With with Queensland studio Witch Beam taking the top honour, that is the Game of the Year Award, for its zen-meets-anxiety inducing puzzle game Unpacking. Check the trailer after the jump to know what we mean by that. Victoria's Beethoven & Dinosaur picked up two awards across Excellence
in Art and Excellence in Audio for its psychedelic gem The Artful Escape (our review here), with Excellence in Narrative going to well deserved The Forgotten City (our review here).

Here's a look at the locally grown Game of the Year as per the 2021 Australian Game Developer Awards.



“Each of these worthy individual recipients received numerous nominations from across the industry and it is a joy to recognise them with these awards tonight,” said Ron Curry, CEO of IGEA. “The AGDAs are the perfect opportunity to celebrate the Australian games industry and the amazing people who work within it. Australian developers create games that are enjoyed internationally, by millions of people, giving credence to the creativity, skill and hard work of
our Australian studios. All of these games, studios, and individuals truly deserve these Awards - not just for video games, but for the work and contributions they have made to the wider screen sector.”

And here are the winners!

• The Adam Lancman Award: Steve Wang (Wargaming Sydney)
  
• The Raising the Bar Award: Chad Toprak (Freeplay Independent Games Festival)
  
• The Rising Star Award: Kathleen Smart (Joy Everafter Stories) & Ashley Van
  Wyngaard (Wargaming Sydney)
  
• Studio of the Year: Black Lab Games
  
• Game of the Year: Unpacking (Witch Beam)
  
• Excellence in Art: The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
  
• Excellence in Gameplay: Webbed (Sbug Games)
  
• Excellence in Narrative: The Forgotten City (Modern Storyteller)
  
• Excellence in Audio: The Artful Escape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
  
• Excellence in Accessibility: Unpacking (Witch Beam)
  
• Excellence in Mobile Games: The Oregon Trail (Gameloft Brisbane)
  
• Excellence in Serious Games: Sharmila (Chaos Theory Games and the World Food
  Programme)
  
• Excellence in Ongoing Games: Pico Tanks (Panda Arcade)
  
• Excellence in Emerging Games: Video World (Things for Humans)