Play The Game Awards Nominees Today with Game Pass

Dusk Falls
Nominated Games for Impact and Innovation in Accessibility

However Dusk Falls is nominated for its extensive accessibility features (full details here), few titles go to go so far to reach people who don’t normally Play all kinds of games. In our experience, agonizing over decisions with a friend or loved one who doesn’t identify as a gamer is a unique and memorable experience, made easier by the fact that players can bypass the controller in favor of an app on their phone. A seamless Twitch integration makes it possible for large groups of people to make decisions in-game. This is an entertaining and endlessly entertaining way to play metagames. You can still play the game solo or with your controller. As Dusk Falls’In thrilling and edge-of-your seat fashion, the narrative genre elevates itself through frequent, thoughtful decision-making.

Citizen Sleeper
Nominated Games for Impact

Citizen Sleeper It gives you plenty to explore during the narrative RPG adventure, which allows you to lead a chaotic life in an imperfect artificial human body as a digital consciousness. At its core, you’re trying to break free from your corporate owners who want their investment back – but you’re not the only one hiding out on remote space station, The Eye, from those eking out a living, to bounty hunters, to fellow refugees. Citizen Sleeper weaves a tale that’s both an allegory for capitalism gone awry and the persecution of the weak by those in power. The story that holds this game together is exceptionally well told and deeply personal. It has a real world with engaging characters you can either betray or befriend. That story isn’t done being told just yet. You can download the DLC free of charge. FluxAnd RefugeThe next piece is Citizen Sleeper’s story is set to arrive next year.

Dune: Spice Wars
Nominated for: Best Strategy/Simulation

We have been away from Arrakis for many years. Dune: 2000(featuring John Rhys-Davies the Atreides Mentat). It was worth the wait. Dune: Spice Wars is a true return to RTS form featuring a world full of giant sand worms, political intrigue, ruthless warlords, and the all-powerful spice that flows through everything — including your keyboard and mouse. It’s still in Game Preview, set for a full release in 2023, but what we’ve played so far has us excited for what’s to come from developer Shiro Games.

Inmortality
Nominated for: Best Game Direction (Manon Gaage), Best Narrative and Best Performance

Nominated for three awards, it’s safe to say Inmortality has been a winning experiment into how to use good ol’ fashioned Full Motion Video to create a thoroughly modern game. This is a story you have written, and not one you were told.InmortalityIt spans three times periods and features three films. Manon Gage, its main actor, gives remarkable performances. The deeper you dig (using frames of the films themselves to discover new clips), the darker things become — until eventually you realize that this is by no means the mystery you went in assuming it was. Inmortality earns its Mature rating and strays from the typical “choose your own adventure” style, becoming something you’ll never quite have played before, both in style and substance.

A Memoir Blue
Nominated Games for Impact

A Memoir Blue tells the story of a star athlete and the bonds shared between a mother and daughter and is a tranquil option to some of the more tense, skill-based games you may have been playing — perfect for when you just want to relax and unwind. This interactive story is richly illustrated in symbolism. There are also a few point-and-click and puzzle elements. This game has been awarded a place in the Games for Impact category for its story of childhood nostalgia, familial love, and reflections on success.

Metal: Hellsinger
Nominated: The Best Score and the Most Music

When you have a game featuring the vocal talents of Serj Tankian (System of a Down), Randy Blythe (Lamb of God), and Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), it’s easy to see how this excellent rhythm action game secured a nomination for Best Score and Music. While yes, the soundtrack does indeed kick ass, it’s when you’ve started to fire your rhythm-based attacks to the double-bass beat that the harmonious — and very metal — destruction takes shape, sending you tearing your way through hordes of demonic creatures, and seeking vengeance through the domain of Hell.

No Man’s Sky
Nominated for: Community Support Award

No Man’s SkyIt has provided another amazing year of content to its players. They have had four huge (and completely free!) updates: Endurance and Sentinel. With that level of support, it’s easy to understand how it’s been nominated in this category. Hello Games’ galaxy-sized sci-fi sim remains one of the most unique and expansive gaming worlds that you can play in today, and only continues to grow, with community features to try out, tons of quality-of-life improvements, and even Space whales.  It’s been said so often that it’s becoming a little clichéd, but there honestly hasn’t been a better time than now to play No Man’s Sky.

Norco
Nominated for Best Debut Indie

It’s a mix of maudlin, almost comically bizarre and even hilarious. Norco wears the skin of a ‘90s point-and-click adventure but implants a novelistic tale of the near future. Kay returns to her hometown in industry after her mother’s death. This is the story of Kay. NorcoIt combines the best of late-stage capitalism with AI and climate change to create the greatest gaming story ever. Even among those heady concepts, it’s a deeply personal game, both for its characters and, you sense, its small team of first-time developers.

A Plague Tale: Requiem
Nominated: Game of the Day, Best Performance (Charlotte McBurney), best Action/Adventure

Anything you’ve heard about A Plague Tale: RequiemIt was likely that the story began with rats. While a playthrough of the story will have you encountering literally millions of the filthy little rascals, it’s the human cast of Amicia, Hugo, and some surprising new faces that truly stands out. After the first game, the evolution of main characters (brought about by amazing acting performances) and the immense scale of what they experience and endure have been with us for many weeks. It is a must-see.

Monkey Island: Return
Nominated: Innovation in Accessibility

The unexpected and thrilling return of Guybrush Threepwood and the zombie pirate LeChuck was perhaps gaming’s most nostalgic new game this year. Fittingly, the newest installment of the iconic point ‘n’ click adventure series also saw the return of the iconic series’ creator Ron Gilbert, joined by co-writer Dave Grossman, bringing their sense of humor and singularly hilarious puzzles to a technicolor Caribbean that has seen considerably better days since we last saw it. The evolution of traditional adventure game controls will allow pirates to swash, and indeed buckle, with context-sensitive interactions and reactive dialog trees. There is also an inventory system that makes pirating easy. All of these and other features helped to secure the nomination for Innovation in Accessibility.

Scorn
Nominated: Art Direction of the Year

We were searching for the answer to “What is it?” before releasing this book. What Scorn is. Adventure game for the first-person? Shooter? Maybe a little bit of each? We explored that question with the game’s developer at launch, but it wasn’t until we started playing and diving into world that we understood quite how that the game wanted us to Feel There is more to it than what you can fit in a particular genre. Its stunning visuals are what bring out a lot of the emotion you feel while you play. They instantly draw you in to its bizarre, biotechnological world and place you up against strange creations.

Starfield
Nominated for: The Most Awaited Game

That is what I said Starfield is a “Most Anticipated Game” is just scratching the surface of how excited we are to jump into this massive open-world universe. Most of us have spent a considerable amount of time in Bethesda’s other iconic open-world RPGs (looking at you SkyrimWe’re excited for the opportunity to travel around the world and explore many other cultures. We’ll have more to share in the coming months about Starfield – which will be available on day one with Game Pass — here on Xbox Wire.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Nominated: The Best Action Game or Best Multiplayer

Grab your nearest controller and jump into this retro-inspired beat ‘em up that brings back memories of token-filled arcade machines, greasy pizza, and bizarre, oversized mouse mascots. TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge is some of the most fun we’ve had this year either online or via couch co-op, battling back Shredder’s goons and shouting “Cowabunga!” at the television. It’s arcade nostalgia at its finest, with an awesome soundtrack, beautiful pixel art, and tons of unlockables that round out a complete arcade experience in your home. It shouldn’t be missed.

Total War: Warhammer III
Nominated: The Best Strategy/Simulator

With a mix of both real-time and turn-based elements, along with the epic Warhammer Fantasy license on full display, Creative Assembly’s third and most accessible entry in its unique Total War series allows you to take control of a massive army of Chaos Gods, humans, Daemons, or other outlandish legions as you attempt to conquer the Realm of Chaos. You can use diplomacy to win, but it is better to work with large armies that are capable of eliminating even the most powerful Gods. [lets out guttural roar]. It’s a truly titanic end to a trilogy that’s helped redefine the grand strategy genre.

Two Point Campus
Nominated for: Best Strategy/Simulation

Follow-up on the very well received Two Point HospitalWe are now looking back at our university experiences and thinking: Did we not have enough fun?? Guiding college students to success in courses such as Gastronomy and “Funny Business” while ensuring they have facilities to eat, sleep, play, and poop may sound like a lot. The way is possible, however. Two Point CampusIt breaks down objectives into smaller steps, making it feel more like an elective than a weed-out class. Additionally, it’s possible to plow a Crazy Taxi arcade machine right in your student’s dorm… why didn’t our school’sWhat do you think?

Tunic
Nominated: Best Indie, Best Action/Adventure, Best Debut Indie

Don’t be fooled by Tunic’s cute little fox hero character and whimsical art style; this game’s soul-crushing difficulty may lead to controller-throwing fits of rage. The game offers some helpful tips to help you on your path. If you manage to survive the first hour or so, you’ll be treated to an amazing experience, especially if you enjoy a challenge and figuring things out on your own. Its brilliant level design is sure to make you smile as you discover hidden paths and shortcuts, but the game’s real treasure is the creative in-game guide you compile along the way, simultaneously offering a never-before-seen approach to puzzle design and a gorgeously nostalgic look back to game manuals of yore.

Vampire Survivors
Nominated: The Best Debut Indie

Sink your teeth into one of the year’s biggest surprises and a legit game of the year contender. You will find this gothic, survival-like rogue-lite instantly satisfying. will have you weaving through hundreds… nay… thousands of pixel skeletons, mummies, zombies, werewolves, and more as you strive to Survival As long as possible. The unlockable levels, awesome power-ups, and unique heroes add to an already very strong replay dynamic that will keep you coming back for more – you haven’t seen anything until you get to the last couple of minutes of run, trust us.