Special thanks and congratulations to everyone who submitted their project. After long debates, we decided to nominate 16 student games form 133 submitted! The number of amazing games was not making the choice easy.

MAW "MAW" (Czech Republic)

Miroslav Prokop - Game Designer, Developer, Writer, 2D/3D Artist
Nikola Šolaja - Sound Designer, Composer
Valeria Borkovcová - Producer

MAW is a narrative driven detective adventure about a queer wolf officer exploring his identity while working for a totalitarian regime. Solve cases using animal instincts and abilities. Sniff for clues. Interrogate and date other anthropomorphic characters. Fight your instincts or become an animal.

Armez Games “Gravity Tag” (Poland)
(ZTGK Winner)

Miłosz Kawczyński - Team Lead, Game Designer, Game Programmer
Julia Pietrzykowska - UI/UX Designer
Julian Rakowski - Story Designer, Character Designer, Localisation Specialist
Weronika Lilia Sztobryn - Producer, 2D Artist
Marta Świderek - 2D Artist
Michał Świstak - Composer, Audio Engineer

Gravity Tag is a 2D platformer game about high-speed, high-pressure chases run in our original, dynamic perspective system. As chases are simulated in alternating platformer and top-down views, players must constantly adapt to their situation and use their strategic thinking to outwit their opponent. Our game maintains a relatively high skill ceiling, requiring players to constantly polish their mastery of the game and remain on top of their competition. Players can choose from a wide array of varied characters, each offering different abilities and advantages, as well as a collection of prepared maps with unique design principles and sets of challenges. 

LUCKTAPE Games "Tony The Mole" (Germany)

Yamanefe Ugurlu - Programmer, Designer
Pariya Naseri-Hagh- Artist, Designer

Play as Tony, a curious little mole with a serious digging habit, a taste for worms, and a dream of reaching the surface. Help townsfolk, repair gadgets, collect delightful hats, and explore hidden spaces as you uncover the story of Pebblegrove. Experience what it's like to traverse the world as a mole. Dig, burrow, and sniff through the world with animal-inspired movement and senses to boost your stamina and climb to even higher surfaces.

Mouseworks "FLOAT" (Germany)

Jennifer Bel - Artist
Emil Judin - Artist
Kevin Bruno - Producer, Sound
Lars Gohde - Programmer
Marius Maucher - Programmer
Sebastian Dreschmann - Game Design

How a VR Game is Transforming Prosthetics Myoelectric hand prostheses are considered state-of-the-art, but they are very expensive (up to €80,000) and in many countries not covered by health insurance. The reason: costly technology and lengthy individual training in specialized labs. As a result, many people worldwide (over 30 million live with a prosthesis) are forced to rely on mechanical prostheses – more affordable, but far more limited in functionality and everyday usability. This is where our project comes in: Together with the Frankfurt-based startup MyoMod, we are developing the mixed-reality game FLOAT for the Meta Quest 2+.The goal is to collect myoelectric data in a playful way, which is needed for the customization of prostheses. In the game, players explore a colorful, floating island world that can be controlled via hand tracking.The eleven primary human hand gestures – from fist to flat hand – are integrated into the core gameplay: one gesture creates islands, players solve puzzles, and they help the creatures of this world, the Pookis. Meanwhile, players wear an armband that measures muscle impulses.This data is anonymized and securely transmitted to MyoMod.To build a usable model, around 150 gestures per person are required. That’s why the game experience is designed to be smooth, immersive, free of motion sickness, and to last about 30 minutes. The combination of VR gameplay and medical data collection makes it possible to build an AI-powered data pool that could drastically shorten – or even eliminate – the need for lengthy prosthesis customization. Instead, the prosthesis would already be trained on the previously donated myoelectric data and thus be ready to use immediately. What makes FLOAT special: A VR game that combines fun with social impact Playful recording of hand gestures via hand tracking . Myoelectric data is transmitted securely, anonymized, and encrypted . Unique collaboration between game development (FLOAT) and MedTech (MyoMod). Contribution to more inclusive and affordable prosthetic care worldwide FLOAT demonstrates how games can have an impact beyond entertainment: as a bridge between technology, research, and society.

False Member "BRAMBLEFORT" (Finland)

Jesse Aalto - Team manager and techical artist/programmer
Visa Urala - Art lead and character artist
Aaron Vuorilehto - Enviormental artist
Matthew Jämsen - 2D artist
Janne Muukkonen - 3D artist

Bramblefort is a brutal VR survival horror / immersive sim hybrid set in the 19th century, on a remote and mysterious island in the North Atlantic. Built from the ground up for VR, it blends unforgiving physics-based combat, deep environmental interactivity, and layered, handcrafted levels full of secrets, multiple pathways, and evolving challenges. What makes Bramblefort special is how it merges the tension of survival horror with the freedom of immersive sims. Every weapon has its own unique handling: from revolvers that must be cocked manually to shotguns that reload through physical motion, to varied melee weapons that each handle differently in your hands. Combat rewards creativity, precision, and improvisation, while light RPG systems allow players to fine-tune their approach. The island itself is alive with danger and mystery. From impoverished fishing villages to towering Victorian mansions, its social order shapes what you encounter. Factions rise and fall, routines change, and your actions leave a lasting impact. With no backup and scarce resources, you must scavenge, adapt, and survive.

Dream team "Regarding Sasha" (Czech Republic)

Ellen Kůtová – Lead Game Design, Art Direction
Jacqueline Koch – Narrative Design, Game Design
Michaela Jílková – Programming, Engineering
Vojtěch Bohuš – Music Composition, Sound Design

I wanted to make a game about the loss of the loved one and how difficult it is, the fact that the other person is no longer here. Sometimes it's really hard to accept that they will never be here again. I wanted to make a game as a form of comfort, because I lost people that I loved and couldn't believe that They are no longer here. My game is about the acceptance, about opening up or that grief will consume you.

Footnote Games "A Life in a Year" (Chile)

Paula Santa María - Solo Developer

A Life in a Year is a narrative-driven adventure game about the emotional challenges of being a teenage exchange student, where learning the language and building relationships affect how your story unfolds. Language barriers are represented through scribbles and colors, a metaphor for the confusion of not understanding, which gradually change as the player makes decisions to learn the language, opening up new ways to interact with the world. Exchange experiences are rarely represented in media, and when they are, they tend to be shown as an idealized adventure. This game instead explores the real highs and lows of such an experience. It is a personal story that resonates not only with exchange students, but also with anyone who has experienced cultural adaptation or the challenges of trying to belong in a foreign place.

Monopixel Games "Last Report" (Poland)

Szymon Miksza - Game Creator

Last Report is a game that combines elements of Papers, Please with a horror atmosphere. You take on the role of a national park employee on the night shift, reviewing reports and camera footage. Over time, however, you begin to notice strange and unsettling events. Uncover the terrifying secret of the National Park. Something just moved in the window… but it’s probably just another deer, right?

Alacrity Games "Hogtie" (Turkey)

Orhan Yavuz Erhan - 3D Artist/Game Designer
Linn Jupiter - Project Management/Marketing/Game Producer
Burak Akdere - Developer

Its a simple Sokoban puzzle game but the mechanics are reversed! So instead of pushing objects, you have to pull them with your rope, as well as using it to move objects. Everything is done with the rope!

Turtle Team "Bug Off!" (Poland)
(ZTGK Winner)

Wojciech Kowalczyk - Programmer
Maciej Poncyleusz - Programmer
Maciej Adamczewski - Programmer, music
Hubert Łabuda - Programmer, music, sound design
Karolina Leszczyńska - Artist
Robert Kunka-Wagner - Artist

Bug off! is a tower defense meets survivors-like shooter game where you defend your base against hordes of alien insects using the power of your mech and turrets you build. The game features a variety of turrets to choose from, each with 2 possible upgrades path, yielding a total of 16 unique upgrades! Player can build fortifications and support buildings as well. Vampire-survivors-like nature of the game allows the player to unlock powerful upgrades, including things like secondary weapons, active abilities and stat boosts.

MiMiMiMi "Connectro" (Poland)
(ZTGK Winner)

Michał Galiński - Production Lead
Miłosz Kawczyński - Design Lead, Programming Lead
Mikołaj Przybylski - Designer, Programmer
Michał Świstak - Sound Consultant

Connectro is a puzzle game where each tap is a step in a clever chain reaction. Paint vibrant murals by triggering tiles that spread color in unique patterns - plan ahead, don’t get stuck, and finish in as few moves as possible. Explore the city, pick a wall, solve the puzzle, admire your work. Features a challenging roguelike mode and delivers 4 to 7 epiphanies. You're the artist - paint the city your way.

11Days "Guiding Light VR" (Poland)
(ZTGK Winner)

Michał Galiński - Programmer
Mikołaj Przybylski - Programmer
Miłosz Kawczyński - Designer
Karolina Sołtysiak - 2D/3D Artist
Jędrzej Huzarski - 3D Artist
Michał Świstak - Sound Designer

You’re a lighthouse keeper. In "Guiding Light VR", a casual time-management game, you operate a spotlight to organize marine trac! Guide ships to their proper destinations and manage the energy of your lighthouse. Beware of pirates, prevent shipwrecks, and master the polar night!

Screen Tear Studios "XYZ" (Poland)

Piotr Wójcik - Code, Sound Implementation
Franciszek Onopa - Level Design, Graphics, Music
Mika Purzycka - Narrative, Sound Design, Sound Implementation, Music

XYZ is a Singleplayer, First-person Slasher that combines expressive Gravity Manipulation, high mobility & agressive combat. You, as a killer-robot machine, have to infiltrate various industrial facilities while tearing apart waves of enemies. The gravity-shifting system influences level design, allowing players to move fluidly across any surface and dynamically adjust their trajectory during combat. The gameplay is divided into two main segments: runner sections, where players navigate levels, eliminate enemies, and uncover narrative elements through environmental storytelling, & arena combat, which requires effective space management, quick adaptation, and precise execution of combat mechanics.

Crab 9 "Unfortunate Tales of Violet" (Turkey)

Mert Erdogan - Game Programmer & Game Designer
Duru Mercan Arapoglu - Game Artist & Game Designer

In "Unfortunate Tales of Violet" feel like an actual wizard by "drawing runes realtime" to cast spells in a world full of heathen inquisitors, unhinged owls and non-magical witches.

cherry_Ape "AaAAaa@ 4a44@ @ a" (Poland)

Gabriela Popowicz - Design&Art
Piotr Cipior - Programming

Aggression is something many people fear and avoid at all costs. Instead of expressing anger, they are taught to put on masks of manipulation and try to move through life in the gentlest possible way-preferably without ever engaging in any fight. Has humanity been stripped of the ideas it would want to fight for? Or has it been silenced, so that in fear it wouldn’t even dare to pick up the gun? I invite you to immerse yourself in your anger through the project AaAAaa@4a44@@a. It is a 2D fighting exprimental game created with mixed media-traditional drawing and watercolor. This project explores the aspect of anger through experimentation with the purely entertainment-focused form of the fighting game genre, presenting it on one hand as a powerful destructive force, and on the other as an uncontrollable element we reach for in moments of deepest despair. Furthermore, the project seeks to limit the digital creation of assets to the necessary minimum, in order to search for new graphic design solutions and alternative ways of making video games. Materials used in the creation of this project include drawings, film footage, traditionally painted stop-motion animation, and stop-motion techniques.

Katarína Grúliková "Strawberry milk" (Slovakia)

Kariata - Graphic, writter, programing

Visual novel. You will step into the shoes of a young girl struggling to understand herself. In her world, everything seems heavy and distant, each day feels like an endless cycle of doubt and uncertainty. Despite the world around her, she finds it hard to connect with her emotions, her desires, and even with the people around her. All the while, a constant voice echoes in her mind, a cruel, unrelenting inner voice that mocks her, questions her worth, and tells her she's incapable. But there's also you, someone else, someone outside her mind. Whether you’re a silent observer or a quiet encourager, your role is crucial in helping her navigate this turbulent journey.

Finalists’ Game Zone

The Nominees will be contacted via email and officially invited to Warsaw for the Festival.

During the festival, all nominated creators will have their own booths where visitors can play their games and talk with the developers.

On the main stage, there will also bet 5-minute game presentations, giving the audience a closer look at each project.

At the end of the event, the Final Jury will select and award the best games in four categories.

Best Student Game Awards categories:

ARTISTIC GREATNESS

It is given to a game with a distinctive, elegant and original visual style, not only in its static graphics, but as well in motion, be it animations, lighting, interface and overall perception of the game from the eye-of-the-beholder perspective.

TECHNICAL GREATNESS

It is is given to a game with an extraordinary use of technology, seen in a fluent work of the game, spectacular shaders, lighting, camera work, but also with a one-of-a-kind use of the technology, whether it is about online features or creating own engine or outstanding use of the existing engines.

THE MEANINGFUL GAME

It is given to a game that cleverly communicates its message through gameplay and aims to speak about social issues, state of humankind, provokes to ask important questions and basically has the ability to improve us as humans and makes it just by playing it.

BEST STUDENT GAME AWARD

Is given to a game that plays best, has clever design and that addictive loop that just drags you in and makes you want to play more, having also great visual style, and properly coded so it just doesn’t break. Best Student Game Award is given to a game that stands out as a work of creativity and is an engaging game at the same time.