Italian Video Game Awards – Games Beyond Entertainment 2025 is a special section of the festival The Power of Play, aimed at celebrating the transformative power of video games and rewarding Italian productions that address social, cultural, and educational themes, showcasing the medium’s ability to go beyond entertainment.
CATEGORY
BEST IN IMPACT
Inundo
Whitesock
Se chiudo gli occhi
AnotheReality
Virivì e l’ombra della pioggia
Whitesock
CATEGORY
BEST IN LEARNING
Il viaggio di una goccia
Simtech
No Signal – Marconi The Game
Melazeta
Password1234
Tiny Bull Studios
THE JURY
Francesco Cavallari
Founder and President
Video Games Without Borders
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Francesco has 25 years of experience in the games industry having held both technical and leadership positions at Ubisoft. In 2015 he founded Video Games Without Borders (or VGWB), a nonprofit organization and a global community of people who believe in digital games to change the world for the better. Francesco supervises the development of Antura and the Letters, a smartphone game to improve literacy among refugee children and to help their integration in a new country. Winner of several international awards, the game is completely free and open source and it has proven to be effective in 3 different international crises: Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine. In 2024, Francesco took part in the organization of the International Conference on Videogames and Social Impact (CIVIS).
Adriano Mancini
Associate Professor Università Politecnica delle Marche
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Adriano Mancini is an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering at Marche Polytechnic University. He teaches Fundamentals of Computer Science and Advanced Programming. He is also the co-director of the VRAI Vision, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Lab. His main research activities focus on artificial intelligence applications in mobile robotics, image and video analysis, and remote sensing with multi/hyperspectral payloads in the context of Industry 4.0 and Agriculture 4.0. He is involved in several regional, national and European research projects, and is the co-founder of two university spin-offs. He has authored over 220 publications in conference proceedings and international journals.
Luca Roncella
Game Designer, Responsible Gaming & Digital Interactivity
Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci di Milano
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Luca Roncella è Game Designer, Responsabile Gaming & Digital Interactivity al Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci di Milano. Specializzato nella progettazione di applied games, escape room scientifiche e applicazioni XR per la divulgazione, è curatore di Virtual Zone, area permanente dedicata alle esperienze immersive. Attualmente sviluppa progetti di gamification che combinano tecnologie mobile e wearable con nuovi modelli di engagement per il pubblico e gestisce il programma sperimentale con Fondazione TOG, centro che si occupa della cura e riabilitazione di bambini e bambine con gravi patologie neurologiche, volto a osservare gli effetti e gli impatti della realtà virtuale sulle dimensioni evolutive dei piccoli pazienti, contribuendo alla loro riabilitazione e al miglioramento del loro benessere psico-fisico.
Arana Shapiro
Chief Operating and Programs Officer
Games for Change
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Arana Shapiro is an educator and leader with over 20 years of experience developing innovative approaches to learning through the use of video games and game design. At G4C, she oversees all operations and programmes.
Stefania Sperandio
Video Game Critic
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A video game critic for over twenty years, specializing in interactive storytelling. Stefania was the first woman in Italy to lead the editorial team of a video game publication with millions of readers. Today, she continues her work across multiple channels, advancing understanding of the narrative and emotional value of video games.