Game Connection picks 15 rising stars for its Selected Projects contest

The organisers of Game Connection Europe have unveiled a shortlist of 15 unsigned games from 15 promising young studios.

This year’s nominees come from a wide pool, and the projects themselves span the gamut of creativity and technical expression, from a game exploring the history of typography (Type:Rider, pictured) to a free-to-play trading card game centred on a cartoon warlock (Little Warlock).

Of the 15 studios, 13 are based Europe, the UK’s Fat Pebble among them, which was chosen to be on this year’s Develop 100 UK Studio Hot List.

France is the only country to have more than one studio nominated, with Ex Nihilo and OSome Studio.

On December 3rd, at the Selected Projects ceremony in France, each of the 15 nominees will have five minutes to pitch their project to publishers, distributors and buyers at Game Connection Europe.

A jury will decide an overall best project based on presentation quality, project innovation and market potential. Once the final selection has been made, the winners will be presented with their prizes by Sony XDEV Studio Europe, Microsoft Studios and Namco Bandai Games.

The 15 nominated projects for 2013 are:

Mobile, Tablet and Handheld Category

• Type:Rider, Ex Nihilo, France
• Creature Box, Fat Pebble, UK
• Hazel Dazzle, Wake Studios, Spain
• Galactic Rising, Tabasco interactive, Poland
• Panzer Pets, Gamundo, Netherlands

Social, Casual and Online Category

• Little Warlock, Storm Potion, Sweden
• Astro Lords: Oort Cloud, Aratog, Ukraine
• Victory Mini Racing, Vae Victis Games, Italy
• LP RECHARGE, kuuluu Interactive Entertainment, Switzerland
• Mahjong Duels, LAZYLAND, Greece

Console and PC Hardcore Category:

• The Choosatron: Interactive Fiction Arcade Machine, Monkey with a Mustache, United States
• C-Wars, Onipunks Studio, Canada
• Space Engineers, Keen Software, Czech Republic
• White Night, OSome Studio, France
• The Red Solstice, Ironward, Croatia

You can see all the nominees in more detail on Game Connection Europe’s nominees’ page.

And don’t forget that Develop is currently seeking Europe’s most promising start-ups for our next Develop 100 volume. There’s still time for you to get in touch with us.