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AWARD CATEGORIES

The 2022 G4C Awards will recognize games in the following award categories. Developers must opt into each award on the submission form in order to be considered for the category.

Developers can submit their game/experience to numerous award categories by completing a single submission form and opting into particular award categories.

Through a rigorous evaluation process, jurors will identify four finalists per award category, each of which will be invited to the 19th Annual Games for Change Festival (July 12-15, 2022) and featured in a special Nominee Showcase & Award Ceremony. 

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 meaningfully address a theme or subject in a unique way?
  • How creatively and technically experimental is the game? To what degree does the game break with conventions of form (ie “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.

 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 is 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 are to purposefully influence the narrative?

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

Additional Requirements:
To compete in this category, developers are required to 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).

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?

 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. 

Additional Requirements:
To compete in this category, developers are required to 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).

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 back to engage with their local community or society at large?
  • Does the game foster new understanding and connection between different/disparate communities?  

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

Additional Requirements:
To compete in this category, developers are required to share 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).

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 within the game, either via data collection, metric reporting, or otherwise?

Best XR for Change Experience
Recognizes exemplary virtual, augmented, or mixed reality experiences that foster meaningful change within specific social issues.

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.

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?

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

Additional Requirements:
To compete in this category, developers are required to 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.

Judging Criteria:

  • How and to what degree does the game address a specific social issue? To what degree is the team able to 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) that demonstrate 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?

Best Student Game
Recognizes games developed by college and university students that successfully address important social issues.

Additional Requirements:
To be eligible for this category, games must have been created by students during the 2021-2022 school year. Students will be asked to verify their enrollment status during the period in which the game was developed (via uploading a student ID, transcript, etc.). 

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 through game design, art direction, and technical performance?
  • How well does the game's design reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the player?

ADDITIONAL RECOGNITIONS

G4C Vanguard Award
The G4C Vanguard Award is given annually to a notable individual who has made extraordinary contributions to the games for change community.

G4C Industry Leadership Award
The Industry Leadership Award recognizes companies that are doing exemplary social impact work within the games industry.

G4C Giving Award
The G4C Giving Award honors companies, organizations, and recipients who give monetary contributions back to the community in the form of fundraising initiatives, scholarships, and donations. 

 G4C Accessibility Award
The G4C Accessibility Award honors a game that represents a substantial advancement in games accessibility in order to reach a wider and more inclusive playerbase. 

G4C People's Choice Award
G4C invites the public to cast their vote for the People’s Choice Award selecting their favorite game from the year’s G4C Awards nominees.

  • Finalists from the following categories are automatically entered into the People's Choice Award competition: Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, Best Learning Game, and Most Significant Impact and Best Narrative Game. 

Game of the Year
Our grand prize! Game of the Year is awarded to an exemplary game that demonstrates impact, innovation and gameplay, exemplifying what it means to be a 'game for change'.

  • Finalists from the following categories are automatically entered into the Game of the Year considerations: Best Gameplay, Most Innovative, Best Learning Game, and Most Significant Impact and Best Narrative Game.