Over the past few weeks, our jury has been petting cats, piecing together whole new worlds and, yes, even searching for the perfect pigeon soulmate, all in game form! Which game will take home this year’s Game Award? Meet the top 10 nominees and come play them for yourself at Cinekid Festival!
This year, once again, numerous games were submitted from various countries all over the world. The jury praises the creativity of the submitted games, and what stands out this year is that many games seek alternative forms of storytelling, new ways of playing together, and strengthen their games with handmade visuals.
A jury of three game professionals made the selection: Martine Spaans of the Dutch Games Association, video game industry advisor Collin van Ginkel, and game artist and researcher Sondi. They used three selection criteria to determine their top 10 from all the submissions:
1. the game excels in creativity, storytelling, design and/or interaction;
2. the game was released no more than two years ago or has yet to be released;
3. and of course the game must be fun to play.
The Junior Crew, a group of children between 7 and 12 years old who help shape ideas for Cinekid Festival, chooses the eventual winner from the top 10. During Cinekid Festival 2026, the creator of the winning game will be presented with the Cinekid Game Award and will receive a Cinekid Lion and a cash prize worth €2,500.
Cinekid is the world’s largest festival for children’s film and media. The 40th edition of the festival will take place from 10 to 16 October 2026. During the festival, Cinekid presents the MediaLab, an exhibition of interactive and immersive installations, workshops and games in Amsterdam and 10 other cities in the Netherlands.