The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) announced the winners of SENSE OF WONDER NIGHT 2026. This pitch competition for indie game developers took place at the Tokyo Game Show 2026. The chairman of CESA is Haruhiro Tsujimoto.
The top prize, the Audience Award Grand Prix, went to Face UFO from Japan. The Audience Award Semi-Grand Prix went to Unknot! from China.
Seven SENSE OF WONDER NIGHT 2026 Awards
This competition presented seven awards. Face UFO won four awards. Legacy Code won two awards. Unknot! won one award.
Takahiro Miyazawa received a cash prize of US$3,000 as the Grand Prix winner. The other award winners each received US$500.
"Face UFO" by Takahiro Miyazawa
Face UFO is a facial expression-based party game for the Nintendo Switch 2. It was developed by Takahiro Miyazawa from Japan. Players control the game using their facial expressions via the camera. Players smile to move up and make an angry face to move forward. Up to four players can play simultaneously using a single camera.
Face UFO won the Audience Award Grand Prix, the Best Experimental Game Award, the Best Game Design Award, and the Best Presentation Award.
The "Face UFO" video is available at YouTube.
Unknot! by P.F.J.
Unknot! is a physics-based puzzle game for Steam. It was developed by P.F.J. from China. Players hold and pull on ropes to untangle increasingly complex knots.
This project brings together game developers and knot theory researchers from the University of Southern California, Neapolis University Pafos, and the University of Sydney. Through this project, players’ unexpected strategies have the potential to become part of real-world mathematical experiments.
"Unknot!" won the Audience Award and the Semi-Grand Prix.
The "Unknot!" video is available at YouTube.
Legacy Code from Room 127
Legacy Code is a game for Steam. It was developed by Room 127 from Japan. The game is set on a distant planet. Players create and control artificial creatures called “Mechanimals,” explore the world, and battle other Mechanimals. Both organic and inorganic objects can be used as parts, and their shape affects the creature’s abilities.
Legacy Code won the Best Technological Game Award and the Best Arts Award.
The "Legacy Code" video is available at YouTube.
The 19th pitch competition, with 151 entries
SENSE OF WONDER NIGHT (SOWN) Now in its 19th year. The competition seeks game ideas that evoke a “sense of wonder.” The term refers to a moment of surprise that changes the way we view the world.
The competition participants were exhibitors in the Indie Game Area and SELECTED INDIE 80. SELECTED INDIE 80 is a program that provides free exhibition space for selected developers. A total of 151 entries were submitted to this competition. The judging panel selected eight finalists from those 151 entries. The eight finalists presented their games, and the judges then scored them.
The finalists' presentations, the announcement of the winners, and the SOWN2026 awards ceremony are available in the Official Program for the Tokyo Game Show 2026. You can watch them via TGS 2026 official website.
The eleven SOWN2026 judges
The SOWN2026 jury panel consists of 11 members. Kiyoshi Shin serves as the chair of the jury committee. The following is a list of the jurors, in no particular order.
- Kiyoshi Shin: Chair of the SENSE OF WONDER NIGHT Judging Committee and Professor at the Graduate School of Digital Hollywood University
- Juan Gril: Game creator
- Ramon Nafria: Ninja Video Game: Trusiga
- Takeshi Takahashi: NPO OcuFes
- Kenji Ono: Professor at the International Professional University of Technology in Tokyo and NPO IGDA Japan
- Kazunori Komagata: Director of AURYN
- Shuhei Yoshida: CEO of yosp Inc.
- Yuki Katayama: KODANSHA GAME LAB.
- Jh Shin: Game developer
- Masafumi Onuki: CEO of Calappa Games
- Pocky: Content Creator
Pocky Awards for Three Games from Three Countries
CESA also announced the Pocky Awards. Pocky is a content creator and the TGS2026 Official Indie Game Ambassador. He selected games from among the 151 entries submitted to SELECTED INDIE 80 and SENSE OF WONDER NIGHT. Pocky chose games he wanted to play from the perspective of a gameplay video creator.
This year, there are three Pocky Awards winners. Here is the list:
"Stuck Together" by Hugecalf Studios, United Kingdom
- "Teach My Little Sister How to Drive" by Easy Fox, South Korea
- "Become" by Valentin Wirth, Czech Republic
Gameplay videos for those three games will be uploaded to Pocky's YouTube channel.
Don't miss our exclusive report on TGS 2026
TOKYO GAME SHOW is one of the world's largest game shows organized by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and co-organizers Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. and DENTSU INC. TGS has become the premier platform for game industry players to showcase their latest innovations and technologies.
Asia’s largest gaming festival is about to celebrate its 30th anniversary and promises an exhibition on a scale unlike any in previous years. With the theme “The Longest Five Days of Nonstop Play,” this year’s event will make history. For the first time, the exhibition will run for a full five days.
The offline exhibition will be held at Makuhari Messe, Chiba, from September 17 to September 21, 2026. The format of the event remains a hybrid system, combining on-site exhibitions with online initiatives to reach a global audience.
Stay tuned for the latest and exclusive coverage of TGS 2026, only at PlayEatSleep.Fun.
