Scottish Games Awards: Everything you need to know as winners of the 2023 Scottish Games Awards revealed

The 2023 Scottish Games Awards winners have been announced, with games including Skye Tales taking home top prizes.

Celebrating the best of talent in the games industry, the 2023 Scottish Games Awards winners have been revealed.

Games such as The Longest Walk by Alexander Tarvet and Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot - The London Case by Blazing Griffin took home top awards following a ceremony in Glasgow on Thursday, November 2.

The Scottish Games Awards first took place in 2022, to support and promote the games industry in Scotland, with this year's event partnering with the Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity to raise funds to purchase adapted gaming equipment, consoles and video games for the hundreds of children receiving treatment in the hospital.

Here, we have everything you need to know about the Scottish Games Awards, from the background of the awards to the 2023 winners.

Developed by Sad Owl Studios, Viewfinder won Technical Achievement at the 2023 Scottish Games Awards. Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful

Full list of 2023 Scottish Games Awards winners

Art and Animation

• Skye Tales, Puny Astronaut

Cosy dragon puzzler Skye Tales by Dundee-based developer Puny Astronaut took home the 2023 Scottish Games Award for Art and Animation.

Audio

• Eschaton, Jabuga

Eschaton a is a surreal exploration game set in the Scottish Highlands, created by solo game developer Jabuga, took home the award for Audio.

Best Educational Programme

• Online Diploma Programme (Game Design), Robert Gordon College

The 2023 Scottish Games Awards saw Aberdeen's Robert Gordon College receive Best Educational Programme for their Online Diploma Programme (Game Design).

Best Educator

• Dr Thomas Hainey, University of the West of Scotland

Dr Thomas Hainey from the University of the West of Scotland took home the award for Best Educator. UWS is one of two Scottish universities to be TIGA-accredited, which ensures graduates will receive games industry relevant skills.

Best Large-Budget Game

• Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot, The London Case, Blazing Griffin

Developed by Blazing Griffin, Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot – The London Case took home Best Large-Budget Game at the 2023 Scottish Games Awards.

Best Small-Budget Game

• The Longest Walk, Alexander Tarvet

Created by solo-developer Alexander Tarvet, The Longest Walk was awarded Best Small-Budget Game. The documentary style walking-simulator documents Tarvet's father’s experience of living with depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.

Creativity

• Marion’s Journey, Chimera Tales

Marion’s Journey by Chimera Tales, a Glasgow-based developer, took home the award for their interview-based narrative experience and educational applied game about Marion Camrass, a Holocaust and Gulag survivor.

Diversity Champion

• Searra Leishman, Hyper Luminal Games

Searra Leishman from Hyper Luminal Games was awarded Diversity Champion at the 2023 Scottish Games Awards.

Lifetime Achievement

• Mike Dailly

A tough category, Mike Dailly won Lifetime Achievement at the 2023 Scottish Games Awards. Dailly is responsible not only for designing Lemmings, but the original prototype for Grand Theft Auto as well as being one of the founders of DMA Design which is now known as Rockstar North.

Community Spirit Award (Stewart Gilray)

• Luci Holland

Honouring the late games developer, the Community Spirit Award went to Luci Holland, who has been recognised for the help, support, advice and guidance she has given to others.

Technical Achievement

• Viewfinder, Sad Owl Studios

Viewfinder will soon be released on PlayStation. Image: Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Viewfinder by Sad Owl Studios took home Technical Achievement. The game is a surreal puzzle platformer, and first person shooter, which asks players to reshape reality by placing objects around the world.

Tools and Technology

• GameMaker

Opera won the award for best Tools and Technology for GameMaker.

Rising Star

• Rach Macpherson, Neon Hive

Rach Macpherson from Neon Hive, a marketing and PR agency, won the 2023 Rising Star award.

Spirit Of Scotland

• Skye Tales, Puny Astronaut

Winning their second award of the night, Puny Astronaut also took home the Spirit of Scotland award for Skye Tales.

Pure Quality

• BLINNK and the Vacuum of Space, Changing Day

BLINNK and the Vacuum of Space by Changing Day, a Glasgow-based developer which utilises VR to give autistic people greater confidence while enjoying games, took home the Pure Quality Award.

Who are previous winners?

Cloudpunk took home three prizes from the Scottish Games Awards in 2022. Image: ION Lands

Standouts among 2022 winners include Cloudpunk by ION Labs, which nabbed three of the top awards; Art & Animation, Creativity and Best Large-Budget Game, while Amicable Animal’s SOLAS 128 followed up its BAFTA win with the Audio award and The Baby in Yellow, a horror-comedy game by Team Terrible won the Best Small-Budget Game award.

What are the Scottish Games Awards?

Created and organised by the Scottish Games Network, the awards first took place in 2022. They aim to recognise and celebrate achievement within the Scottish games ecosystem and welcome entries from individuals or organisations working in the country. Alternatively, any game in which the majority of work – defined as 50% or more – took place in Scotland is also eligible.

The Awards run alongside Scottish Games Week; an industry conference with events taking place across Scotland, which took place from Monday, October 30 to Friday, November 3.

The awards encourage entries from all creators; from full time developers to student teams. Companies producing work outside of the traditional games development space – such as animation or immersive media – are also able to enter in eligible categories.

A screenshot from Solas 128, which won an award for its Audio production during the 2022 Scottish Games Awards. Image: Amicable Animal/Armor Games Studios

The Scottish Games Awards introduced two new categories for 2023: Spirit of Scotland, which is open to games which feature Scottish culture, heritage, language, characters or landscape, and the Pure Quality Award for creative impact which is open to games which have made a significant impact beyond commercial return and broken new ground in terms of content, audience, downloads, or overall quality. Both awards are open to those working outside of Scotland.

Games are also evaluated based on production cost. Games created with up to £10,000 are classed as small budget while games which cost more than £10,000 to make are large budget.

The Educator Award is open to any individual involved in games education – from primary to higher education and including extracurricular organisations and more, with the Rising Star Award open to those with less than four years within the industry, while the Community Spirit Award – or the Stewart Gilray Award, named for the late game developer – honours him by recognising those who who provide help, support, advice and guidance to others.

Who decides the winners?

Chaired by Chris Scullion, a games journalist and author of several books on classic games consoles, the 2023 Scottish Games Awards winners were decided by a panel of judges.

Here are all the judges who took part in the 2023 Scottish Games Awards:

• Brian Baird – Technical Director, Bethesda
• Lauren Bergin – News Editor, PCGamesN
• Natalie Don – MSP, Renfrewshire North & West
• Joe Donnelly – Features Editor, Games Radar
• Keza Macdonald – Games Editor, The Guardian
• Neil Mackay – Journalist/Columnist, The Herald
• Jordan Middler – Staff Writer, Podcast Host, Videogames Chronicle
• Brian McNicoll – Head of Entrepreneurship, University of Dundee