It’s always important to support initiatives that strengthen independent videogames and we are more than happy to announce the winners of the last Google Play Indie Games. After learning the names of the finalists, it’s now come time to celebrate the best games from indie studios that have appeared on Android according to Google. This edition focuses on games developed in Europe, but you can check out the winners of the North American edition here.
The awards ceremony took place on February 13, 2018 in the Saatchi Gallery in London after a jury of videogame industry experts decided on the winners. 20 games were pre-selected, which were then whittled down to 10 finalists. Then, all that was left was to select the three best games to receive the grand prize of premium placement on Google Play, a hefty budget for various marketing campaigns, and tickets to travel to the Google I/O in 2018. You can check out the rest of the prizes here. Without further ado, here you have the winners, one free and the rest paid apps.
Bury me, my love
The grand-prize winner is an interactive adventure that’s perfectly adapted to mobile devices and is based on devastating real events: it tells the story of a Syrian refugee, Nour, and her journey to Europe, while texting back and forth with her husband Majd, who stayed in Syria. The game is created by Playdius, the studio that’s also behind other excellent games like A Normal Lost Phone.
yellow
Bart Bonte has brought us a plethora of clever puzzles, but yellow has probably become his most popular creation. Yellow is an enjoyable game in which your mission is to solve puzzles in each level to turn the entire screen yellow. We love this game and in fact, we recently included it in our selection of the best puzzle games on Android.
Old Man’s Journey
The Austrian studio Broken Rules doesn’t stop rolling out high-quality titles and this last work has been recognized by the entire community. This beautiful indie gem reveals the life experiences of an elderly man through clever puzzles. But the details actually take a back seat to the impressive audiovisuals that immerse you in a videogame like no other.
The other seven finalists
Although we’ve already mentioned the 20 pre-selected videogames, the following seven videogames were left just outside the winners’ circle. It’s a collection of high-quality titles that are still more than worth your time.
- Jodeo – Gamebra.in
- Kenshō – FIFTYTWO
- No More Buttons – Tommy Søreide Kjær
- The Big Journey – Catfishbox
