AGS Awards
The AGS Awards are a set of annual awards for video games made with the Adventure Game Studio (acronym AGS) engine to recognize the best graphic adventure games of the year as assessed by AGS video game developers and artists. The awards show celebrates the best developers and achievements in the AGS video-games community, and features top gaming choices by creators and artists. Categories for the awards may vary year from year but overall include Best Game, Best Writing, Best Animation, Best Voice Acting, Best Puzzles, Best Gameplay and Best Music.
| AGS Awards | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding AGS games and game developers |
| Location | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | Adventure Game Studio |
| First awarded | 2001 |
| Website | www |
History
The AGS Awards were founded in 2001 and are awarded annually to the best indie point-and-click adventure games of the year. Categories include Best Game, Best Writing, Best Animation, Best Voice Acting, Best Puzzles, Best Background Art, Best Gameplay and Best Music. The AGS Awards are an important barometer for indie adventure games, receiving regular international coverage by sites like Destructoid.,[1] Rock, Paper, Shotgun,[2][3] IndiesGames[4][5] and GameSetWatch.[6][7] Some winners have become immensely popular and commercially successful, such as Primordia by Wormwood Studios,[8][9][10] Resonance by XII Games[11] and Gemini Rue by Joshua Nuernberger.[12] Serving as a springboard for talent.
In 2006 the founders of the AGS Awards announced the nominees and winners on the website www.americangirlscouts.org. Playing into the communities running joke of claiming to be the American Girl Scouts.
In 2014, after considerable discussion and voting, the AGS Awards revamped the categories to reflect the community's increasing interest in variation.[13] Introducing a new category structure:
Overall awards: Best Game Created with AGS, Best Gameplay, Best Writing, Best Puzzles, Best Character. Category awards: Best Short Game, Best Demo, Best Non-Adventure Game Created with AGS. Sound awards: Best Music & Sound, Best Voice Acting. Technical awards: Best Background Art, Best Character Art, Best Animation, Best Programming. Committee decided: Lifetime Achievement, Best Innovation.
Competition Award History
The game developer with the most AGS Awards won in total is Benjamin Croshaw, with 19 awards won and totaling 44 nominations. The most awards won by any one game was 12 for Resonance.[14]
2012 Awards
In 2012, Resonance developed by Wadjet Eye Games won 12 AGS Awards. Setting a record for most AGS Awards ever won by a single game.
| Award | Winners[15][16] |
|---|---|
| Best Game Created with AGS | |
| Best Gameplay | |
| Best Animation | |
| Best Music and Sound Effects | |
| Best Voice Acting | |
| Best Original Story | |
| Best Programming | |
| Best Player Character | |
| Best Non-player Character | |
| Best Puzzles | |
| Best Short Game |
|
| Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Dialogue Writing | |
| Best Character Art | |
| Best Background Art | |
| Best Demo |
|
2013 Awards
In 2013, Heroine's Quest developed Crystal Shard by won a total of 11 AGS Awards.[17] A month later the game was published on Valve Steam.[18]
| Award | Winners[19] |
|---|---|
| Best Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Gameplay |
|
| Best Animation |
|
| Best Music and Sound Effects |
|
| Best Voice Acting |
|
| Best Programming |
|
| Best Player Character |
|
| Best Non-player Character |
|
| Best Puzzles |
|
| Best Short Game |
|
| Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Dialogue Writing |
|
| Best Character Art |
|
| Best Background Art |
|
| Best Demo |
|
2014 Awards
In 2014, the RPG game Quest for Infamy won in 4 categories including Best Gameplay and Best Puzzles. After the award ceremony the developers of Quest for Infamy announced they'd making a prequel and a sequel to the game.[20]
| Award | Winners[21] |
|---|---|
| Best Game Created with AGS | |
| Best Gameplay |
|
| Best Animation | |
| Best Music and Sound |
|
| Best Voice Acting | |
| Best Programming |
|
| Best Character |
|
| Best Puzzles |
|
| Best Short Game |
|
| Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Writing | |
| Best Character Art | |
| Best Background Art | |
| Best Demo |
|
| Best Freeware Game Created with AGS |
|
2015 Awards
In 2015, Technobabylon won the most awards of all the nominees, taking home 9. Troll Song: Verse One - Completely Stoned won the Best Demo Awards at the AGS Awards 2015. This was the second time Troll Song has won an AGS Award for Best Tech Demo, with the original tech demo claiming the prize at the 2013 AGS Awards.[22] The Lifetime Achievement Award was awarded to indie developer Peder Johnsen "for his services with AGS archives, hosting and many other contributions over the years".
| Award | Winners[23] |
|---|---|
| Best Game Created with AGS | |
| Best Gameplay | |
| Best Animation | |
| Best Music and Sound | |
| Best Voice Acting | |
| Best Programming |
|
| Best Character |
|
| Best Puzzles | |
| Best Freeware Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Writing | |
| Best Character Art | |
| Best Background Art | |
| Best Demo |
|
2016 Awards
The 2016 nominees were announced on February 6, 2017 via the official website. The videogame with the most nominations was Shardlight by Wadjet Eye Games with a total of 12 nominations, including Best Game Created with AGS. Wormwood Studio's Until I Have You was nominated in 9 categories and Tales, which won an AGS Award in 2014 for Best Tech Demo,[25][26] was nominated in 7 categories.
| Award | Winners[27] |
|---|---|
| Best Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Freeware Game Created with AGS |
|
| Best Gameplay | |
| Best Animation | |
| Best Music and Sound |
|
| Best Voice Acting |
|
| Best Programming | |
| Best Character |
|
| Best Puzzles |
|
| Best Non Adventure Game Created with AGS | |
| Best Short Game |
|
| Best Writing |
|
| Best Character Art |
|
| Best Background Art |
|
References
- "Destructoid revies AGS Winners". Destructoid. 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
- "AGS Awards 2010 down to finalists". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-09.
- "Point-click-Vote for the AGS Awards". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2013-02-25. Retrieved 2013-02-25.
- "In-Depth: The AGS Awards 2009". www.indiegames.com. 2010-01-26.
- "The 2012 AGS Awards". www.indiegames.com. 2013-03-28.
- "Adventurers get AGS Awards". gamesetwatch.com. 2006-03-03.
- "AGS Awards 2007 Winners". gamesetwatch.com. 2007-02-02.
- "Primordia - Wormwood Studios interview". adventuregamers.com. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
- "Primordia review". www.indiegamebundles.com. Retrieved 2013-01-13.
- "The 2012 AGS Awards". www.indiegames.com. 2013-03-18.
- "Brand-New Indie Game Resonance is the Best 1990s Adventure Game I’ve Played in Years" kotaku.com
- "Gemini Rue review". PC Gamer. 2013-10-26. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
- AGS Awards 2014 Category Reshuffle Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine Indie Game News
- AGS Awards 2012 Results adventuregamestudio.co.uk
- "AGS Awards 2012: The Full List of Video Game Award Nominees". adventuregamestudio.co.uk.
- The 2012 AGS Awards indiegames.com
- Heroine's Quest wins 11 AGS Awards www.indiedb.com
- Heroines Quest now on Steam Archived 2017-02-12 at the Wayback Machine indiegamenews.com
- "AGS Awards 2013: The Full List of Video Game Award Nominees". adventuregamestudio.co.uk.
- Developer Infamous Quests Has Announced Two New Point-And-Click Adventures gamingonlinux.com
- "AGS Awards 2014: The Full List of Video Game Award Nominees". adventuregamestudio.co.uk.
- Troll Song wins AGS Award 2015
- "AGS Awards 2015: The Full List of Video Game Award Nominees". adventuregamestudio.co.uk.
- Troll Song wins AGS Award www.gamejolt.com
- Best Demo crown for Tales Archived 2017-02-13 at the Wayback Machine www.indiegames.com
- AGS Award - Best Tech Demo for Tales, 2014 adventuregamestudio.co.uk
- "AGS Awards 2016: The Full List of Video Game Award Nominees". adventuregamestudio.co.uk.