Taking the coveted ‘Best Game’ award crown this year is Pizza Tower, the hyper-manic destructible platformer, developed by Tour De Pizza, while high-speed action platformer, Berserk Boy, from BeserkBoy Games, ran away with the ‘Most Anticipated’ game gong.
“Each year the quality of the entries for the GameMaker Awards just gets better and better, to the point where actually picking five finalists for each category is almost impossible,” said Russell Kay, Head of GameMaker, adding: “That said, each finalist has showcased an impressive blend of creativity and technical expertise, harnessing GameMaker's capabilities to push the boundaries of 2D game design. I’m relieved that the ultimate decision was entrusted to our dedicated communities of GameMaker and Opera GX enthusiasts.”
Pizza Tower stars the wild and balding Italian pizza chef, Peppino Spaghetti, who embarks on a quest to destroy the titular Pizza Tower that threatens his restaurant. The judges were hugely impressed with the game's striking visual style and how it effortlessly introduced so many fresh level mechanics, while the community also made Pizza Tower the clear winner this year.
This year’s shortlist for Best Game was absolutely stacked with incredible indie releases, with Pizza Tower beating a shortlist which included: FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, OTXO, Rusted Moss and ZERO Sievert.
This year’s ‘Most Anticipated’ game award was won by Beserk Boy, a high speed action packed platformer, packed with vibrant and stylish pixel art. Scheduled to release in 2024, Berserk Boy hands you the powers of Lighting, Fire, Ice, Air, and Earth in your quest to defeat Berserk Boy’s greatest enemy, Dr. Genos, who threatens to enslave the planet with his army of darkness.
The judges were seriously impressed with the high speed action and the developer’s ability to create a game that showcases both stunning pixel art and feels great to play.
The other finalists for ‘Most Anticipated’ game included: Beastieball, CONSCRIPT, Slave Zero X and Turnip Boy Robs a Bank.
Finally, the ‘Best of GX.games’ award was claimed by the addictive and charismatic Super Chicken Jumper, developed by SewerCat Studio. In Super Chicken Jumper, players must face the forces of evil as planet Earth’s last hope: Chicken, the nimble fowl with a knack for destruction and death. This award is the latest success story for the Brazilian GameMaker community, whose votes helped propel developer Luiz Alves’ game to first place.
The finalists for ‘Best of GX.games’ award included: Happy Sheepies, Run Bun Bun Run, Sunset Driver and Vaporwave Surfers.
From over 150 entries, only 5 games for each category were selected by an expert panel of industry peers, including Head of GameMaker Russell Kay and Opera GX Product Director Maciej Kocemba. The winners within each shortlist were then voted for by the GameMaker community.
##ENDS##
About GameMaker
GameMaker is the fastest and friendliest cross-platform game engine.
GameMaker allows artists and creators to make games within a single code base and publish natively across multiple platforms, including Android, iOS, HTML5, PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Windows Desktop, macOS, and Ubuntu.
GameMaker has been downloaded more than 12 million times. The team behind it is based in Dundee, Scotland. GameMaker was acquired by Opera in January 2021.
About Opera and Opera GX
Opera is a global web innovator. Opera’s browsers, news products and fintech solutions are the trusted choice of hundreds of millions of MAU worldwide. Opera is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange (OPRA). https://opera.com
In 2019 Opera launched Opera GX.Since its inception, Opera GX has quickly become the browser of choice for millions of gamers seeking a more custom internet experience. Along with countless customization options including color themes, sound effects, background music, and a gaming-inspired design, GX includes CPU, RAM and Network Bandwidth limiters that make the browser less resource-hungry and leave more of the computer’s resources for gaming. The browser also includes a Hot Tabs Killer feature, which lets users kill the most resource-draining tabs, and GX Cleaner to purge those old unwanted files.