International Serious Play Awards
International Serious Play Awards honor outstanding learning products that incorporate game elements to further education or training. Entries can be submitted by professional studios, in-house training teams, consultants, universities, and/or students. These can be stand-alone games, sections of other learning products, or applications for platforms like Minecraft.
Categories:
- Digital Entries: Commercial or In-House (Including simulations)
- Digital Entries: Student
- Tabletop/Board Game Learning Entries: Commercial or In-House
- Tabletop/Board Games Learning Entries: Student
Applications:
Awards are judged in each of the following applications:
- K-12 Education
- Higher Education
- Healthcare/Medical
- Museum/Visitor Centers
- Corporate/Vocational
- Military/Government/Military
- PreK Education
- Non-Profit and Other.
Entry Process
The entry process is in two steps: Entrant Information followed by Submission Information. Entrants may have multiple submissions. The entry information you provide is given to the judges and is the basis on which they evaluate your entry.
Send any questions regarding this application to awards@seriousplayconf.com
Deadlines
- Professional Digital and Tabletop/Board Entries from Commercial Studios and Inhouse Dept: February 15, 2025.
- Student Entries (Digital and Tabletop/Board): June 1, 2025.
Payment by credit card must be received by the deadline for the entry to be evaluated. An invoice confirming payment can be requested from awards@seriousplayconf.com
Entry Fees
Entry Fees for Digital and Tabletop/Board Entries from Professional Studios (to be sold or used commercially)
- Large Studio (25+) / Corporation / Medical Institution / Publisher – $400
- Mid-sized Studio (10- 25 employees) – $350
- Museum/University Studio / Non-Profit / NGO / Govt / Military Org – $300
- Independent Studio (9 or fewer employees) – $250
- Ed Tech Teacher, individual – $200
After the deadline, awards can be submitted for until February 28 for the entry fee plus an additional charge of $100.
Student Created Learning Products
The definition of a student digital game is one that was conceived by students and produced with light guidance by college faculty or high school advisors. Games produced in a university-affiliated studio for sale to the commercial market must be entered into the Professional category. If the game is given away free, then it can be entered into the student category.
- College Student Entry (student of any age. no commercialized products) – $125
- High School Student (or 15 – 18 years or younger) – $100
No late student entries.
NOTE: We will accept entries requiring a trained facilitator. Entrant must supply the facilitator in these instances. Additional instructions and rules will be provided to these entrants after the deadline.Judging Criteria
Entries will be judged by the following criteria:
- Orientation
- Engagement
- Interactivity/Feedback
- Learning Objectives
- Assessment
- Aesthetics
- Gameplay
Digital Entries (Professional or Student)
You must provide access to the entry for up to 8 judges. Access (code, link, password) must be available through July. Please note the following:Judges must be able to play the entry. We do not evaluate entries based on a video or demo version. Links to videos may be submitted as supplemental material.
If your entry requires an email address to login, please provide email addresses. We strive to keep judging anonymous.
Currently, we are unable to judge entries that require high-end technology platforms,entries requiring more than 4 hours to judge adequately, or streaming entries.
Tabletop/Board Game Entries
Entrants for tabletop/board entries must send up to 4 complete copies of the submitted game. Shipping information to be provided AFTER the entry deadline. If you wish to have your games returned, you must send a pre-paid shipping slip (Fed Ex, DHL, etc.) with your entry. Do not send cash. If you do not include the return shipping label, we will dispose of your entries.
