Serious Games Showcase & Challenge holds 20th annual awards at I/ITSEC

By Cassidy Mills, Staff Writer

 

January 7, 2026

 

The Serious Games Showcase & Challenge (SGS&C) marked its 20th annual awards ceremony at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), Dec. 4.

 

I/ITSEC is the world’s largest modeling, simulation and training (MS&T) event, held annually during the week immediately after Thanksgiving at the Orange County Convention Center. The conference brings together the global MS&T community for a full week of demonstrations, discussions and collaboration. Each year, the event draws thousands of MS&T professionals, including senior civilian and military leaders, C-suite industry executives and distinguished academic researchers from leading institutions.

 

These serious games are designed for learning and training rather than entertainment, with applications in fields such as military, medical and other industry training. At I/ITSEC Booth 2285, attendees explored PC, mobile and extended reality (XR) games developed by businesses, students and government organizations.

 

Visitors could meet developers and vote for the People’s Choice Award using their I/ITSEC badges; voting closed at 6 p.m. on Dec. 3. Many of the games had been reviewed months in advance by the Serious Games Integrated Planning Team (IPT), a committee of modeling and simulation professionals.

 

The awards ceremony took place in the EcosySTEM Discovery Den and was moderated by Jenn McNamara, Breakaway Games and SGS&C director. Panelists included Clifton Garner, SIMETRI and SGS&C IPT industry lead, and Eugene Pursel, SGS&C government lead with the U.S. Air Force and STRATCOM JWAC.

 

“Each year, SGS&C spotlights teams who turn rigorous learning goals into engaging, effective play,” McNamara said. “This cohort shows just how far serious games have come — from clinical VR to leadership training to community resilience — and how much they can do to elevate human performance.”

 

The 2025 winners announced at I/ITSEC were:

 

• Best General Audience Game — Venture Valley Business Tycoon, Singleton Foundation

Venture Valley is a fast-paced business simulation designed for aspiring entrepreneurs ages 16 to 30 who are interested in business but lack practical experience or access to low-risk startup opportunities. The game introduces players to core business concepts through strategic decision-making and competitive play.

 

• Best Government Audience Game — Serve to Lead Game Series, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst

Developed in partnership with CDS Defence & Security, Serve to Lead is a custom digital training game for officer cadets at RMAS. Built as a branching, pick-your-own-adventure narrative, the game places players in the role of a newly appointed platoon commander navigating leadership and operational challenges.

 

• Best XR Game — MilExTS: Tactical Trauma Trainer, Exonicus, Inc.

MilExTS is an extended reality (XR) medical simulation designed for soldiers and emergency responders. Optimized for standalone headsets such as the Meta Quest 3, the system delivers high-intensity, scenario-based trauma training aligned with Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Tier 1 All Service Member standards.

 

• Best Serious Game Innovation Award — Wayfinder, Independently Developed

Wayfinder is a single-player virtual reality experience that simulates visual impairment using tactile and auditory feedback from a virtual “guide cane.” Players navigate maze environments while experiencing progressively challenging visual impairments, relying on sound and touch to complete each level.

 

• Best Student-Developed Game — Speak Your Heart, Carnegie Mellon University

Developed at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, Speak Your Heart is a dating simulation that explores campus free speech debates through player-driven storytelling. The game uses humor and relationship mechanics to address topics such as academic freedom, trigger warnings and the heckler’s veto.

 

• Students’ Choice Award — Wildfire Resilience Minigame Collection, University of California Santa Cruz

The Wildfire Resilience Minigame Collection focuses on preparing individuals and communities for wildfire events. The games illustrate how fires spread, how evacuations function, how to assemble a go-bag and how home-hardening measures can reduce fire-related damage.

 

• People’s Choice Award (Tie) — Cyber H2O, Virginia Digital Maritime Center, and Surface Warfare Officer Reactive Decision Simulator (SWORDS), Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Cyber H₂O is an interactive, role-based simulation in which players defend a digitally controlled water treatment system from cyberattacks, including unauthorized access and malware infiltration. The game places students in scenarios that mirror real-world threats to critical infrastructure.

 

The Surface Warfare Officer Reactive Decision Simulator (SWORDS) is a real-time battlefield simulator that allows future Naval Officers to conduct realistic war-game scenarios and allows students to take on the role that Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) fill in the fleet.

 

“This program succeeds because evaluators, developers and end users come together with a shared standard: outcomes,” Garner said. “This year’s winners balanced engagement with real-world requirements — the kind of design that holds up in classrooms, units and organizations.”

 

During the awards ceremony, SGS&C acknowledged the support of ARA, Engineering & Computer Simulations (ECS), Hatalom, Mass Virtual, RAVE Computer, Trideum, VMASC and Xiphos, whose contributions helped organize the event.

 

The program announced Trey Reyher as next year’s industry lead, with details for the 2026 Challenge to be published on the SGS&C website. The award ceremony continues to connect developers, evaluators and end users to highlight games that support training and learning objectives.