Games for Change Awards

NEW!

Best Board or Tabletop Game for Impact

Recognizes physical tabletop games that raise awareness, foster meaningful change, and engage players around learning objectives or specific social issues.*

Judging Criteria:

• Does the game take advantage of the unique affordances of the physical medium (tactile pieces, thematic ties, replayability, and game length) to reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the player?

• How and to what degree does the game address a specific social issue or learning goal? To what degree can the team measure their impact on that issue?

• What impact does the game have on its audience? How does the overall game experience affect the player?

• To what extent is the development team collaborating with external stakeholders or subject matter experts to develop, evaluate, and verify a theory of change?

*Additional digital components are limited to tablets or smartphone only. Best Board Game submissions are not eligible for additional awards. Submitters are responsible for shipping their game and ensuring it arrives in time for judging, as well as postage should they want their game returned.

Most Innovative

Recognizes games that embrace experimentation and novel creative expression to pave new ways for the medium.

Judging Criteria:

• Are the developers using the medium of games to address a theme or subject in a unique and meaningful way?

• How creatively and technically experimental is the game? To what degree does the game break with conventions of standard form (i.e., “go against the grain”)?

• To what degree does the game provoke or encourage new ideas and associations within the player?

Best Gameplay

Recognizes games whose mechanics reinforce the intended impact of the game and  demonstrate highly compelling, polished, and engaging gameplay.

Judging Criteria:

• How well does the core gameplay loop support the project’s impact goals?

• How well does the game's design reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the player?

• Does the game's design, art direction, and technical performance actively support the minute-to-minute gameplay experience?

Most Significant Impact

Recognizes games that raise awareness and/or foster meaningful change within specific social issues.*

Judging Criteria:

• How and to what degree does the game address a specific social issue? To what degree can the team measure their impact on that issue?

• What impact does the game have on its audience? How does the overall game experience affect the player?

• Are there associated indicators (preliminary outcomes, internal research, or public testimonials) demonstrating an achieved impact in the real world? If the game is recently released, is there a high impact potential?

• To what extent is the development team collaborating with external stakeholders or subject matter experts to develop, evaluate, and verify a theory of change?

*Additional Requirements: To compete in this category, developers must share supplemental documentation that summarizes the game’s current impact objectives. Various formats and types of 'impact documentation' are welcomed (such as internal data, third-party research, testimonials, etc.). This category is NOT limited to games that have completed a formal impact assessment.

Best Learning Game

Recognizes games that offer meaningful engagement around learning objectives and successfully balance the 'learning' with fun, engaging gameplay.*

Judging Criteria:

• Does the game have clearly defined learning objectives? Does the game balance learning outcomes with an engaging gameplay experience?

• How does the game incorporate common learning modalities or contemporary learning research?

• Can players effectively track their learning progress within the game, either via data collection, metric reporting, or otherwise?

*Additional Requirements: To compete in this category, developers must share supplemental documentation that summarizes the game's intended learning objectives, audience and assessment results (i.e., internal data, third-party research, subjective information, and conjecture).

Best Civics Game

Recognizes games that inspire responsible citizenship by bridging gaps between communities and shedding light on the most pressing social issues of our time.*

Judging Criteria:

• To what extent are complex social systems represented in the game, and how analogous are those representations to the real world? Does the game require the player to grapple with or recognize their role(s) as an individual within these systems?

• Does the game inspire civic action in real-world spaces outside of the game? Are players taking lessons from the game to engage with their local community or society?

• Does the game foster new understanding and connection between different/disparate communities?

*Additional Requirements: To compete in this category, developers must share supplemental documentation that summarizes the game's intended impact objectives, audience and assessment results (i.e. internal data, third-party research, subjective information, and conjecture).

Best Health Game

Recognizes games that promote exceptionally positive health and wellness outcomes in the players/patients that use them.*

Judging Criteria:

• Does the game have clearly defined healthcare/wellness objectives? Does the game balance these intended outcomes with an engaging gameplay experience?

• How does the game incorporate common healthcare/wellness modalities or contemporary healthcare research?

• Can players effectively track their progress via data collection, metric reporting, or otherwise?

*Additional Requirements: To compete in this category, developers must submit supplemental documentation that summarizes the game's intended health/wellness objectives, audience and assessment results (i.e. internal data, third-party research, subjective information, and conjecture).

Best Narrative Game

Recognizes games that tell thematic and powerful stories about social impact causes through character, narrative, and interactivity. 

Judging Criteria:

• Does the message/moral of the game inspire real-world action that supports the observed impact goal?

• How thoughtfully crafted are the characters in the game? Do characters enter into conflict that supports or colors the impact goal of the game?

• How does the narrative structure of the game amplify the impact goal? Are scenarios and/or dialogue written in a way that immerses the player in the story?

• How does the player progress the narrative through play? To what degree are players able to purposefully influence the narrative?

Best XR for Change Experience

Recognizes exemplary virtual, augmented, or mixed reality experiences that foster meaningful change within specific social issues.*

Judging Criteria:

• How and to what degree does the experience inspire change within a specific social issue or impact goal?

• Does the experience take advantage of the unique affordances of the XR medium (immersion, embodiment, and presence) to reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the player?

• How creatively and technically adventurous is the experience? To what degree does the experience seek to define conventions of form?

*Please note this category is NOT limited to games; submissions may include all types of immersive experiences, excluding non-interactive 360 videos. We strongly recommend that all XR experiences upload video documentation in the 'Supporting Materials' section to support the XR jurors with the review process. Examples include a gameplay video or recording of the experience.

Best Student Game

Recognizes games developed by college and university students that successfully address important social issues.*

Judging Criteria:

• How and to what degree does the game address a specific social issue?

• Is there an exceptional degree of polish to the project relative to the team’s size and experience, such as thorough game design, art direction, and technical performance?

• How well does the game's design reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the player?

*Additional Requirements: Games submitting for this category must be created by students during the 2022-2023 school year. Students will be asked to verify their enrollment status during the game's development period (via uploading a student ID, transcript, etc.). Best Student Game submissions are not eligible for additional award categories.