Sea of Solitude wins the Games For Change Award for Most Significant Impact

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The adventure game explores the realities of living with lonliness and depression.

Sea of Solitude
(Image credit: Jo-Mei Games)

Games For Change announced the winners for the Game For Change Awards and has given the Most Significant Impact award to the adventure game Sea of Solitude. The Games For Change festival is an event that highlights how games can have a positive impact on society and can be used as a force for good.

Jo-Mei's Sea of Solitude tells the story of a young woman whose traumas have manifested into giant monsters stalking her through a submerged city. It's an adventure that tackles tough topics like isolation, loneliness, and depression told through gorgeous visuals. The Most Significant Impact category is awarded to games that explore special issues and Sea of Solitude was nominated alongside Zachtronics' Eliza, DontNod's Life is Strange 2, and Catt Small's SweetHeart.

Sea of Solitude was also nominated for the Most Innovative category but missed out to Media Molecule's Dreams, a game that doubles as a creation tool for PlayStation 4.

The full list of winners can be found below with the winners highlighted in bold. More information about each game and past winners can be found on the Game For Change Awards website.  

Best Gameplay

  • Arise: A Simple Story (Piccolo Studio)
  • Dear Reader (Local No. 12)
  • Mosaic (Krillbite Studio)
  • Sky: Children of the Light (thatgamecompany)

Most Innovative

  • Concrete Genie (Pixelopus)
  • Dreams (Media Molecule)
  • Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei)
  • Sky: Children of the Light (thatgamecompany)

Most Significant Impact

  • Eliza (Zachtronics)
  • Life is Strange 2 (DontNod Entertainment)
  • Sea of Solitude (Jo-Mei)
  • SweetxHeart (Catt Small)

Best Learning Game

  • Funexpected Math ( Funexpected LTD)
  • Mightier (Mightier)
  • Rabbids Coding (Ubisoft)
  • Sci-Ops: Global Defence

Best Student Game

  • Apollo (Team Apollo)
  • Gamer Girl (RIT's School of Interactive Media)
  • Plasticity (Plasticity Games)
  • Resilience (Sungrazer Studio)

Best XR for Change

  • Bonfire (Baobab Studios)
  • Escape to the Future (Open Lab, Newcastle University)
  • Paper Beast (Pixel Reef)
  • The Holy City (Nimrod Shanit, Holy City VR)

Game of the Year

  • Dreams (Media Molecule)
Rachel Watts
Rachel Watts

Rachel had been bouncing around different gaming websites as a freelancer and staff writer for three years before settling at PC Gamer back in 2019. She mainly writes reviews, previews, and features, but on rare occasions will switch it up with news and guides. When she's not taking hundreds of screenshots of the latest indie darling, you can find her nurturing her parsnip empire in Stardew Valley and planning an axolotl uprising in Minecraft. She loves 'stop and smell the roses' games—her proudest gaming moment being the one time she kept her virtual potted plants alive for over a year.