First year for this new award

This year, Cinekid will present the all-new Game & App Award. This award underlines the growing role games and apps play in contemporary children’s lives. Gaming has become an integral part of daily life for many. Games connect, entertain and enlighten, more so than ever since the global pandemic lockdowns.

Nearly everyone with (access to) a mobile phone or tablet plays games every now and again, even if most don’t classify themselves as gamers. (Hyper)casual titles like Flappy Birds, Helix Jump, Solitaire and Candy Crush are played by young and old, all around the world.

It is of crucial importance for Cinekid to point children towards games and apps that provide more than merely a simple click-and-swipe game. Cinekid also recognises the importance of providing alternatives to popular shooter and fighting games such as Fortnite and Crash Royale. Games and apps, with their inherently interactive nature and opportunities for non-linear narratives as well as play-activation, offer great chances to shape and tell stories in a new and different way.

This year, a professional panel consisting of Zuraida Buter (A MAZE./Berlin, Playful Arts Festival), Alessandra van Otterlo (Control Magazine, European Game Showcase), Cinekid’s Head of New Media Siuli Ko and Cinekid’s Luc

Berendsen selected nine titles from very diverse entries from the Netherlands and abroad submitted after an open call. The criteria used were innovation, authenticity, design and gameplay. In the years to come Cinekid strives to make this award a flagship for new game and app titles that are suitable for a younger audience and excel in the above criteria.

A children’s jury consisting of members of the Cinekid Junior Crew will choose this year’s winner, which will be announced at the CinekidBall.

Siuli Ko

Head of New Media