the pavs

the pavs are nz and australia's own
cake cabinet of excellence in game development

Every year, NZGF runs The Pavs as a celebration of ANZ's best and boldest game development achievements. From digital to tabletop, we aim to the put a spotlight on local games that have gone the extra mile to immerse, entertain and tantalise. The Pavs finalists go in the running for a coveted trophy and are featured in NZGF's week-long games exhibition.

Of course, any event named after a dessert wouldn't be complete without a selection of tongue-in-cheek award titles and a cheeky few at our official ceremony.

tune into our livestreamed awards ceremony on saturday 29th august

Our goal is to bring together a selection of the finest games produced in New Zealand and Australia - one of which is probably yours! So if you've submitted a board game, card game, videogame, alt ctrl game, or any other kind of game that you're proud of, we hope you'll join us to celebrate kiwi creativity on our Twitch account!

@nzgamesfest on Twitch

award categories

► The ‘Slice of Heaven’ Grand Prize

► The Guest Plate

► The Student’s Slice

► The Composed Segment: Excellence in Audio

► The Decorative Piece: Excellence in Visual Art

► The Perfect Recipe: Excellence in Design

► The Poetic Serving: Excellence in Narrative

► The Tactile Taste: Excellence in Physical Games

► The Diverse Delight: Excellence in Representation

► Te Maunga Kai Kapua (Teina): Industry Rising Star

► Te Maunga Kai Kapua (Tuakana): Industry Pillar

Check out our 2020 finalists

past winners

The Pavs have been running since 2016 - when they were known as the Play by Play awards.

Throughout the years there's been amazingly tight competition and fantastic entrants.

We'd like to continue to showcase those games - click through below to see winners from previous years.

See more