Frostpunk 2 wins Polish Game of the Year at Digital Dragons

Digital Dragons is Poland’s biggest games industry expo, with developers, publishers, press and support companies descending on Krakow for two days of lectures, interviews and showcases. As part of the conference, last night played host to the Digital Dragons Awards Gala, celebrating the best and the brightest of the Polish gaming scene. Across multiple awards, several big titles duked it out, including global hits like Nobody Wants To Die and The Thaumaturge, but it was survival city-builder Frostpunk 2 that took home the top honours, winning Polish Game of the Year.

The awards ceremony began with the Indie Dragons awards, spotlighting smaller studios and new teams. Third place went to Arms of God, while XYZ from Screen Tear Games came second. The ultimate winner, though, nabbing the award, additional funding, and a powerful new AMD workstation from the sponsors, was Deep Sleep: Labyrinth of the Forsaken, a point-and-click title from scriptwelder. My favourite quote of the night? The presenter for first place saying, “And now, let’s see who baked the best turkey.” I’m going to judge all game award winners as turkey bakers for the foreseeable.

Frostpunk 2 also scooped two additional awards, winning Best Polish Game Design and Best Polish Game Audio, with the post-apocalyptic city builder winning over judges across the board. Its main competitor at this year’s show was Nobody Wants To Die, the dystopian detective story winning both Best Polish Game Narrative and Best Polish Visual Art.

Further awards went to Tomorrow: Online Survival for best Polish Mobile Game, while Magdalena Cielecka received a Special Recognition Award for her work within the industry. Finally, Best Foreign Game went to Canada’s all-conquering Balatro, which was well received in the hall.

What was clear throughout the show, and the wider Digital Dragons conference, was the excellent health that the Polish game development scene is in. Hundreds of game studios call Poland home, and while global giants like CD Projekt, Techland and Bloober Team are at the forefront, there’s a wealth of talent here, with Poland hosting the second-largest development community in Europe.