Games Academy Expo 2026: meet the winners
05 June 2026
The Games Academy Expo returned this year with 48 student games on show, from Foundation Year through to Master's level, all competing for a public vote. From dark-fantasy shooters to multiplayer bug-catching, the 2026 cohort delivered some of the most ambitious work the Expo has seen. Winners took home trophies designed and 3D printed in-house by a team of Games Academy staff, with a student behind one of the designs too.
Please note that some of the games featured below contain adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences. Check each game's page before playing.
Best of Third-Year, Industry Award and Most Ambitious: Buggin' Out! by Bug Nappers
Buggin' Out! is a colourful, multiplayer bug-catching game for up to 12 players over Steam or LAN. Explore fields, forests and swamps to catch critters modelled on their real-life counterparts, each with unique behaviours and stats. Beyond catching, there are competitions and minigames, a terrarium to decorate and care for your bugs, NPC trading and a deep character customisation system.
Most Striking Visuals: Atelier's Key by Spindlewood Studios
Atelier's Key is a dark-fantasy first-person shooter set in a root-bound Victorian world inhabited by puppets, and shaped around a central deity known only as 'The Carver'. You play the newest puppet, grown from a great ever-expanding tree, who becomes aware of the corrupt world around them. Severed from a hivemind and armed with a mysterious weapon, you shoot, grapple and unlock your way through the world to free a father from his own damned creation.
Most Innovative Narrative: Echoes of Mythos by Team Pie
Echoes of Mythos is a narrative adventure RPG deckbuilder in which you play a druid's apprentice, journeying across a storybook world. Retrieve lost artefacts and restore your reputation, meet figures from Celtic folklore and cast spells in a turn-based dice combat system built around historical artefacts.
Best of Master’s: CosmoKnight by Digital Kobold
CosmoKnight is a 3D tower-climb exploration platformer built in Unreal Engine. You play a cosmonaut whose ship has crash-landed at the base of a mysterious tower on an unknown planet. With the ship in pieces and nothing but forest for miles, the only way home is up: run, jump and dash through precarious scaffolding, collect fuel crystals and dodge the gargoyles trying to knock you off the edge.
Best of Foundation Year went to Hack Attack by Pixel Pals, which topped its category by a clear margin. Play it here: https://henryseeman.itch.io/hackattack
Best of First-Year was claimed by Buck Up, Bubble! from Team Megatron, a strong favourite among the first-year entries. Play it here: https://azthreia.itch.io/buck-up-bubble
Best of Second-Year went to Abbott's Last Hand by All In Inc. Play it here: https://all-in-inc.itch.io/abbotts-last-hand
This year's trophies were a Games Academy team effort, designed and 3D printed in-house by academic staff, technical staff and students. Jeremy West created the Narrative Trophy, William Pryn the Best Overall Trophy and Michael Boylan the goat-themed Trophy, while Andy Aksu designed the Innovation Trophy. The Industry Trophy was designed by student Nate Payne, with all awards 3D printed by Sion Hampson.
Congratulations to every team that exhibited at the Expo this year, and thank you to everyone who came along to play and vote. You can explore all of this year's games here: https://itch.io/jam/games-academy-expo-2026/entries
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