The shortlist for Mojo Nation’s celebration of toy and game designers and inventors has been unveiled – with winners announced 23, June in London

Mojo Nation has unveiled the finalists for this year’s Play Creators Awards, which celebrates designers and inventors in the toy and game community that have excelled over the past 12 months.

Winners will be selected over a series of judging sessions with industry experts, before being revealed at this year’s Play Creators Awards on 23 June at London’s Under the Bridge venue within Stamford Bridge Stadium.

To book your ticket to this year’s Play Creators Awards, click here.

As nominated by their peers in the industry, the finalists are:

Toy Designer of the Year (Sponsored by Jazwares)

• 2 Much Fun – Make & Bake Pies Playset (Melissa & Doug)
• Cheeky Donkey & Make It Real Advanced Design Team – Quick Twist Bracelet Maker (Make It Real)
• DiscoNifty & Spin Master’s New Brand Group – Magic Jellykins (Spin Master)
• Lucas Tyler & Doug Taylor (Fuse) – Monster High Potion Reveal (Mattel)
• Mary Danby, Nicky Wastie, Chantal Drenthe & Seven Towns – Play-Doh Air Clay Charm & Bracelet Maker (Horizon Group USA)
• Moose Girls Team – Gui Gui Slime Mega Haul (Moose Toys)
• Nynke van Dijk (Goliath) – Clickeez (Goliath)
• Pace Development & Toy Venture – Barbie Roll & Reveal (Mattel)
• Sanne van den Bosch (Goliath) – Princess Castle Jelly Blox (Goliath)
• Tantrum Innovation & Hiram Johnson – Barbie Petal Pop (Mattel)

Game Designer of the Year – Kids Games

• Big Potato – Stomp Stomp Chomp (Big Potato)
• Carlo Molinari & Martino Chiacchiera – Matsch Party (Schmidt)
• Ellie Dix – Early Bird (Hootenanny Games)
• David Yakos (Streamline Design) – Queen Swarm (Mindware)
• Fun-Damental Invention & Xavier Mendoza and Kristina Moulden (Educational Insights) – Snack or Splash (Educational Insights)
• Raf Peeters (Smart Toys and Games) – Hansel & Gretel’s Candy Adventure (Smart Toys and Games)
• Seven Towns – Cats & Robbers (Relatable)
• Seven Towns – Pooch on the Loose (Jazwares)
• This is YARD & Design Edge – Drop N Roll (Blast Off Toys)
• Thomas Favrelière & Adrien Pedron – Archeo (Gigamic)

Game Designer of the Year – Family Games

• Don Ullman, Bob Driscoll & Brad Ross – Rubik’s Rush (Spin Master)
• Elizabeth Hargrave – Sanibel (Hasbro)
• Ellie Dix – Seeker of Spells (Mindware)
• Gareth Edwards – Cat Earth (Outset Media)
• Longshore & Gunter Baars – Deep Sea Diamond Dive (Mattel)
• Markus Slawitscheck – Morty Sorty Magic Shop (Schmidt)
• Richard Garfield & Takashi Ishida – Magical Athlete (CMYK)
• Rob Sparks & Brett J. Gilbert – Barbecubes (Alley Cat Games)
• Seven Towns – Banana Panic (Jazwares)
• The Fantastic Factory – Topple (The Fantastic Factory)

Game Designer of the Year – Party Games (Sponsored by Playtime PR)

• Ceri Price & Natalie Podd – Breadcrumbs (Confident Games)
• Ellie Dix – Roughly (Laurence King Publishing)
• Don Ullman & Bob Driscoll – Murder Phone (Spin Master)
• Big Potato – Noodle Flip (Big Potato)
• Joe Barron, Brady Peterson, David Yakos, Sophia Ricciardi, Grant Lyon & Danielle Standring – Cross the Line (Gray Matters Games)
• Jon Gracey, Viv Egan & Matthew Hancock – You Know It! (Invisible Typewriter)
• Jon Perry – Hot Streak (CMYK)
• K.C. Schrimpl, Corey Schrimpl & Cameron Ring – Burst (Lost Boy Entertainment)
• McMiLLER – DUMMEEZ (McMiLLER)
• Stephen Wilson – You Read My Mind (Ridleys Games)

Invention Studio/Design Agency of the Year (Sponsored by Hasbro)

• Bang Zoom
• Fugafour
• Fun-Damental Invention
• Fuse
• Indy Toy Lab
• Open 2 Design
• Seven Towns
• So Sound
• Streamline Design
• Tantrum Innovation

Inventor Relations Exec of the Year (Sponsored by Seven Towns)

• Alex & Whitney Kimerling (Hootenanny Games)
• Becs Henchey (Golden Bear)
• Dan Luther (Hasbro)
• Erik Quam (Smart Toys and Games)
• Helen De La Cruz (Spin Master)
• James Vaughan (Big Potato)
• Lee Allentuck (The Plan A Group)
• Magdalena Eichhorn (Jazwares)
• Tara McGrath (Mattel)
• Tony Serebriany (The Op Games)

R&D Team of the Year (Sponsored by British Toy & Hobby Association)

• EXG Pro
• Gigamic
• Jazwares’ BlueJ Team
• Lost Boy Entertainment
• Make It Real Advanced Design Team
• Mattel’s MOTU Team
• Moose’s RADAR Team
• Spin Master’s New Brand Group
• The Op Games
• YuMe Toys

Toy Designer of the Year (Licensed Product)

• Bang Zoom – PAW Patrol Megasaurus Dino Vehicle (Spin Master)
• Fuse – Pokémon Carry Case Lighthouse Adventure Playset (Jazwares)
• Lorena Montalvo, Olivia DeLuca, Madolyn Miller & Kendrin Geerdes (TOMY) – Momiji (TOMY)
• Mark Grote (Spin Master) – Hatchin’ Yoshi (Spin Master)
• Katy Kedward (Craft Buddy) – Disney Crystal Art Advent Calendar (Craft Buddy)
• Super Fun Innovations – Super Strike Batman (Mattel)
• Tantrum Innovation & MB Creations – Gabby’s Dollhouse FairylandiaKitty Fairy’s Flutter-riffic Playset (Spin Master)
• Tantrum Innovation & MB Creations – WWE Slambulance (Mattel)
• Tom Yamazaki, Emma Costa Lascelles, Matt Jordan (TOMY) – My Mario Toomies Bath Range (TOMY)
• Wow! Stuff – Pikachu Puppetronic (Wow! Stuff)

Play Innovator of the Year

• Jason Tremblay – Hummingbirds (The Op Games)
• JMP Creative – Slime Riders (ArtSkills)
• Katia & Gigi Funnovation & Make It Real Design Team – Salon Style Fashion Studio (Make It Real)
• LEGO Education Team – LEGO Education Science Kits (LEGO)
• Make It Real Advanced Design Team – Ultimate Spin Art Studio (Make It Real)
• McMiLLER – JOLT (McMiLLER)
• Moose STEM Team & Crunch Labs Engineering Team – Crunch Labs Range (Moose Toys)
• Moose Youth Electronic Team – Little Live Pets Mama Surprise Kitty (Moose Toys)
• Stickerbox Team – Stickerbox (Stickerbox)
• ZB Designs – Wigglitz (ZB Designs)

Unsung Hero Award

• Amanda Bright (Spin Master)
• Bethan Stone (Big Potato)
• Brian Greenwald (The Op Games)
• Brian Wan (Zuru)
• Judi Stonecipher (Mattel)
• Laurence Andrault (Seven Towns)
• Mark Aaron, Artist
• Paola Dyboski (Bubbles Not Bombs)
• Paolo Olimpio (EXG Pro)
• Rob Harris (Playtest UK)
• Rory Kelly (Zatu Distribution)

Game Designer of the Year – Licensed Product

• Arnaud Perez & Yannick Beaulé – PAC-MAN Craze Maze (No Loading Games)
• David Winter (Jazwares) – Love Island: Villa Vibes (Jazwares)
• Jeremy Posner & Ken Gruhl – Survival of the Weirdest (EightyTwo)
• LA Brands – Cryptic Killers: Peaky Blinders (LA Brands)
• Luca Bellini – Brick Like This (Dotted Games)
• TJ Spalty, Nathaniel Basch-Gould, Kyle Hussa-Lietz (Spin Master) & Ghost Galaxy – Hellbreak (Spin Master)
• Don Ullman & Bob Driscoll – Jumanji: The Ultimate Level (Spin Master)
• Moose Games Team – Bluey: Here Comes the Grannies (Moose Toys)
• Moose Games Team – Crunch Labs: Squirrel Dash (Moose Toys)
• Matt Leacock – The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (Z-Man Games)

Debut of the Year (Sponsored by Eastar Game Manufacturing)

• Benjie Talbott – Tenby (Cosy Cub Games)
• Brady Smith – Graphic Novel Kit & Character Design Studio (Educational Insights)
• Dan Linden – Offshoots
• Diane Alber – A Little Spot Sensory Toys (All 4 Fun Toys)
• Florian Bohr – Kapti (Wilton Bradley)
• Heftzi Zion-Mozes & Limor Hershco – Simmer & Stir Stove-Top Playset (Melissa & Doug)
• Jason Tremblay – TACTA (The Op Games)
• Max Gelbert, Deb Raisner & David Raisner – Spellio (Jazwares)
• Pablo Clark – The Old King’s Crown (Eerie Idol Games)

Rising Star Award (Sponsored by Spin Master)

• Brooke Cherry (Big Potato)
• Emma Costa Lascelles (TOMY)
• Gareth Edwards (Frog Hall Games)
• Heftzi Zion-Mozes & Vered Bahat (2 Much Fun)
• Ian Clayman (Exploding Kittens)
• James Sheeler (Mattel)
• K.C. Schrimpl, Corey Schrimpl & Cameron Ring (Lost Boy Entertainment)
• Stephani Belmonte (Spin Master)
• Stephen Wilson (Ragged Owl Games)
• Tyler Morton (KidKenn)

Icon Award
This special award will be revealed on the night.