The 23rd annual Games for Change Festival wrapped up last Thursday (July 23) in New York City. Lasting two days, the festival is run by the Games for Change organization, designed with the intent of “empowering and mobilizing creators, developers, educators, and global partners to drive real-world change through games.” The 2026 theme was titled “Reimagining Play” and explored “how play has evolved beyond games into a living, evolving force for change.” The Games for Change Festival not only features several keynote speakers and workshops, but also hosts its own award showcase that spans across eleven different categories, not including the three individual or developer awards.
Best Platform-Based Project
This award was specifically designed for games that are “created within established gaming platforms (such as Minecraft, Roblox, or Fortnite Creative).” These mini games must be designed to use the game’s prebuilt tools to “drive meaningful social impact.” Judges considered three main questions when considering submissions and deciding on a winner: “How well does the project utilize the platform’s tools and social features to engage players?, What social impact outcomes has the game achieved?, and how does the experience inspire real-world change?” This year’s winner, designed by Playerthree and BBC Bitesize on Roblox, fit all three categories. The mini game is called Planet Planners, and was made to teach elementary and middle school students about geography, natural disasters, city planning, and more.
Best in Environmental Impact
The Environmental Impact award recognizes “Games and immersive experiences that effectively and creatively promote environmental awareness and/or inspire players to take action.” Potential winners are judged by five main criteria: “How prominent is the game / immersive experience’s environmental message?, To what degree do players meaningfully engage with pro-environmental action concepts?, How well does the game / experience resonate with its intended audience?, Does the game /experience take creative chances that make it stand out from others environmentally-focused titles?, and does the project create a lasting impression that inspires the player to share the game/experience’s message and/or adopt pro-environmental habits?”
This one’s winner is set in 1999, yet is increasingly relevant to environmental concerns today, especially in regards of artificial intelligence. The management simulator, titled Faceminer, assigns players the operator role in a “biometric data empire.” Developers at Wristwork created this game to address the “environmental cost of data and computing.”
Best Board or Tabletop Game for Impact
Switching gears from video games, this category is reserved for games that are played almost completely offline. They must “raise awareness, drive impactful change, or address educational goals through captivating gameplay and tactile mechanics.” Games entered into this category are judged on four main points: “Does the game take advantage of the unique affordances of the physical medium (tactile pieces, thematic ties, replayability, and game length) to reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the player?, How and to what degree does the game address a specific social issue or learning goal? To what degree can the team measure their impact on that issue?, What impact does the game have on its audience? How does the overall game experience affect the player?, and to what extent is the development team collaborating with external stakeholders or subject matter experts to develop, evaluate, and verify a theory of change?”
The Best Board Game for Impact is, similar to the previous awards, designed for an educational setting. In this ten player tabletop RPG, students learn how to help Cris as she experiences her first period. Fiocruz, the team behind Ciclo do Poder (Cycle of Power) designed the game to “open conversations about menstrual health in schools.”
Best Gameplay, Best Narrative, and Indie Breakout Award
These three award categories are lumped together because all of them were awarded to the same game. The Best Gameplay award places an emphasis on mechanics, gameplay loop, and overall design flow. The Best Narrative award is similar to the Best Gameplay award, but with an increased emphasis on the story arc, player input, dialogue, and clarity of the overarching social theme that is being communicated. The Indie Breakout award is not officially listed on the Games for Change website, but appears to be self explanatory given the category’s name.
Hexecutable’s Consume Me was the only game to receive awards across multiple categories this year. Player input throughout the game heavily influence the ending, as they must make several small, everyday decisions about sleeping, eating, studying, and fitting in with peers throughout the entire game. Consume me is somewhat autographical, as the developer explains their pressure and drive to get ‘better’ through the art of game design.
Best in XR and Emerging Media
This award category is reserved for virtual reality or augmented reality games that add another layer of immersion to gameplay. Games are judged based on three main criteria, according to the Games for Change website: “How and to what degree does the game / immersive experience inspire change within a specific social issue or impact goal?, “Does the experience take advantage of the unique affordances of the medium (immersion, embodiment, presence, and spatial interaction) to reinforce a memorable and resonant experience for the user?, and how creatively and technically adventurous is the experience? To what degree does the experience seek to define conventions of form?”
This year’s winner, A Long Goodbye, comes from Timescapes and Polygoat. Players experience the world through a 72 year old pianist named Ida who is struggling with losing his memory and understanding of the world around him to his Dementia.
Best in Health and Wellbeing
As the name might suggest, this category is for “games and immersive experiences that promote positive health and wellness outcomes for users.” Submissions are once again judged using three main criteria: “Does the game / immersive experience have clearly defined healthcare/wellness objectives? Does the project balance these intended outcomes with an engaging gameplay experience?, How does the project incorporate common healthcare/wellness modalities or contemporary healthcare research?, and can players effectively track their progress via data collection, metric reporting, or otherwise?”
This year’s winner does not use a traditional controller at all, and is not played primarily for entertainment. Instead, Augment Therapy’s ARWell PRO requires players use their bodies as controllers, allowing doctors and physical therapists to remotely measure progress through in game statistics and movement reports.
Best in Learning
Circling back to games used for education, this category is designed specifically to judge how well a game teaches its intended audience. The questions the judges ask are threefold: “Does the game / immersive experience have clearly defined learning objectives? Does the project balance learning outcomes with an engaging gameplay experience?, How does the game incorporate common learning modalities or contemporary learning research?, and can players effectively track their learning progress within the game, either via data collection, metric reporting, or otherwise?”
The 2026 Best in Learning award winner, is a combined lesson in both history and navigating the legal system. The Darkest Files, developed by Paintbucket Games, was created for older middle and high school students. These students play as a German “prosecutor [who is tasked with] building cases against former Nazis who escaped justice” about nine years after WWII’s ending.
Best in Community Empowerment
This category aims to both unite communities and address relevant issues impacting those communities at the same time. Submissions are judged based on three main questions: “To what extent are complex social systems represented in the game / immersive experience, and how analogous are those representations to the real world? Does the project 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 to engage with their local community or society?, and does the project foster new understanding and connection between different/disparate communities?
Similar to the previous award discussed, the Best in Learning award, this year’s Community Empowerment award is largely history based. Relooted, developed by Nyamakop is a heist game set across a futuristic version of the entire African continent. Players must pull off heists to steal from popular museums in order to get back what was once ancient relics of their past.
Best in Impact
Finally, the Best in Impact award is judged similarly to the Best in Environmental Impact and Best Board Game or Tabletop Game for Impact awards, only more generalized. Criteria includes “How and to what degree does the game / immersive experience address a specific social issue? To what degree can the team measure their impact on that issue?, What impact does the project have on its audience? How does the overall project experience affect the player?, Are there associated indicators (preliminary outcomes, internal research, or public testimonials) demonstrating an achieved impact in the real world? If the project is recently released, is there a high impact potential?, and to what extent is the development team collaborating with external stakeholders or subject matter experts to develop, evaluate, and verify a theory of change?”
This year’s winner is called andRoger by TearyHand Studio. Instead of a traditional game, andRoger is an interactive novel built around empathy and literally being able to experience another person’s reality.