Nordic Game Awards 2020 Winners Revealed

This year, the NG Awards jury consists of the following members: 

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.

A warm thanks to the sponsors of Nordic Game Awards 2020: Epic Games

The NG Awards 2020 jury voted as follows:

Best Art

The nominees are:

Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)
Draugen from Red Thread Games (Norway)
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (Denmark)
Little Misfortune from Killmonday Games (Sweden)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)

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, beauty of the choreography and the ever surprising world design show us that games as an art form can redefine itself again and again.

The winner of Best Art is: Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)

Best Fun for Everyone

The nominees are:

Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (Finland)
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (Denmark)
Minecraft Earth from Mojang (Sweden)
The Stretchers from Tarsier Studio (Sweden)
What the Golf? from Triband (Denmark)

Motivation: Do you remember when you changed the rules in «Monopoly» in your favor? This years most fun for all is like that – all the time – only that the shoe is on the other foot, or covered in milk. It is kind of like if Monty Python made a sportsgame. Two cups of sugar. Take a left on the next turnpike, please. It is really fun, or unique. Or both?I forget which.

The winner of this year’s Best Fun for Everyone  is: What the Golf? from Triband (Denmark)

Best Technology

The nominees are:

Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)
Deep Rock Galactic from Ghost Ship Games (Denmark)
Minecraft Earth from Mojang (Sweden)
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 from Ubisoft Massive (Sweden)
Trailmakers from Flashbulb (Denmark)

Motivation: New technology brings new opportunities. Sometimes it’s a foundation for something brand new, but sometimes it’s an opportunity to take something great and make it spectacular. The winning game amplifies the atmosphere of the game world while simultaneously adding depth and richness to the gameplay

The winner of this year’s Best Technology is: Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)

Best Debut

The nominees are:

Barotrauma from FakeFish, Undertow Games (Finland)
Burning Daylight from Burning Daylight Team (Denmark)
Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest from Ctrl Alt Ninja Ltd. (Finland)
My Friend Pedro from Deadtoast (Sweden)
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two from Other Tales Interactive (Denmark)

Motivation: If Buster Keaton were armed with guns in a John Woo-directed «The Matrix» – and only if it was a comedy and crossed with «Max Payne» in 2D. Or something like that. It’s really violent and hilarious, but most importantly it is instantly fun!

The winner of this year’s Best Debut is: My Friend Pedro from Deadtoast (Sweden)

Best Game Audio

The nominees are:

Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)
Moons of Madness from Rock Pocket Games (Norway)
Mutazione from Die Gute Fabrik (Denmark)
Rain of Reflections: Chapter I from Lionbite (Sweden)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)

Motivation: Audio can be the shortest way to the soul. In this game, every part of the game lives and breathes in its own subdued rhythm through the audio. The game even acknowledges the collaborative nature of music, inviting you to create life intertwined with music.

The winner of this year’s Best Audio is: Mutazione from Die Gute Fabrik (Denmark)

Best Game Design

The nominees are:

Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (Finland)
Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)
Degrees of Separation from Moondrop (Norway)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)
What the Golf? from Triband (Denmark)

Motivation: Game design is about deciding what the player can and cannot do. Often the design is hidden within beautiful production. Sometimes it is laid bare in front of the player. This game really pushes the boundaries of the game worlds. It asks us a philosophical question: “who rules?” But does it provide an  answer?

The winner of this year’s Best Design is: Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (Finland)

Best VR/XR:

The nominees are:

Budget Cuts 2: Mission Insolvency from Neat Corporation (Sweden)
Curious Tales of the Stolen Pets from Fast Travel Games (Sweden)
Ghost Giant from Zoink Games (Sweden)
Glyph from Bolverk Games (Denmark)
Waltz of the Wizard: Extended Edition from Aldin Dynamics (Iceland)

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 where the virtual reality platform plays a key role in connecting us both to the world and the events.

The winner of this year’s Best VR/XR is: Ghost Giant from Zoink Games (Sweden)

Nordic Game of the Year – Small Screen

The nominees are:

LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (Denmark)
Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (Norway)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)
Tick Tock: A Tale for Two from Other Tales Interactive (Denmark)
What the Golf? from Triband (Denmark)

Motivation: There is nothing predictable when this audiovisual rollercoaster takes you for a dance across the screen. The minimalistic, yet dizzyingly beautiful visuals set you up in the cart and the catchy music pushes you forward in a million miles a hour. It’s easy to learn, but not hard to love.

The winner of Nordic Game of the Year – Small Screen is: Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)

Jury’s Special Mention

Before we move on to the final category – The Nordic Game Awards 2020 jury has decided to give a Special Mention!

Motivation: Beside all the fun and business, modern games handle serious issues and important phenomena. Depression, burnout and apathy can make us 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 it the Jury’s Special Mention: Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (Norway)

Nordic Game of the Year 2020

The nominees are:

Baba is You from Hempuli Oy (Finland)
Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)
LEGO Builder´s Journey from Light Brick Studios (Denmark)
Mosaic from Krillbite Studio (Norway)
Sayonara Wild Hearts from Simogo (Sweden)

Motivation: All disciplines in the studio comes together creating frames containing immense godlike freedom in this year’s Nordic Game of the Year. Not as groundbreaking as it is unique in atmosphere, and drawing you into a mystic and surreal world which David Lynch would be proud to call his own – and thus making an experience that could only have been done in the world’s most important medium. 

The winner of Nordic Game of the Year 2020 is: Control from Remedy Entertainment (Finland)

Congratulations to all winners!

About the Nordic Game conference

Nordic Game is the leading games conference in Europe, and 2020 marks its seventeenth edition. 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. Read more here and follow Nordic Game on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr, and Instagram.