Last Saturday the Earth Hall at Poznan International Fair witnessed the first edition of CEEGA ceremony. CEEGA stands for Central and Eastern European Game Awards and it honors the best games in categories such as: Visual Art, Audio, Design, Narrative, Technology, Hidden Game, Best Mobile Game, and Best Game. It is granted by 16 organizations from Central and Eastern Europe – the main goal of this initiative is to recognize and promote the best video games from this region yearly. The CEEGA ceremony took place during Poznan Game Arena and Game Industry Conference and 2018 is the first year the awards were given.
Category winners:
- Visual – Chuchel by Amanita Design
- Audio – Ruiner by Reikon Games
- Design – Frostpunk by 11 bit studios
- Narrative – Kingdom Come: Deliverance by Warhorse Studios
- Technology – Beat Saber by Beat Games
- Hidden Gem – Attentat 1942 by Charles University and Czech Academy of Sciences
- Best Mobile Game – G30 by Ivan Kovalev
- China’s Pick for Best Game – Frostpunk by 11 bit studios
- Best Game – Frostpunk by 11 bit studios
The centerpiece of the evening was, of course, awarding the prize for this year’s Best Game. The nominees included Chuchel by Amanita Design, Frostpunk by 11bit studios, Kingdom Come: Deliverance by Warhorse Studios, and This is the Police 2 by Weappy. The jury, formed by journalists and industry professionals, decided that the first winner of the CEEGA Best Game award is Frostpunk by 11 bit studios from Poland.
It was not the only award won by Frostpunk. The Polish game was also awarded in the the best Design category, this time winning against Chuchel by Amanita Design, G30 by Ivan Kovalov and Ruiner by Reikon Games.
But Chuchel did not leave the ceremony with empty hands. The Czech Amanita Design came back from Poznan with the award for the best Visual Art. The jury decided that visual art in this game is better than in other nominated titles: Apocalipsis: Harry at the End of the World by Punch Punk Games, Gray Dawn by Interactive Stone and Inked by Somnium Games.
Frostpunk was not the only Polish game that won the award at that ceremony. The other one was Ruiner. The game produced by Reikon Games got the statue for the best Audio. That category was dominated by Polish games as three of four nominees were from Poland – besides the winner, other nominations went to Ancestors Legacy by Destructive Creations and Seven: The Days Long Gone by Fool’s Theory. The only non-Polish producer in that category was Bulgarian Kyodai with Elea.
Despite winning the Best Game category, Frostpunk had sometimes accept its defeat. In the Narrative category, they lost to Kingdom Come: Deliverance by Warhorse Studios. The other two nominees were Gray Dawn by Interactive Stone and Tardy by One Wing Cicada.
At CEEGA, we also witnessed some great competition in other categories, such as Technology. The Czech-based Beat Games took that award with their Beat Saber game, winning against Frostpunk by 11 bit studios, Kingdom Come: Deliverance by Warhorse Studios and Marble Land by Devious Technologies.
CEEGA’s Hidden Gem category has been created to award game creations that would amaze the jury with originality, novelty, and freshness. That category was won this year by a small, historical game with distinctive art and great educational values: Attentat 1942 from Charles University and Akademie věd České republiky,
And last but not least: the award was handed for the best Mobile Game. This category’s winning game was G30 by Ivan Kovalov, which beat three other nominees and their incredible creations: Been there together by Marian Horkovic, Under Leaves by Circus Atos and Wormster Dash by Gamelab.
CEEGA proved to be a huge success, merging the efforts of Central and Eastern Europe game dev industries and communities to create a platform that would give awarded games of the region well-deserved recognition.
