The Australian Game Developer Awards (AGDAs) 2025 have been and gone for another year, with an array of well-deserving games celebrated along the way. The annual event aims to elevate local game developers and studios, with a focus on the art, design, narrative, music, and impact of video games.
This year, an array of excellent games, studios, and talent were nominated across a variety of categories, each incredibly deserving. While there can only be one winner in each category, all games submitted and nominated were worthy of this praise.
Winners for this year’s show chart a wide range of genres, and strong creative ideas. Shape Shop’s Mars First Logistics took out the award for Excellence in Gameplay. Witch Beam’s Tempopo claimed the awards for Excellence in Music and Excellence in Accessibility. Spoonful of Wonder’s Copycat, Cain Maddox’s PROXIMATE, and Luke Muscat’s Feed the Deep also took out major awards.
The grand prize – Game of the Year – went to Powerhoof’s The Drifter, a breathtaking point-and-click adventure game that corrals a smorgasbord of bright, strange, and beautiful ideas into a vast sci-fi story of great ambition. Read ScreenHub‘s five-star review here.
‘It’s such an honour to see our game recognised as Game of the Year at the AGDAs,’ Dave Lloyd, Powerhoof co-founder said in a press release. ‘It’s been a long journey, but we’re thrilled that a game we started making in 2019 has resonated with so many players.’
Here’s the full list of winners from the Australian Game Developer Awards (AGDAs) 2025.
AGDAs 2025: Awards Roundup
Game of the Year
- Mars First Logistics (Shape Shop)
- The Drifter (Powerhoof) – [WINNER]
- PROXIMATE (Cain Maddox)
- Shattered (PlaySide Studios)
Excellence in Visual Art
- Cast n Chill (Wombat Brawler)
- The Drifter (Powerhoof) – [WINNER]
- Mars First Logistics (Shape Shop)
Excellence in Gameplay
- Mars First Logistics (Shape Shop) – [WINNER]
- PROXIMATE (Cain Maddox)
- The Drifter (Powerhoof)
Excellence in Narrative
- PROXIMATE (Cain Maddox)
- Copycat (Spoonful of Wonder)
- The Drifter (Powerhoof) – [WINNER]
Excellence in Sound Design
- The Drifter (Powerhoof) – [WINNER]
- PROXIMATE (Cain Maddox)
- Tempopo (Witch Beam)
Excellence in Music
- Copycat (Spoonful of Wonder)
- Tempopo (Witch Beam) – [WINNER]
- The Drifter (Powerhoof)
Excellence in Accessibility
- Letters to Arralla (Little Pink Clouds)
- Tempopo (Witch Beam) – [WINNER]
- Moonlight in Garland (Violet LeBeaux)
Excellence in Mobile
- Feed the Deep (Luke Muscat) – [WINNER]
- Carmen Sandiego (Gameloft Brisbane)
- Nyiyaparli Widi (Co-Designed and Technical Development by DEPT)
Excellence in Extended Reality
- Dumb Ways: Free For All (PlaySide Studios)
- Starship Home (Creature)
- Shattered (PlaySide Studios, Meta) – [WINNER]
Excellence in Impact
- Nyiyaparli Widi (Co-Designed and Technical Development by DEPT)
- Shattered (PlaySide Studios)
- Copycat (Spoonful of Wonder) – [WINNER]
Excellence in Debut
- Misc. A Tiny Tale (Tinyware Games)
- PROXIMATE (Cain Maddox) – [WINNER]
- Starship Home (Creature)
Excellence in Ongoing
- Cult of the Lamb (Massive Monster)
- RISK: Global Domination (SMG Studio) – [WINNER]
- Crossy Road (Hipster Whale)
The AGDAs Rising Star Award
Aiden Gyory (Catalyst Games)
The Adam Lancman Award
Antony Reed
Studio of the Year
Massive Monster (Cult of the Lamb)
Disclosure: ScreenHub writer Leah J. Williams served as a judge on the voting panel for the 2025 AGDAs.
