Unpacking has won Indie Game Of The Year at the BandLab NME Awards 2022.
The sleeper hit puzzle game from developer Witch Beam and published by Humble Bundle beat out stiff competition, which included Cruelty Squad, Overboard!, The Forgotten City and The Artful Escape, for the win.
“Thank you! So many amazing indie games came out last year, so it’s mind-blowing to me that of all of them, Unpacking was selected for this honour,” Wren Brier, one of the co-creators of Unpacking said of the win in a statement.
“It’s been heartening to see our small, unusual game get so much love from more folks than I’ll ever be able to meet.”
In a four-star review of Unpacking, NME said that while the game “takes a simple and relatable task and turns it into a meditative and cosy experience”, but it’s the “revelatory story of the life whose possessions you’re unpacking, and the joy that it sparks” that made it one of the best surprises of 2021.
Unpacking was also nominated for Game Of The Year at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, where it went up against Metroid Dread, Halo Infinite, Hitman 3 and Deathloop.
Elsewhere at the BandLab NME Awards 2022, critically acclaimed development studios such as Arkane Studios (Deathloop), IO Interactive (Hitman series) and more were up for Best Game Development Studio, which was ultimately awarded to Double Fine (Psychonauts 2).
The BandLab NME Awards 2022 returned to the O2 Academy Brixton tonight (March 2) and is co-hosted by Daisy May Cooper and Lady Leshurr. The ceremony celebrates the most brilliant people in music and pop culture right now, and was closed out by Bring Me The Horizon.
Check back for the latest news, interviews, winners and more from the BandLab NME Awards 2022.