Play Creators Awards 2022 finalists revealed

Mojo Nation has unveiled the finalists for this year’s Play Creators Awards.

The Play Creators Awards celebrates designers and inventors in the toy and game community that have excelled over the last 12 months.

This year’s Play Creators Awards will take place on Tuesday, September 6th at the Union Ale House within London’s Twickenham Stadium.

As nominated by their peers, the finalists are:

Toy Designer of the Year (Sponsored by Jazwares)
• Bang Zoom, SG Labs & Fisher-Price Infant Brand Development Team – DJ Bouncin’ Beats (Fisher-Price)
• Big Monster Toys – Koosh Flix Stix (PlayMonster)
• Emma Costa Lascelles, Matt Jordan & Tom Yamazaki (TOMY) – Toomies Bubble & Bake Bathtime Kitchen (TOMY)
• Fuse & Polly Pocket Brand Design Team – Polly Pocket Pollyville Pet Adventure Treehouse Playset (Mattel)
• IDEO, Sound Machine & Christina Ericson (Mattel) – Barbie Hatch & Gather Egg Farm (Mattel)
• Making Things Studio & GUND Design Team – Baby GUND Lil’ Luvs Tuck-Away Lovey (Spin Master)
• Mari Luz Riu (ToyZone) – Jiggly Pets Tan Tan the Orangutan (Eolo Toys)
• Melissa & Doug Design Team – Let’s Explore: Campfire S’mores Play Set (Melissa & Doug)
• Moose Toys Design Team – Magic Mixies (Moose Toys)

Game Designer of the Year (Kids/Family Games)
• Bernhard Weber & Jens-Peter Schliemann – Magic Mountain (AMIGO)
• Big Ideas & Tricky – Whoopee Duck (Fuel for Fun)
• Big Monster Toys & Spin Master Games – Sink N Sand (Spin Master)
• David Yakos (Streamline Design) & Michael Sheridan (Educational Insights) – Kanoodle Fusion (Educational Insights)
• Fun-Damental Invention – Giddy Up (John Adams)
• IDEO – MixMatchies (Hasbro)
• JM Duparc & Identity Games Team – Head of Security (Identity Games)
• Seven Towns – Tippy the Dragon (John Adams)
• Thierry Denoual – Tongues Out (Blue Orange Games)

Game Designer of the Year (Party Games)
• Barry McLaughlin & Jason Lautenschleger – Scribble Hips (Big Potato)
• Big Ideas & Tricky – Deface Race (TOMY)
• Big Potato R&D Team (Massimo Zeppetelli, Rebecca McKinlay, Ben Drummond, Tristan Hyatt-Williams), Dominic Yard & Beks Barnett – Chicken Vs Hotdog (Big Potato)
• Carl Brière (Synapses Games) – Match 5 (Synapses Games)
• Courtney Wood, Marty Pardoe, Matt Ludlow & Roberto Rotaru (Bubblegum Stuff) – Death by Coconuts (Bubblegum Stuff)`
• David McGranaghan & Julian Miller (McMiller) – Uproar (McMiller)
• Hazel Reynolds (Gamely Games) – Six Second Scribbles (Gamely Games)
• JM Duparc & Identity Games Team – Beeblio (Identity Games)
• Matt Edmondson (Format Games) – Noggin (Format Games)

Invention Studio/Design Agency of the Year (Sponsored by Hasbro)
• Bang Zoom
• Big Monster Toys
• Fun-Damental Invention
• Fuse
• Making Things Studio
• So Sound
• Triclops Studio
• Tricky
• Open 2 Design

Inventor Relations Exec of the Year
• Brent Geppert – Educational Insights
• David Winter – Jazwares
• Dominique Roy – Make It Real
• Heath Saber – Moose Toys
• Nicholas Tragnark – Hasbro
• Nikki Bauman – Fisher-Price
• Sarah Franco – Mattel
• Tanya Thompson – Hasbro

R&D Team of the Year
• Big Potato Games
• BlueJ (Jazwares)
• Character Options
• Hasbro SPARK R&D
• Make It Real
• Moose Toys
• Prospero Hall (Funko Games)
• Spin Master
• TOMY

Toy Designer of the Year (Licensed Product)
• Abbie Ellis & Sarah Hurst (hand2mind) – Numberblocks MathLink Cubes Activity Sets (hand2mind)
• Carine Rosalia – CoCoMelon Boo Boo JJ (Jazwares)
• Fuse, BOTI & Eolo Toys – NHL Battle Cubes (BOTI/Eolo Toys)
• Fuse & Spin Master Action Team – Batman Bat-Tech Transforming Batcave (Spin Master)
• Mattel Plush Team – Star Wars Galactic Pals (Mattel)
• Melissa & Doug Design Team – PAW Patrol Rescue Mission Wooden Dashboard (Melissa & Doug)
• Sweet Spot Studio, Versadyne & Fisher-Price Thomas Brand Development Team – Thomas & Friends Launch & Loop Maintenance Yard (Fisher-Price)
• Wow! Stuff R&D Team & Bang Zoom – RealFX Baby Blue (Wow! Stuff)

Game Designer of the Year (Licensed Product)
• Aaron Weil (Mattel) – UNO Ultimate Marvel (Mattel)
• Amanda Birkinshaw (Angelpie) & Richard Heayes (Heayes Design) – Rubik’s Capture (Spin Master)
• The Fantastic Factory – LADBible’s First Impressions (VR Distribution)
• Frederica Scott Vollrath – The Great British Baking Show Game (Ravensburger)
• Lauren Wallace (Ridley’s Games) – Root for Groot (Ridley’s Games)
• Prospero Hall – Rear Window (Funko Games)
• Sam Roberts (So Sound) – Harry Potter Skiving Snackbox Scavenge (Cartamundi)
• Steve Moore (Tantrum Innovation) – Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots: Jurassic World – Blue Vs Atrociraptor (Mattel)

Play Innovator of the Year
• Austyn Romero (Ridley’s Games) – Jigsaw Duel (Ridley’s Games)
• Brian McMahon, Daniel Kim & Jared Ganrude (hand2mind) – Express Your Feelings Sensory Bottles (hand2mind)
• Doo-Bee Toys, Nextoy LLC & Rufus Butler Seder – Spirograph Animator (PlayMonster)
• Friedemann Findeisen – Cantaloop (Lookout Spiele)
• Kelley Lindberg (Mattel) – Barbie Cutie Reveal (Mattel)
• Moose Toys Design Team – Magic Mixies (Moose Toys)
• Octopus Creations Inc, The Machine Lab Inc & Gerry Cody (Mattel) – Hot Wheels RC Aaron Wheelz Wheelie Chair (Mattel)
• Sega Toys & Spin Master’s Doll & Interactive Team – Purse Pets (Spin Master)
• ToyZone – SuperMasked Stretchy Figures (Eolo Toys)

Rising Star Award
• Carine Rosalia – Lunch Squares
• Colm Burns – So Sound
• Dominic Besagni – Ridley’s Games
• Emma Costa Lascelles – TOMY
• Luke Evans – Games to Get
• Michalis Rodosthenous – Seven Towns
• Olivia DeLuca – TOMY
• Ross Monks – Moose Toys
• Sarah Everett – So Sound

Icon Award
The winner of this award will be announced on the night.

Winners will be announced at the live Play Creators Awards on Tuesday, September 6th at the Union Ale House within London’s Twickenham Stadium. Book your tickets here

–

To stay in the loop with the latest news, interviews and features from the world of toy and game design, sign up to our weekly newsletter here

More Recent Play Creators Festival

Mojo Nation dates Play Creators Festival 2025

Next year’s live event will take place at London’s Stamford Bridge Stadium from Tuesday, June 24th to Thursday, June 26th.

Play Creators Awards 2024 winners revealed

A celebration of the industry’s design and inventor talent, among the winners this year are Fun-Damental Invention, Angus Walker and Kid Group’s Dan Klitsner.

Ravensburger’s Tim Schilder to take Play Creators Conference audience ‘Inside Game Design’

This year’s Play Creators Conference is taking place at London’s Stamford Bridge Stadium on Wednesday, June 26th.

ThinkFun joins Mojo Pitch 2024

“Thinkfun’s success has always been directly connected with the inventor community, and we are grateful to Mojo for this opportunity to see some great new ideas,” said Josh West, Head of Product Design and Inventor Relations at ThinkFun.

Joking Hazard joins Mojo Pitch 2024

“The Joking Hazard team is excited to be a part of the 2024 Mojo Pitch event,” said Joking Hazard’s Kayla Cline.

Cheatwell Games joins Mojo Pitch 2024

“We’re thrilled to be attending the Mojo Pitch for the first time this year!” says Paul Laing, Head of Product Development at Cheatwell Games/Outset Media.