# Intel Level Up

The Intel Level Up was a series of annual video game competitions organised by Intel to support independent video game development, with winning games receiving monetary rewards in addition to the award. The first competition, titled the Intel Game Demo Contest, was held in 2006. It was restarted in 2009 as the Intel Level Up Game Developer Contest. The competition has not been held after 2017.
A distinctive feature of the contest was the participation of game-industry luminaries as judges. At different times, the judges were Sid Meier, Will Wright, Chris Avellone, Todd Howard, Tim Schafer, Chris Taylor, etc.

## Winners
### 2006

| Award | Category | Winner | Developer | Notes |
| Best Threaded Game | 1st Place | Command: Operation Winter Storm | Koios Works | |
| Best Threaded Game | 2nd Place | Gun Dragon | Avocado Overboard | |
| Best Threaded Game | 3rd Place | Tiki Lounge Blackjack | The Jelly Filled Games | |
| Best Threaded Game | Honorable Mention | Insanipaint | | |
| Best Threaded Game | Honorable Mention | El Condor Pasa | Sweet Mobility | |
| Best Game on the Go | 1st Place | Toblo | Steve Chiavelli, John Jensen, Brad Rasmussen, Ben Smith, Zach Peterson | DigiPen |
| Best Game on the Go | 2nd Place | Insanipaint | | |

### 2007

| Award | Category | Winner | Developer | Notes |
| Best Threaded Game | 1st Place | Harmotion | Erik Chan | Bottomless Pit Games |
| Best Threaded Game | 2nd Place | Burning Tires | Rasmus Barringer | |
| Best Threaded Game | 3rd Place | AntiPlanet | Lev Dymchenko | |
| Best Threaded Game | 4th Place | Synaesthete | Zach Aikman, Andy Maneri, Will Towns, Joe Tkach | DigiPen |
| Best Threaded Game | 5th Place | Red Assault | Andreas Papathanasis | |
| Best Game on the Go | 1st Place | Penguins Arena | Cristophe Canon | Frogames |
| Best Game on the Go | 2nd Place | Empyreal Nocturne | Reed Gonsalves, Chad Taylor | Double Hawk Games |
| Best Game on the Go | 3rd Place | Hexaxis XXI | Tim Hackett | |
| Best Game on the Go | 4th Place | Othello³ | Alain Labrie | Ware-Wolf Games |
| Best Game on the Go | 5th Place | Helicomaster | Jean-Philippe Doiron, Simon Ampleman | |

### 2008

| Award | Category | Winner | Developer | Notes |
| Best Threaded Game | 1st Place | Goo! | Tommy Refenes | Pillowfort Games |
| Best Threaded Game | 2nd Place | Xenus II: White Gold | Sergey Zabaryansky | Deep Shadows |
| Best Threaded Game | 3rd Place | Winding Trail | Elena Sagalaeva | |
| Best Threaded Game | 4th Place | Predtechi | Sergey Zabaryansky | Deep Shadows |
| Best Threaded Game | 5th Place | Deadly Light | Yakov Sumygin | |
| Best Game on the Go | 1st Place | Magic Worlds | Dmitry Dobryak | |
| Best Game on the Go | 2nd Place | I’m Lulu King! | Cheng Chen | |
| Best Game on the Go | 3rd Place | Sub0 | Bradley Wesson | |
| Best Game on the Go | 4th Place | Army of Earth | Tom Spencer-Smith | |
| Best Game on the Go | 5th Place | Protozoa | Mauro Persano | |
| Best Game on Intel Graphics | 1st Place | Pixel and Vega in: Crunch Time! | Aaron Murray | Tandem Games |
| Best Game on Intel Graphics | 2nd Place | Protozoa | Mauro Persano | |
| Best Game on Intel Graphics | 3rd Place | Goo! | Tommy Refenes | Pillowfort Games |
| Best Game on Intel Graphics | 4th Place | Winding Trail | Elena Sagalaeva | |
| Best Game on Intel Graphics | 5th Place | Army of Earth | Tom Spencer-Smith | |
| Judge's Choice | 1st Place | Deadly Light | Yakov Sumygin | |
| Judge's Choice | 2nd Place | Lens Flare Programming using 3D plains instead of sprites | Alip Kumar Saha | |
| Judge's Choice | 3rd Place | Army of Earth | Tom Spencer-Smith | |

### 2009

Judges: Sid Meier, Will Wright, Rick Raymo, Brad Wardell, Christophe Canon, Mathieu Mazerolle, Mary Beth Haggerty, Dmitry Oganezov, Gina Bovara, Jeff LaFlam, Brad Werth, Steve Winburn.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Judges' Choice | | Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War | Albert Zhiltsov |
| Best Game Optimized For Intel Graphics | 1st Place | I Know Your Deeds | Yakov Sumygin |
| Best Game Optimized For Intel Graphics | 2nd Place | Spin Tires | Pavel Zagrebelnyy |
| Best Game Optimized For Intel Graphics | 3rd Place | Infersus | Infersus |
| Best Threaded Game | 1st Place | Infersus | Infersus |
| Best Threaded Game | 2nd Place | I Know Your Deeds | Yakov Sumygin |
| Best Threaded Game | 3rd Place | The Ray Tracing Game | Eugene Klyuchnikov |
| Best Game on the Go | 1st Place | Spin Tires | Pavel Zagrebelnyy |
| Best Game on the Go | 2nd Place | Germination | Bradley Wesson |
| Best Game on the Go | 3rd Place | Rise Of Pirates | Stefans Keiss |

### 2010

Judges: Chris Avellone, Vic Davis, Todd Hollenshead, Todd Howard, Rod Humble, Raph Koster, Rick Raymo, Bill Roper, Tim Schafer, Adam Sessler, Jeff Vogel.
| Award | Category | Winner |
| Best Game on a Laptop | 1st Place | Purple |
| Best Game on a Laptop | 2nd Place | Icebreakers |
| Best Game on a Laptop | 3rd Place | Car Washer: Summer Of The Ninja |
| Best Game on a Laptop | Honorable Mention | Billichess |
| Best Game on a Laptop | Honorable Mention | Gladius |
| Best Game on a Desktop | | Have Time Will Travel |
| Best Game on a Netbook | 1st Place | Cycle |
| Best Game on a Netbook | 2nd Place | Mechanism III |
| Best Game on a Netbook | 3rd Place | Karttoon Rally |
| Best Game on a Netbook | Honorable Mention | Bullzeye |
| Best Game on a Netbook | Honorable Mention | Heliride |
| Best Game on a Netbook | Honorable Mention | Spellbinder |
| Judges Choice | Best Art Design | Mechanism III |
| Judges Choice | Best Character Design | Icebreakers |
| Judges Choice | Best Graphics Performance | Purple |
| Judges Choice | Best Sound Design | Have Time Will Travel |

### 2011

Judges: Andy Schatz, Jeff Vogel, Wolfgang Engel, Chris Taylor, Jim Rossignol.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Game of the Year | | Blackwell's Asylum | Blackpipe |
| Best Adventure/Role Playing | | Blackwell's Asylum | Blackpipe |
| Student Game Of The Year | | The White Laboratory | Tao Xin |
| Best Strategy Game | | The White Laboratory | Tao Xin |
| Best Casual Game | | Divo | Logic Droids |
| Best Educational Game | | Atooms To Moolecules | Bitsits Games |
| Best Puzzle Game | | Splice | Cipher Prime Studios |
| Best Shooter Game | | MilitAnt | Xibalba Studios |
| Best Simulation Game | | Imagine Earth | Serious Brothers |
| Best Strategy Game (tie) | | Plutonic Repulse: A Tale Of Limerence | Blackcow Studios |
| Judges Choice | Best 3D | Thunderwheels | G-Boot Games |
| Judges Choice | Best Physics | Thunderwheels | G-Boot Games |
| Judges Choice | Best Art | Beatbuddy | Threaks |
| Judges Choice | Best Sound | Beatbuddy | Threaks |
| Judges Choice | Best Character | Trash TV | Lawrence Russell |

### 2013

Judges: Andy Schatz, Wolfgang Engel, Rami Ismail, Jordan Weisman.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Game of the Year | | Perfection. | Dumb and Fat Games |
| Best Puzzle/Physics Game | | Perfection. | Dumb and Fat Games |
| Best Adventure/Role Playing | | Lilly Looking Through | Geeta Games |
| Best Action Game | | Assault Android Cactus | Witch Beam |
| Best Platformer Game | | Protocell | Team Primordia |
| Best “Other” Game | | Cube & Star: A Love Story | Doppler Interactive |
| Skill and Craft | Best Art Design | Lilly Looking Through | Geeta Games |
| Skill and Craft | Best Game Physics | Torquel | FullPowerSlideAttack.com |
| Skill and Craft | Best Sound | Beatblasters III | Chainsawesome Games |
| Skill and Craft | Best Character Design | Life Goes On | Infinite Monkeys |
| Skill and Craft | Best 3D Graphics | Forced | BetaDwarf Entertainment |

### 2014

Judges: Chris Avellone, Wolfgang Engel, Rami Ismail, Marc Saltzman, Tim Schafer, Chris Taylor, Nathan Vella, Tyrone Rodriguez.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Game of the Year | | Duet | Kumobius and Tim Shiel |
| Best Action Game | | Duet | Kumobius and Tim Shiel |
| Best Adventure/Role Playing | | Bravada | Interbellum Team |
| Best Platformer Game | | Biglands: A Game Made By Kids | Diego Acevedo |
| Best Puzzle Game | | Framed | Loveshack |
| Best “Other” Game | | OTTTD | Smg Studio |
| Skill and Craft | Best Art Design | Toast Time | Force Of Habit |
| Skill and Craft | Best Use Of Game Physics | Airscape: The Fall Of Gravity | Cross-product |
| Skill and Craft | Best Sound | Duet | Kumobius and Tim Shiel |
| Skill and Craft | Best Character Design | A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build | Alan Hazelden, Benjamin Davis, Ryan Roth |
| Skill and Craft | Best 3D Graphics | Forced 2: The Rush! | BetaDwarf Entertainment |

### 2015

Judges: Chris Avellone, Kate Edwards, Wolfgang Engel, Rami Ismail, Tim Schafer, Chris Taylor, Tyrone Rodriguez.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Game of the Year | | The Franz Kafka Videogame | Denis Galanin |
| Best Adventure/Role Playing | | The Franz Kafka Videogame | Denis Galanin |
| Best Action Game | | Synchrom | Morphiks |
| Best Linux Game | | Spacejacked | Rotten Mage |
| Best Platformer Game | | Bean Dreams | Kumobius |
| Best Puzzle Game | | Tumblestone | The Quantum Astrophysicists Guild |
| Best “Other” Game | | Galactic Missile Defense | Blacksheep Games |
| Skill and Craft | Best Art Design | Karma, Incarnation 1 | AuraLab |
| Skill and Craft | Best Sound | Karma, Incarnation 1 | AuraLab |
| Skill and Craft | Best 3D Graphics | Steamfarer | Igor Rashkuev |
| Skill and Craft | Best Character Design | Bulb Boy | Bulb Boy Team |
| Skill and Craft | Best Game Physics | Super Adventure Pals 2 | Massive Monster |

### 2016

Judges: Chris Avellone, Kate Edwards, Wolfgang Engel, Rami Ismail, Tim Schafer, Tyrone Rodriguez, Anne Toole.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Game of the Year | | Ellipsis | Salmi Games |
| Best Action Game | | Ellipsis | Salmi Games |
| Best Adventure/Role Playing | | Elsinore | Golden Glitch Studios |
| Best Platformer Game | | Little Bug | Buddy System |
| Best Puzzle Game | | She Remembered Caterpillars | Jumpsuit Entertainment Ug (haftungsbeschränkt) |
| Best “Other” Game | | Duskers | Misfits Attic |
| Skill and Craft | Best Art Design | Overland | Finji |
| Skill and Craft | Best 3D Graphics | Guns Of Icarus Alliance | Muse Games |
| Skill and Craft | Best Character Design | Tooth and Tail | Pocketwatch Games |
| Skill and Craft | Best Game Physics | Goatpunks | Studio Canvas |
| Skill and Craft | Best Sound | Animated Puzzles Star | Mexond Games |

### 2017

Judges: Chris Avellone, Kate Edwards, Wolfgang Engel, Rami Ismail, Tim Schafer, Gary Rowe, Tyrone Rodriguez, Laila Shabir.
| Award | Category | Winner | Developer |
| Game of the Year | | Resynth | Polyphonic LP |
| Best Puzzle/Physics Game | | Resynth | Polyphonic LP |
| Best Adventure/Role Playing | | Cat Quest | The Gentelbros |
| Best Platformer Game | | Pepper Grinder | Riv Hester |
| Best Action Game | | Megaton Rainfall | Pentadimensional Games |
| Best Open-Genre Game | | Paperbark | Paperhouse Games |
| Skill and Craft | Best Art Design | Cat Quest | The Gentelbros |
| Skill and Craft | Best 3D Graphics | Stardrop | Joure Visser |
| Skill and Craft | Best Character Design | The Adventure Pals | Massive Monster |
| Skill and Craft | Best Game Physics | Pepper Grinder | Riv Hester |
| Skill and Craft | Best Sound | Yankai’s Peak | Kenny Sun |