Wylde Flowers nominated for multiple Apple Design Awards

The annual Apple Design Awards celebrate the best innovations and technical achievements seen in games and applications created for iOS and Mac devices around the world. Held every year during Apple‘s Worldwide Developers’ Conference (WWDC), the 2022 event once again sees an Australian-developed Apple Arcade game represented. This year, it’s cosy life simulator Wylde Flowers, from Studio Drydock.

Update: The winners of the 2022 Apple Design Awards have been announced, with Wylde Flowers taking out the award for Inclusivity. See all the winners. The original article follows.

Taking inspiration from games like Harvest Moon and Stardew Valley, Wylde Flowers casts you as a young witch who’s been charged with looking after her family farm. However, the game also wields its lighthearted theme to explore themes of prejudice and empowerment.

Because of this, Wylde Flowers has been nominated for the Apple Design Award in the Inclusivity category, as well as the Social Impact category.

Gibbon: Beyond the Trees was also nominated for two categories: Social Impact and Interaction.

Read: How Wylde Flowers incorporates escape and empowerment

Other games nominated for the 2022 Apple Design Awards include: Marvel Future Revolution and Townscaper for Innovation; Alien Isolation, Lego Star Wars: Castaways, and Behind the Frame for Visuals and Graphics; What Remains of Edith Finch for Interaction; and Moncage, Overboard!, and Please, Touch The Artwork for Delight and Fun.

The 2021 Apple Design Awards saw Apple Arcade game Sp!ng, developed by Australia’s SMG Studio, nominated for the Interaction award. It also saw AR detective game Holovista win an Inclusivity award – a game which was produced by Meredith Hall, formerly of Film Victoria.

The winners of the 2022 Apple Design Awards will be announced on 6 June. Good luck to all the finalists!

Apple Design Awards 2022 – All The Finalists

Inclusivity

• Letter Rooms / Klemens Strasser
• Navi / Good Snooze
• Noted. / Digital Workroom Ltd
• Procreate / Savage Interactive Pty Ltd
• tint. / Lykkegaard Europe Limited
• Wylde Flowers / Studio Drydock Pty Ltd

Delight and Fun

• Chineasy / Chineasy
• Moncage / Optillusion
• (Not Boring) Habits / Andy Works LLC
• Overboard! / inkle
• Please, Touch The Artwork / Studio Waterzooi
• Waterllama / Vitalii Mogylevets

Interaction

• A Musical Story / Glee-Cheese Studio
• Gibbon: Beyond The Trees / Broken Rules
• Slopes / Breakpoint Studio LLC
• Transit / Transit, Inc.
• Vectornator: Vector Design / Linearity GmbH
• What Remains of Edith Finch / Giant Sparrow

Social impact

• Active Arcade / Nex
• Empathy / The Empathy Project
• Gibbon: Beyond The Trees / Broken Rules
• Headspace / Headspace Health
• Rebel Girls / Rebel Girls Inc.
• Wylde Flowers / Studio Drydock Pty Ltd

Visuals and Graphics

• Alien Isolation / Feral Interactive
• Behind the Frame / Silver Lining Studio under Akatsuki Taiwan
• Halide Mark II / Lux Optics
• LEGO Star Wars: Castaways / Gameloft
• MD Clock / Hangzhou Midi Technology Co., Ltd
• (Not Boring) Habits / Andy Works LLC

Innovation

• Active Arcade / Nex
• Focus Noodles / ideaTiny Co., Ltd
• MARVEL Future Revolution / Netmarble Corp.
• Odio / Volst
• Procreate / Savage Interactive Pty Ltd
• Townscaper / Oskar Stalberg