Introduction
The Green Game Jam Awards are intended to celebrate and showcase the great work studios have done over the course of the 5th edition of the Green Game Jam (GGJ).
Throughout the GGJ developers have been challenged to implement green activations into their games. An activation can be anything ranging from time limited events, to new levels, to marketing campaigns on social media or at physical events. These activations are what will be judged using the below criteria.
Winners will receive an engraved trophy made from 100% recycled materials by Better Future Factory to display their contribution to the project of green gaming in their office.
Find out more about last year’s awards here.
Contacts
Lisa Pak | Head of Operations | lisa.pak@un.org
Louisa Keight | Project Manager | louisa.keight@playing4theplanet.org
Timings for Submission
Those wishing to submit for the Green Game Jam portion of the Green Game Awards must be a registered participant in the Green Game Jam 2024 and must fill out the awards submission document. Submissions will be considered for every category of awards where they meet the criteria.
Conditions for Submission
Those wishing to submit for the Green Game Jam portion of the Green Game Awards must be a registered participant in the Green Game Jam 2024 and must fill out the awards submission document. Submissions will be considered for every category of awards where they meet the criteria.
Judges & Judging Process
Awards have three main criteria. Whilst some awards will contain similar criteria, they will be chosen distinctly with the specialities of the judges and the category name in mind. Judges will score on a likert scale of 1 - 5 points, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. (0 for no points / not applicable)
The Playing for the Planet team will shortlist all submissions using this criteria and compile a list of 20 games for each category. The judges will then review these submissions under the same criteria and decide on a winner. The Trailblazer, Newcomer and Jam Spirit will be judged by the Playing for the Planet team.
Award Categories & Criteria
The award categories for this year are as follows:
- Google’s Choice
- UNEP’s Choice
- Media’s Choice
- Call to Action
- Trailblazer
- Best Newcomer
- Best Small Studio
- Jam Spirit
- Player’s Choice
Information participants need to include
Impact, engagement & motivation
- From which level was the green activation available?
- What percentage of the DAU engaged with the green activation?
- What percentage of the DAU completed the activation?
- How were players motivated to complete the activation? E.g. were players rewarded?
- How many people clicked on the link to the campaign page from your green activation?
- What was the total amount of money raised?
Education, design & relevance
- Describe the user journey of the activation from start to finish.
- How does the new content connect to the existing features or mechanics of your game?
- How does the green activation connect to the existing themes or story of your game?
- What did you choose to educate players on? Why did you choose this?
- What resources did you use to do this?
Creativity, marketability & fun factor
- How did you market the green activation to your players?
- Did you use pre-activation surveys, soft launches or other methods of gauging what players would want to see and what would be most effective for them?
- Did your players enjoy the activation? What was the player sentiment?
- What do you think makes your activation unique? Why should it win an award?
Awards Rubric
UNEP’s Choice Award
For the award that has made the greatest real-world impact. Judged by a team of UNEP representatives from the Ecosystems Division.
Impact: How strong of an impact has the activation made proportional to the user-base?
- Impressions campaign page per DAU
- Number of donations per DAU
- Quality of player conversions to the campaign page
- Average donation per DAU
Education: How well does the activation educate players on biodiversity and nature?
- Was the player well informed on the themes of biodiversity and nature before they were asked to engage with the campaign page?
- Did the information provided give in-depth systemic awareness - ie. an understanding of how an issue fits into a bigger picture? Is it detailed and specific?
- Or does it present issues as surface level, or as approximations?
- The quality of the sources cited in building the activation.
- Is there any evidence that participants used the resources provided?
- Is there any evidence that participants used expert advice or robust sources?
Innovation: How bold, brave, risk-taking, and/or creative is the activation?
- Have you seen anything like this done before? Does it energize you, surprise you, or make you go ‘wow’?
- If the activation fits a similar formula to other pieces of work, have they managed to keep it fresh and interesting without being predictable?
- Is the activation ambitious - even if it didn’t meet its goals?
Google’s Choice Award
Judged by a team of representatives from Google, this is open only to activations that are available on the Google Play Store.
Design: How well have participants used the existing themes and mechanics of the activation to engage players on the topic of nature?
- How aligned is the green activation to the existing themes of the game?
- Does it feel interestingly unexpected, or does it feel jarring?
- How seamless is the activation to the existing features and mechanics of the game - is there something new that players have to get used to?
- If there is something new, does it feel interesting and unique, or does it feel difficult to get used to and/or confusing?
- Has the activation made good use of the existing features, mechanics and themes of the game, or is it generic? Could it exist in any game?
Innovation: How bold, brave, risk-taking, and/or creative is the activation?
- Have you seen anything like this done before? Does it energize you, surprise you, or make you go ‘wow’?
- Is the activation ambitious - even if it didn’t meet its goals?
Marketability: How well has the activation managed to “sell” itself to its players? How much did players engage with the content?
- Do you get a good understanding from the activation deck of the user journey and why it was successful?
- Is there strong evidence of engagement from players?
- Did players enjoy the activation? What was the player sentiment?
Media's Choice Award
Selected by a team of gaming media experts.
Design: How well have participants used the existing themes and mechanics of the activation to engage players on the topic of nature?
- How relevant is the new content to the existing themes of the game?
- Does it feel interestingly unexpected, or does it feel jarring?
- Does the activation even contradict the existing game experience?
- How seamless is the new content to the existing features and mechanics of the game - is there something new that players have to get used to?
- If there is something new, does it feel interesting and unique, or does it feel difficult to get used to and/or confusing?
- Has the activation made good use of the existing features, mechanics and themes of the game, or is it generic? Could it exist in any game?
Impact: How strong of an impact has the activation made proportional to the user-base?
- Number of player conversions to the campaign page relative to DAUs
- Number of donations relative to DAUs
- Quality of player conversions to the campaign page
- Quantity of funds raised relative to DAUs
Innovation: How bold, brave, risk-taking, and/or creative is the activation?
- Have you seen anything like this done before? Does it energize you, surprise you, or make you go ‘wow’?
- If the activation fits a similar formula to other pieces of work, have they managed to keep it fresh and interesting without being predictable?
- Is the activation ambitious - even if it didn’t meet its goals?
Call to Action Award
This award is selected by gaming and environmental experts and scientists.
Call to Action: How clear is the call to action to the CAMPAIGN PAGE in the activation?
- Do you get a good understanding from the activation deck of the user journey and why it was successful in getting players to leave a message on the campaign page?
- How well were players motivated to leave a message on the campaign page?
- Is there strong evidence of action from players, ie. number of conversions to the campaign page?
Call to Action: How clear is the call to action to FUNDRAISING in the activation?
- Do you get a good understanding from the activation deck of the user journey and why it was successful in fundraising efforts?
- Is there strong evidence of engagement from players?
Design: How well have participants used the existing themes and mechanics of the activation to engage players on the topic of nature?
- How aligned is the new content to the existing themes of the game?
- Does it feel interestingly unexpected, or does it feel jarring?
- Does the activation even contradict the existing game experience?
- How seamless is the activation to the existing features and mechanics of the game - is there something new that players have to get used to?
- If there is something new, does it feel interesting and unique, or does it feel difficult to get used to and/or confusing?
- Has the activation made good use of the existing features, mechanics and themes of the game, or is it generic? Could it exist in any game or platform?
Best Newcomer Award
This award recognises a game that has implemented their very first green activation to engage their community to work together on actions that benefit the planet.
Innovation: How bold, brave, risk-taking, and/or creative is the activation?
- Have you seen anything like this done before? Does it energize you, surprise you, or make you go ‘wow’?
- If the activation fits a similar formula to other pieces of work, have they managed to keep it fresh and interesting without being predictable?
- Is the activation ambitious - even if it didn’t meet its goals?
Collaboration: How well did the studio embody the ideas of collaboration in this year’s Jam?
- The level to which the studio engaged with their buddy group and asked for support from others, including Green Game Jam organizers.
- Does collaboration feature as a theme within the activation?
User Journey: How well has the activation set the players up for success on both CTAs (donation + campaign page engagement)?
- Do you get a good understanding from the activation deck of the user journey and why it was successful?
- How well were players motivated to carry out the call to action?
- Is there strong evidence of engagement from players?
- Is there strong evidence of action from players, ie. number of conversions to the campaign page, total number of donations made?
Small Studio Award
This award recognises a game that has implemented a green activation with a team of less than 20 people to recognize the efforts made by teams with often fewer resources available to them..
Innovation: How bold, brave, risk-taking, and/or creative is the activation?
- Have you seen anything like this done before? Does it energize you, surprise you, or make you go ‘wow’?
- If the activation fits a similar formula to other pieces of work, have they managed to keep it fresh and interesting without being predictable?
- Is the activation ambitious - even if it didn’t meet its goals?
Collaboration: How well did the studio embody the ideas of collaboration in this year’s Jam?
- The level to which the studio engaged with their buddy groups and asked for support from others, including Green Game Jam organizers.
- Does collaboration features as a theme within the activation?
Reusability of activation: How well has the studio made use of existing game mechanics to limit the time spent on building the green activation and how well can the studio repeat the activation with limited resources?
- How well does the game utilise existing features / mechanics to bring their green activation to their players?
- To what degree could the game reuse this feature to focus on other environmental activations?
- From a player's perspective is there the feeling that there is new content to be engaged with or does it feel repetitive?
Jam Spirit Award
This award recognizes a game that lives and breathes the values of the Green Game Jam: collaboration, sharing best practices, working as one team, and cheering on other studios.
- The level to which the studio engaged with their buddy groups and asked for support from others, including Green Game Jam organizers.
- Does collaboration feature as a theme within the activation?
- Did the game / studio engage with the workshops to get more insights to develop their activations?
- To what extent is the studio focussing on understanding its carbon footprint and finding ways to actively reduce this?
Player’s Choice Award
Voted for by the player community and recognizes their favorite green activation.
- Unique tracking links to your dedicated voting page will be shared by May 29th.
- Voting for the Player’s Choice awards is open from June 5th to June 15th.
