During Apple’s 2018 design awards at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), the tech giant highlighted a number of noteworthy iOS apps released over the course of 2018.
In past years, notable Canadian-developed video games like Vancouver-based RAC7’s inventive platformer SplitterCritters and Toronto-based Drinkbox Studios’ Severed, a port of a critically acclaimed classic dungeon crawler originally released for Sony’s PlayStation Vita (PS Vita), have taken home Apple Design Awards.
Below is a list of all of this year’s Apple Design Award winners and a quick summary of each app/game:
Bandimal, developed by Yatatoy: Bandimal is a simple music creation app designed to streamline the process of putting together great sounding beats and simple tracks.
Agenda, developed by Momenta B.V: Agenda is a new take on note taking that combines standard notes, calendar and tasks, in an effort to create a comprehensive app that’s still deeply integrated into Apple’s ecosystem of services.
Alto’s Odyssey, developed by Snowman: With Alto’s Odyssey, Snowman, a development studio with ties to Toronto and Canada, built on the endless runner foundation the company created Alto’s Adventure. The game features the same relaxing, intuitive sandboarding as its predecessor, but with an added layer of difficulty and verticality.
In a brief interview with MobileSyrup, Ryan Cash, Snowman’s co-founder, said the following about the win:
“To be a recipient of an Apple Design Award this year is an absolute honour, and a total validation of our belief in crafting games the way we’ve been doing. In particular, we’re so proud to be collaborating on the Alto series with Harry Nesbitt and his team in the U.K., and want to emphasize that this award belongs in every way as much to Harry as it does to Snowman. For over five years now, we’ve been crafting the world that Alto and his friends inhabit, and we’re so thrilled to hear that it’s resonated with people the way that it has.”
iTranslate Converse, developed by iTranslate: iTranslate aims to make it possible for two people who speak completely different languages to communicate easily.
Inside, developed by Playdead: With Inside, Players take on the roll of a young boy travelling through a dystopian world. With obvious similarities to the studio’s first critically-acclaimed two-dimensional sidescroller Limbo, Playdead’s Inside features console quality graphics and surreal visuals that feel like they belong on a standard video game console, rather than an iPhone or iPad.
Florence, developed by Mountains: Florence offers players a cinematic story told through comic book style story panels. While not a traditional mobile game, the game’s take on the monotony of adult life, as well as human relationships that actually feel real, is both fascinating and moving.
Calzy 3, developed by WapleStuff: Putting a new spin on the classic calculator app, Calzy aims to rethink how the conventional calculator actually works. The app combines solid user interface design, coupled with iOS features like 3D Touch and haptic feedback.
Frost, developed by Kunabi brother GmbH: After winning an Apple Design Award back in 2014 for Blek, Frost is a gorgeous and inventive mobile game that tasks players with maneuvering swarms to specific locations by tapping an swiping on the display.
Triton Sponge, developer by Gauss Surgical: Triton Sponge is actually capable of analyzing the amount of blood on a sponge and calculating exactly how much blood a person may have lost.
Oddmar, developed by Mobge: While not a reinvention of the platformer genre, Oddmar was built from the ground-up with the mobile platform in mind — and it really shows. The game’s visuals are stunning and help it stand out from the wash of other iOS sidescrollers.
