Finalists Announced For Scottish Games Awards 2023

Following an extensive judging process, in which many factors were weighed and many hems were hawed, the final shortlist for the 2023 Scottish Games Awards is here. Across 15 categories, 45 games, studios, and individuals have made the final cut, and now stand in contention to claim a coveted Scottish Games Award at the ceremony this Thursday.

The Scottish Games Awards made their debut during Scottish Games Week 2022, with the likes of Team Terrible, ION LANDS, and Dave Jones taking home trophies on the inaugural night. This year things have scaled up significantly, with more categories, more entrants, and more difficult judging calls to make.

In addition to the original suite of 12 categories from last year, three more have been added: Rising Star, Spirit of Scotland, and Pure Quality, bringing the grand total to 15. Across all of these, over 110 entries were received, representing the very best that the Scottish games scene has to offer.

These 110 worthy challengers have now been painstakingly whittled down to just 45 by our panel of judges, chaired by renowned Scottish games journalist and author Chris Scullion. From here, the final winners will be announced at the live ceremony on Thursday night at Glasgow’s Platform venue, which is set to feature an introduction and award presentation by First Minister Humza Yousaf.

The final shortlist for the 2023 Scottish Games Awards is as follows:

Art and Animation

• Super Stretchy Chicken Legs - Ping Creates
• Skye Tales - Puny Astronaut
• Tray Racers - Bitloom

Audio

• Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot - The London Case - Blazing Griffin/Calum Robb
• Skye Tales - Puny Astronaut/Ged Grimes/Chris D’Arcey
• Eschaton - Jabuga

Best Small-Budget Game

• Operation: Pinkeye - Stormplay
• Nugget Run - Ping Creates
• The Longest Walk - Alexander Tarvet

Best Large-Budget Game

• Skye Tales - Puny Astronaut
• Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot - The London Case - Blazing Griffin
• Scathe - Damage State

Creativity

• Voyage of a Lifetime (Sea of Thieves) - Disk Two/Production Attic
• Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot - The London Case - Blazing Griffin
• Marion’s Journey - Chimera Tales

Technical Achievement

• Venture’s Gauntlet - Bearhammer Games
• Takenoko (Tilt 5) - Blazing Griffin
• Viewfinder - Matt Stark

Spirit Of Scotland

• Red Rampant - Eclectic Synthesis
• Aonar - Glasgow School of Art
• Skye Tales - Puny Astronaut

Pure Quality

• The Longest Walk - Alexander Tarvet
• Beat Blocks - Playable Tech
• BLINNK and the Vacuum of Space - Changing Day

Best Educational Programme

• Online Diploma Programme (Game Design) - Robert Gordon College
• BSc (Hons) Games Development - Glasgow Caledonian University
• CodeCraft - NESCOL

Best Educator

• Dr Thomas Hainey - University of the West of Scotland
• Hamid Homatash - Glasgow Caledonian University
• Sarah Herzog - Fife College

Diversity Champion

• Jon Mortimer - Napier University
• Searra Leishman - Hyper Luminal Games
• Professor Ruth Falconer - Abertay University

Lifetime Achievement

• Paul Farley
• Chris Sawyer
• Mike Dailly

Community Spirit Award (Stewart Gilray)

• Neon Hive
• Luci Holland
• Dr Amanda Ford

Tools and Technology

• CaptionAssist3D - Arboreta Games
• PURE4D - DI4D
• Game Maker Studio 2 - Opera

Rising Star

• Rach Macpherson - Neon Hive
• Kayla Wallace - Puny Astronaut
• Phoebe Anderson - Hyper Luminal Games