2015 was without a doubt one of the most emotional years of recent memory in gaming. With titles such as Life is Strange, Ori and the Blind Forest and more released, there was no shortage of games having you reach for a Kleenex. A number of game developers, designers, and other industry professionals will form a judging body over seven different categories for the 1st annual Emotional Game Awards as announced today.

Now, of course the question is "What is an emotional game?" Is it when you go 32 and 2 with your K/D in Battlefield? Or is it when you make the buzzer beating 3-pointer in 2K? The answer is none of these. According the founder of the Emotional Game Awards Dr. Erik Geslin "Many scientific researches show how the emotional feeling of the players influences the quality of the immersion and the feeling of presence in the video games. It is to this end, to improve, to question and also to highlight emotional experiences of quality, that we humbly give out these awards."

Although the complete panel of judges hasn't been announced, a short list of initial names were revealed as Marc Albinet (Ubisoft – Game Director of Assassin’s Creed Unity); Florent Aziosmanoff (co-founder of the Cube); Thierry Frey (Siggraph); Vincent Martel(Frima – Executive Producer); Claire Noel (King Digital Entertainment – Art Director); Nikolaus Roche-Kresse (Cinema In-Game Developer for Ubisoft) and Erik Geslin, founder of the Emotional Games Awards. 

The voting begins tomorrow, January 15th and lasts through the 5th of February. Votes will then be tallied and winners announced on February 12th, 2016. The complete list of seven awards and their nominess can be seen below compliments of the official site.

Best Emotional Game Nominees

Beyond Eyes (Tiger&Squid – Team 17 Digital Ltd) 
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room – Sony) 
Her Story (Sam Barlow) 
Life Is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment – Square Enix Limited) 
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) (E-line media) 
Ori And The Blind Forest (Moon Studios – Microsoft)

Best Emotional Artistic Game Achievement Nominees

Beyond Eyes (Tiger&Squid – Team 17 Digital Ltd) 
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room – Sony) 
MIND: Path to Thalamus Enhanced Edition (Mind Dev Team – Talking about Media) 
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) (E-line media) 
Ori And The Blind Forest (Moon Studios – Microsoft) 
Sunless Sea ( Failbetter Games)

Best Emotional Game Design Nominees

Emily is Away (Kyle Seeley) Her Story (Sam Barlow) 
Life Is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment – Square Enix Limited) 
Out of sight (ISART Digital) 
Papo & Yo (OS X & Linux) (Minority Media Inc) 
Star Sky (JMJ Interactive)

Best Emotional VR Game Nominees

Home is Where One Starts…(David Wehle) 
MIND: Path to Thalamus Enhanced Edition (Mind Dev Team – Talking about Media) 
Sens (Red Corner) 
The Unknown Photographer (Turbulent – The National FIlm Board of Canada)

Best Emotional Mobile & Handheld Nominees

Cloud Chasers – Journey of Hope (Blindflug Studios) 
Discouraged Workers (Yggdrasil Studio) 
Her Story (Sam Barlow) 
Lost in Harmony (Digixart) 
Out there (Mi-Clos Studio) 
Spirits of Spring (Minority Media Inc)

Best Emotional Music Game Nominees

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room – Sony) 
Life Is Strange (Dontnod Entertainment – Square Enix Limited) 
Lost in Harmony (Digixart) 
Lumini (Speelbars – Rising star games) 
Ori And The Blind Forest (Moon Studios – Microsoft) 
Void and Meddler (No CVT- Mi-Clos)

Best Emotional Indie Game Nominees

Among the Sleep (Krillbite Studio) 
Emily is Away (Kyle Seeley) 
Sunless Sea ( Failbetter Games) 
That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games) 
Venti Mesi (We are Müesli) Wheels of Aurelia (Santa Ragione)