More international awards for Games Hub company

A puzzle game set between the pages of a diary and an imaginary world has won three new awards, including Most Original Game, at an international event in Paris.

Lost Words has been created by Sketchbook Games, one of the fledgling companies receiving help and support from the Games Hub on our Knowledge Gateway.

Now creator, Mark Backler is hoping the awards and contacts made at Game Connection Europe could be the stepping stone he needs to getting his game published.

As he explained: “We have won previous awards, but to get three at one event was just fantastic and certainly helped when I was meeting publishers and distributors there.”

Nearly 3,000 people attended the event, which brings together key players in the games industry to do business. As well as the award for Most Original Game, Lost Words picked up Best Indie Game (for independent games created without financial support from a publisher) and Best Casual Game.

Lost Words, is a 2D exploration game in which players solve puzzles, using the words in aspiring writer, Izzy’s diary. It is the brainchild of Mark, who had 10-years’ experience in the games industry, before deciding to go it alone, setting up Sketchbook Games two years ago. The storyline is being written by Rhianna Pratchett, who wrote the last two Tomb Raider Games and is also the daughter of best-selling author, Terry Pratchett.

Earlier this year Lost Words won the UKIE (association for UK Interactive Entertainment) award for the UK Game of the Show at Gamescom in Cologne. In these latest awards it was up against entries from across Europe and further afield, including France, Spain, Poland and Canada.