NYX Game Silver Winner

Aground Original Game Soundtrack Deluxe Edition Soundtrack

Entrant Company

Chase Bethea

Category

Game Audio / Video - Original Game Soundtrack

Client's Name

-

Country / Region

United States

With Aground, we wanted to try something a little different with the survival genre - we wanted a game that wasn’t an open world, but instead focused on progression and story. As David Maletz, Designer and Programmer for Aground put it: “I want to know why I'm mining or gathering resources - what's it all for?” This brought a breath of fresh air to the genre that players simply loved. We have had over 3 million plays and extraordinarily positive reviews after releasing the game last fall, to portals like Armor Games, Kongregate, and Newgrounds.
While it has inspiration from games like Minecraft, Starbound, and other resource-gathering and crafting games, it actually has more in common with the text-based game A Dark Room. Starting off with literally nothing but the ability to gather wood, the game is designed to constantly surprise the player and make them wonder "What's next?" First mining unlocks, then farming, crafting, trading, sailing to other islands, then power and technology start to develop, and eventually you can make your way into space and must deal with the alien threat that caused humanity to crash on this planet in the first place.

This is where the theme of progression shines - we want the player to feel like they are really progressing and that exciting options are constantly opening up for them. By the end of the game, even though there will be a lot of systems and complexities, since they have built up slowly, the player is able to easily manage all of it.

Download and Play

2021
NYX Game Awards - Call of the Sea
silver
winner

Entrant Company

Out of the Blue Games

Category

Microsoft Xbox Game - Best Music

Country / Region

Spain

2021
NYX Game Awards - Eastern Market Murder
silver
winner

Entrant Company

True Crime Games

Category

Mobile Games - Best Innovation

Country / Region

Australia

2021
NYX Game Awards - Lost In Sky
silver
winner

Entrant Company

Avantaj Prim

Category

PC Game - Best Art Direction

Country / Region

Moldova

2021
NYX Game Awards - Final Assault
silver
winner
Phaser Lock Interactive

Entrant Company

Phaser Lock Interactive LLC

Category

Sony PlayStation Game - Best Game Direction

Country / Region

United States