dozens of embedded games. Based on the work of Nobel Prize-winning game theorist, Thomas Schelling, the game shows how small individual biases can become large institutional biases.

More: http://www.gamesforchange.org/festival/gameplay/parable-of-the-polygons/

/// Game Changer ///

Tracy Fullerton

This year, we honor Tracy Fullerton with the annual Game Changer Award, which recognizes the significant global contributions of individuals who inspire and mentor new generations of game creators and researchers. Tracy is an acclaimed game designer, educator, and author whose work has received numerous industry honors. She is currently the director of the joint USC Games Program, and associate professor and chair of the Interactive Media and Games Division of the USC School of Cinematic Arts.