Apple has just announced the winners of its 2024 Apple Design Awards in the lead-up to WWDC 2024, and it includes the best soulslike of 2023, among 13 other excellent choices.
The soulslike in question, Pinocchio-themed Lies of P, won an award for Visuals and Graphics. This feels like the right decision as not only is the game graphically impressive but it has a very distinctive style and identity. Another winner in the Visual and Graphics category is Rooms, a cozy game all about customizing rooms with objects and art. You can even create your own items to place in custom rooms. If you like organizing, you will love Rooms.
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What else was included?
In the Delight and Fun category, for “memorable” and “engaging” experiences, journaling app Bears Gratitude and NYT Games both picked up a win. In the Inclusivity section, the accessible navigation app oko and the colorful art game Crayola Adventure were both celebrated.
In the Innovation category, Procreate Dreams, the animation app, and point and click puzzle game Lost in Play both won. Interaction, the category dedicated to great interfaces and controls, also had two winners: Crouton, a recipe and grocery list app, and Rytmos, a music-based puzzle game where completed puzzles add up to a full song.
A category that Apple has historically cared about a lot, Social Impact saw Gentler Streak Fitness Tracker, an exercise app, and The Wreck, a narrative-driven visual novel picked up wins.
Finally, the last nod was to Spatial Computing. Tied exclusively to use in Apple Vision Pro, DJ app djay pro, and smart puzzle game Blackbox show off Spatial Computing’s best. Interestingly, Blackbox for iPhone also won this prestigious award in 2017.
While there are plenty of ways to find and discover the best iPhone apps for you, you can pretty much guarantee that an Apple Design Award signals a brilliant bit of software worth your attention. With something here for pretty much everyone and every platform, we'd highly recommend checking out at least some, if not all of these apps for yourself!
