The GALA2024 Serious Games Competition aims to celebrate the best digital games for learning in the world. Organized by the Games and Learning Alliance Conference as a friendly game contest, the awards are based on an analysis of the games by experts of the Serious Games.

The competition theme for this year is “Games for Better Futures”. However, authors are welcome to submit any type of Serious Games, even if not aligned to this theme.

Shortlisted games will be promoted on the Serious Games Society social media channels. The three best games fitting the conference theme will each also receive a special prize from our sponsor Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS).

Shortlisted games & winners

Business category shortlisted entries:
Nutri-islands – WINNER
Sibel’s Journey
FathomVerse: explore the depths

Academic category shortlisted entries:
IncrASTible! The incredible Monastery of Astino – WINNER
EZRA
Umfeld

Student category shortlisted entries:
On Call
Pizzicato – WINNER

Submission details

Submission deadline (extended): 25th August 2024, midnight UTC

The competition will reward games in each of the following categories:

• Academy: Serious Games that have been designed and produced in a scientific environment. If you have an experimental study related to your game, we highly recommend you also consider submitting your work to the GALA 2024 Call for Papers (now closed).
• Business: Serious Games that have been designed and produced by a professional game studio.
• Student: Serious Games that have been designed and produced by students (master’s degree or lower). 

Submission requirements

Games must be submitted via the Easychair system. Please see the guidance here for submitting your game.

Participants must submit a playable and executable version of the game, together with a demo video and a short description of the game. All submissions must include a README file with installation and playing instructions. For large files, please compress the folder using .zip format only.

Please note that previously submitted games are not eligible for repeat competition entry unless there has been a substantial update or change to the game.

What’s next? Frequently asked questions

What happens if my game is shortlisted?

If your game is shortlisted this means that your game will be in the running for a top 3 prize for one of the submission categories. As such, the team or at least one person from the shortlisted game must present their Serious Games at the GALA Exhibition at Berlin School of Economics and Law | HWR Berlin, held during the conference. You (or other team members) do not need to register and pay for the full conference unless you wish to participate in other conference events outside of the game exhibition.

My game is a physical tabletop game (board game/card game), can I still submit it?

Yes, but you need to submit a digital version of your game using Tabletopia (or equivalent) and a playtesting video. As the jurors are based around the world, a digital option is required for jurors to play the game. We also encourage you to bring your game to the conference exhibition.

How long should the demo video last?

A video between 8-10 minutes is enough to showcase the game experience. However, you can also send a full gameplay video if you feel it is necessary.

What language can I submit my game in?

English is the preferred language for submissions and unfortunately this is the only language we can guarantee the jury will be able to work in. If submission in English is not possible, games can be accepted provided: 

• The game instructions are in English
• The games are easy to understand 
• The game is not completely reliant on language to function.

How is my game going to be assessed?

Our highly experienced jury uses a rating scale from 0 (lowest) to 5 (highest) to score each submission against 10 core criteria, plus the relevance to the conference theme.

These core criteria are:

• Effectiveness: the capability of the game to reach its learning objectives
• Efficiency: the capability of the game to reach its objectives without wasting time 
• Usability: ease/pleasantness of use and learnability
• Feedback and assessment support ease
• Exploitability in a learning context: how simple is to use the game in a real context
• Reusability in different learning contexts
• Capability of motivating the user (on the learning topic)
• Capability of engaging the user (in the gameplay)
• Originality: plot, characters, user interaction, etc.
• Technological Innovation and value: graphics, artificial intelligence, etc.

Would we still be eligible to win the category if we weren’t able to attend?

No. Attending the conference exhibition is required for the game to be awarded.

How should teams/individuals travel there? 

Please see the travel recommendations outlined on the conference website.

Will there be a stipend available for shortlisted games?

No, there is no stipend available for shortlisted games.

Is it possible to give us an idea of how many submissions there were and how many participants there are now in the shortlist?

This information can be confirmed after the closing date for submissions.

Who can I contact for more help?

Please feel free to contact our competition committee with any further questions:

• Kristina Risley, University of Southampton: K.Risley@soton.ac.uk
• Mariana Rocha, TU Dublin: Mariana.Rocha@TUDublin.ie
• ​​Rene Roepke, RWTH Aachen University: roepke@cs.rwth-aachen.de
• Jonny Bix Bongers, HWR Berlin:  jonnybix.bongers@hwr-berlin.de