The New York Videogame Critics Circle reveal the nominees for their New York Game Awards

While The Game Awards and the BAFTAs seem to suck the air out of the video game awards space, there are plenty of other organizations out there providing recognition to excellence in video games. One hyper local organization is the New York Videogame Critics Circle, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization composed of members of the games media field who work with New York City youths to provide them the skills and opportunity to break into the gaming field.

The group utilizes the New York Game Awards to help fund the non-profit’s programs as well as to honor achievements in the field of gaming for the calendar year. In the program’s 14 years of existence, they have given out awards to titles such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, God of War and honored creators & executives such as Richard Garriott, Todd Howard and Reggie Fils-Aimé (who will be hosting the 2025 awards ceremony). The categories have a “New York” flavor to them, but the games don’t have to have any concrete ties to the city to be considered.

The New York Videogame Critics Circle aired a nomination special on January 7th which was read by Hannah Telle (voice actor, Max from Life is Strange: Double Exposure) and Logan Cunningham (voice actor, Hades from Hades II). We learned the games that are up for awards include Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, Metaphor: ReFantazio, Balatro, Astrobot and even some titles which didn’t quite get love at other award ceremonies like Tales of Kenzera: ZAU and Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess. Remedy Entertainment’s Sam Lake will be the recipient of the Andrew Yoon Legend Award, which acts as a “Lifetime Achievement” award. We’ll find out who the winners are on January 21st when the 2025 New York Game Awards will take place at the SVA Theatre in New York City. If you want to watch in person tickets are available via Eventbrite and if you can’t make it in person you can co-stream the event to signal boost the group’s event and their programs here.

As someone who has attended the awards in person, I certainly believe it is something worth experiencing, especially if you would like to mingle with some of the people who create the games that you love and enjoy.

14th Annual New York Game Awards Nominations Live from the Paley Center

The nominees for the 14th Annual New York Game Awards are:

Big Apple Award for Best Game of the Year

• Balatro
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Astro Bot
• UFO 50
• 1000xResist
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• EA Sports College Football 25

Off Broadway Award for Best Indie Game

• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Balatro
• I Am Your Beast
• UFO 50
• 1000xResist
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!
• Neva

Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game

• Harold Halibut
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• 1000xResist
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Phoenix Springs
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Statue of Liberty Award for Best World

• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Astro Bot
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Heart of Chornobyl

Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game

• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Astro Bot
• Arco
• Black Myth Wukong
• 1000xResist

Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game

• Abubakar Salim as Zao, Zuberi and Griot Echo in Tales of Kenzara: ZAO
• John Eric Bentley as Barret in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Hannah Telle as Max Caulfield in Life is Strange: Double Exposure
• Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
• Troy Baker as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Humberly González as Kay in Star Wars Outlaws

Coney Island Dreamland Award for Best AR/VR Game

• Thrasher
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Umurangi Generation VR
• Skydance’s Behemoth
• Silent Slayer: Vault of the Vampire
• Shattered

Central Park Children’s Zoo Award for Best Kids Game

• Astro Bot
• Super Mario Party Jamboree
• Little Kitty, Big City
• Sonic X Shadow Generations
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

A-Train Award for Best Mobile Game

• Rabbids: Legends of the Multiverse
• Wuthering Waves
• Zenless Zone Zero
• Ex Astris
• Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

Freedom Tower Award for Best Remake

• Soul Reaver 1 and 2 Remastered
• Silent Hill 2
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
• Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth
• Age of Mythology: Retold
• Persona 3: Reload

Chumley’s Speakeasy Award for Best Hidden Gem

• Ultros
• Vampire Therapist
• Mouthwashing
• Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story
• Mars After Midnight
• Starstruck: Hands of Time

NYC GWB Award for Best DLC

• Alan Wake II: Night Springs and The Lake House
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown – Mask of Darkness
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Remnant 2: The Dark Horizon
• Splatoon 3: Side Order
• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

Knickerbocker Award for Best Games Journalism

• Duncan Fyfe
• Alexis Ong
• Grant Stoner
• Mason Andrew Hamberlin
• Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
• Simone De Rochefort & Clayton Ashley