Intel Pixel Awards Europe 2023

11th edition of Poland’s and CEE region largest indie gamedev competition. As every year, there will be held an international competition for the best games presented during the Pixel Heaven 2023 Games & Pop Culture Festival. The productions selected by the Jury in the qualifying rounds will be presented in the Pixel Expo exhibition area. The award ceremony will be held on Saturday, May 27 at 20.00 on the Festival’s main stage.

Competition categories

Big Fish Grand Prix
Indie Grand Prix
Best Gameplay (best gameplay)
Best Art (best visuals)
Best Audio (best audio setting)
Best Story (best script)
Retro Roots (best retro reference)
Big Bang! (biggest surprise)

Best Student (best student project)

Total Blackout (best board game)

Warsaw Excellence (best game native to Warsaw)

Simple rules

1. Playable games should be submitted up to and including 28 April 2023 via FORM. You can apply with any platform games. Contest submissions are free of charge, each participant has the right to apply with 3 games from their portfolio. In the application form, it is necessary to provide a link to the build or 14 access codes to the game for all members of the Jury. When submitting a game, please do not assign it to any of the competition categories in advance. We treat VR and Mobile simply as one of many platforms, on a par with, for example, PC or PS5. Any questions? Send an e-mail to robert@pixel-magazine.com

2. The promotional materials that can be sent together with the game are an addition and have no effect on the evaluation by the Jury.

3. There are no restrictions as to the theme, genre or subject of the game.

4. It is permissible to submit a game that has not premiered yet, in demo or prototype version.

5. If your game was in finals of the previous edition of the contest, you cannot submit the game you submitted last time.

6. Games that were available on the market before 1 June 2022 cannot be submitted for the contest, regardless of the form of distribution, model of payment, gameplay mode, and access (incl. Early Access).

7. The games will be judged by the Jury in the following categories. At the same time, the Jury stipulates that it may not award Prizes in all of the categories listed below, but only in selected ones. This will depend on the number of games submitted and their quality, which will be judged by the Jury.

8. The vote will also be given by the audience of the Pixel Heaven 2023 Games & Pop Culture Festival, whose opinion will be taken into account when awarding the Festival Audience Special Award. Each participant of the event will have the opportunity to vote for a selected game from the group of finalists through the Pixel Heaven application.

9. The jury selects in each of the competition categories up to 3 games nominated for the prize. Each game can be nominated in more than one category.

10. The creators of the game that qualify (nominees) for the final will receive a 4 sqm. exhibition space. The organizer will provide each of the creators with an exhibition stand at the Pixel Expo area, which will comprise a 2×2 m area with a table, two chairs, a power socket, powerful PC and professional screen and WiFi access. The creator will also receive two free entry cards for the entire event. Should you need more free entry cards, please contact robert@pixel-magazine.com. Furthermore, the creator can present a banner/roll-up advertising their game/studio.

11. The winners will receive the prizes funded by the Partners of Pixel Heaven 2023 Games & Pop Culture Festival. Additionally, the winner of the Big Fish Grand Prix, Indie Grand Prix and the creators of the winning games in particular categories will receive an annual subscription of the PSX Extreme monthly and a review of their games in the magazine.

12. Additional contest categories may be added in cooperation with the Partners of Pixel Heaven 2023 Games & Pop Culture Festival. We will inform about such decisions as they are made.

13. Good luck!

Jury members