Our Gamescom 2022 Awards

In our eyes, they're all winners.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Gamescom 2022 was a great show, so we now present the Gamescom 2022 WePC Awards.

We’ll present some of the best games at the show with awards.

READ NOW: Awesome Indies Show Gamescom 2022

With six different categories to choose from, there are plenty of winners.

Check out our awardees below to see if you agree with our assessment.

Gamescom 2022 Awards – Best Indie – Lies of P

If you haven’t already seen it, Lies of P is a Soulslike starring a dark and twisted version of Pinocchio from the famous Carlo Collodi story. While that might not sound overly original, the game certainly has enough going for it to make up for it.

The graphics look amazing, the world is just ripe with interesting things to explore, and the dark and twisted version of a tale we’re all familiar with. The gameplay shown at Gamescom 2022 highlighted how much work has gone into making this game a proper Souls game while bringing features to the table.

We’ll be honest, a big part of the appeal here is the clockwork arm. Who doesn’t want a clockwork arm in a video game? Besides, the aforementioned arm lets you use special abilities and attacks on top of the standard melee combat of the Souls games. What’s not to love?

Gamescom 2022 Awards – Biggest Comeback – Dead Island 2

It seems clear that almost no one was expecting this game ever to see the light of day. The original trailer for Dead Island 2 was released back at E3 2014, and since then, we’ve heard that the game was dead.

Fast forward eight years, and suddenly, a brand new Dead Island 2 comes out of nowhere, knocking most of us off our feet. The game has returned, with a vengeance, showing new gameplay and an irreverent tone that makes it clear they’ve learned from the first game’s PR mistakes.

If you’re into gore and 80s pulp tone, you’re going to have a hell of a ride. Even if you’re not, you have to admit that going from dead to a fully-working gameplay demo is a big comeback for a game.

Gamescom 2022 Awards – Innovator Award – Park Beyond

If you’ve ever been a big fan of theme-park management games, this next one is for you. Park Beyond is Bandi Namco’s upcoming coaster sim that puts you in charge of a park, but with a big twist: you can go crazy with your ride design.

The entire game is bursting with creative energy, allowing you to design a park from the ground up with insane features, such as ramps and living yeti that swing ride-cars around somehow.

The real innovation comes from the way that building rollercoasters works, though. While it’s a pretty in-depth system (from what we’ve seen, anyway), it’s also really easy to pick up the game and start building insane coasters with almost no effort. It’s probably the best system for constructing coasters that we’ve seen, and it will make this a game that almost anyone can enjoy.

Gamescom 2022 Awards – Biggest Surprise – Killer Clowns from Outer Space The Game

If you’re sitting there wondering, “What the hell is Killer Clowns from Outer Space, ” you’re part of why this one is a shock. This game is an asymmetrical horror title, based on the horror movie of the same name from 1988, and features a bunch of killer clowns from outer space (go figure.)

Part of the reason this one is shocking is just that the IP has been dormant for over three decades at this stage. It’s a cult movie, meaning it’s really popular, but only with a small group of people. While it has a lot of appreciation these days, it was not a commercial success on it’s original release.

It’s not only great to see this IP finally getting some of the attention it deserves, but it blew us all away that a game on the IP was even being considered, let alone this close to primetime.

Gamescom 2022 Awards – One to Watch – Where Winds Meet

Where Minds Meet is shaping up to be a promising game, giving off some serious Kurasawa vibes (or Ghost of Tsushima vibes if you’re young enough) this game displays some proper serious visual and gameplay chops.

It seems to have a unique magic system, interesting combat, and some amazing visuals that all tie together a story set in China during a period of great famine and death. As a wandering swordsman, you must choose whether to stick to your moral compass or live life exclusively for your benefit.

Not only is Where Winds Meet a great-looking game, but the developers have included an insane level of player freedom. There’s a chance it’ll falter before the finish line, but from where we’re sitting, this is one to watch over the coming years.

Gamescom 2022 Awards – Game of Show – Callisto Protocol

This one probably shouldn’t be a shocker to most people. Gamescom 2022 has been all about The Callisto Protocol, from gameplay revealed happening on ONL to the ads for the game places all over the convention space.

We finally know how the game plays and looks, and it seems like it will be a stunning horror adventure in the same vein as the original Dead Space games. On top of that, it looks 1000 times better than those games mentioned above because it’s being made with current-gen hardware.

READ MORE: New The Callisto Protocol Gameplay Unveiled at Gamescom

It was a relief to see some gameplay and confirm that this game is shaping up to be tense, atmospheric, and as fun as we all hoped it would be. You can count this on our list of the top games we’ll be waiting for later this year.

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Did we miss any games that deserved a place, or do you think one of our awardees didn’t deserve them? Let us know in the comments what you think of our awards.