Diverse Voices, New Stories Challenge

In 2024, Games for Change received submissions from 24 different countries on five different continents, highlighting the program’s global reach. The winning game, “Button City” by Subliminal Gaming, was chosen by a jury of industry experts who assessed each submission’s impact, innovation, gameplay, and overall ‘wow’ factor. 

“Button City” was featured at the G4C Arcade during the 2024 Games for Change Festival,  where it was exhibited alongside other impact games and immersive experiences for industry experts, enthusiasts, and a global audience interested in using games to drive real-world change.

The games and teams recognized with awards and honorable mentions this year include:  

Challenge Winner – Button City
Developed by: Subliminal Gaming (United States)
Game Description: Button City is a cozy narrative adventure game about a fox and his friends banding together to save their local arcade. Explore a diorama world, play exciting arcade games, complete quirky quests, and meet cute animal friends.
Team Background: Subliminal Gaming was co-founded by an Indigenous woman artist and strives to highlight team members’ distinct worldviews as women and indigenous people. Additionally, the team actively works to highlight diverse voices and foster learning in their communities by teaching game development to Indigenous youth and translating their games into the Navajo language.
Links: Button City Trailer | Download Button City

Best in Innovation – Don’t Forget
Developed by: Digital Arts And Entertainment (Belgium)
Game Description: Recollect your memories by looking for clues and playing brain-stimulating minigames while battling the effects of dementia. Explore three different key events of your life to figure out what has happened.
Team Background: The team consists of students from different nationalities, backgrounds, and genders. Through innovative mechanics, they provide a unique perspective on dementia.
Links: Don’t Forget Trailer | Android Release Date: Summer 2024

Best in Impact – Songs of Travel
Developed by: Causa Creations (Austria)
Game Description: An animated graphic novel exploring the unique stories of five migrants seeking new beginnings in Europe.
Team Background: Causa Creations consists of a diverse team of cultural backgrounds, skills, and genders, focusing on creating social impact games and highlighting underrepresented stories and voices.
Links: Songs of Travel Trailer | Download Songs of Travel

Best in Gameplay – Puzzle Scout
Developed by: Leti Arts (Ghana)
Game Description: A word search game based on great African history, revisiting the historic chain of African countries, civilizations, and tribes with young puzzle scouts.
Team Background: Leti Arts develops interactive content influenced by African history, folklore, and culture, leveraging African talent to immerse players in African heritage.
Links: Puzzle Scout Trailer | Download Puzzle Scout

The winning team at Subliminal Gaming received a $10,000 USD cash prize, hardware from HP, HyperX gaming peripherals, mentorship and marketing support to launch their game on the Google Play store, and promotional support from Games for Change.
As part of the Challenge, Games for Change also provided learning and professional development opportunities for underrepresented creators, including a Game Design Sprint at the Games for Change Africa Festival in December. During this event, teams developed game concepts related to the theme of “uplifting voices” and presented them to a panel of regional experts.