Results
The 2023 PlayStation Vita Homebrew Competition has come to its end. We planned to release the results much sooner, but the last day surge of new submissions changed our plans. After all, we had to review everything as thoroughly as possible.
Thank you all for your patience, and let's cut to the chase, shall we?
Monetary prize winners 3 best in judges & public joint vote
1. Purified · $800,00
Judicial Vote: 23.80 / 25.00
Public Vote: 44 points
Total Score: 23.70 / 25.00
2 Old 4 Gaming I was blown away by Purified. This third person shooter looks great, has a brilliantly dark atmosphere and plays really well. The controls were well thought out and there are some great touches from a presentation perspective, like a few seconds of slow down to mark the end of a wave of enemies. Seeing this run on a Vita was just jaw dropping.
gl33ntwine I give Purified the highest score hoping that the developer continues their amazing work and brings more content to this game. Optimization-wise or gameplay-wise it already is in a better state than 95% commercial games released nowadays.
Cimmerian The most impressive submission of this contest, feels like it could be an official game released for the system. Like the art the ost and the action.
frangarcj Best entry of the contest. Like a commercial game. I'd make it faster but congrats.
SKGleba AMAZING on all fronts - great gameplay with superb soundtrack
2. VitaHOT · $530,00
Judicial Vote: 22.00 / 25.00
Public Vote: 29 points
Total Score: 20.18 / 25.00
2 Old 4 Gaming I love SUPERHOT and this remake for Vita was excellent. The developer recreated the gameplay really well and the number of levels available was impressive. It also had the same addictive qualities as SUPERHOT and kept me playing for a while. There are some imperfections in the presentation, but the fact this is running on Vita is amazing.
gl33ntwine VitaHot is one of the pleasant surprises of this contest for me. Despite a short development time (especially in comparison to some other entries), this is a complete game that I can see someone enjoying to the fullest, not less than a commercial release. Personally I'd like a bit more handholding through the controls and mechanics, and support for d-pad in menus. Performance is not the best here as well, but I should say that I wouldn't have noticed it if I didn't have a FPS counter on screen. Overall, great job, keep it up.
Cimmerian I played the VR game back ago, and honestly the experience feels quite identical so it's a very good recreation. Personally my favorite game on this contest
frangarcj I haven't played original game but it looks and plays great
SKGleba Great adaptation but feels a little clunky.
3. The World Ends With You: Solo Remix · $300,00
Judicial Vote: 20.40 / 25.00
Public Vote: 19 points
Total Score: 17.55 / 25.00
2 Old 4 Gaming I love the style of this game and it’s great to see it on Vita. This feels like a game Square Enix should have brought over themselves so I’m really glad it can now be played on Vita!
gl33ntwine One of the most desired and long-awaited ports for sure. Although I’m not a fan of the game myself, Hatoving clearly did a great job with this port.
Cimmerian Nice DS game port, but the fact that it use the touchscreen for everything makes it kind of annoying considering the finger hides the part of the screen you're touching and you can't really see what's happening underneath. Drawback of being a DS port I guess. Less finger oriented.
frangarcj I was going to make this one but I never have time :). Thanks!!!
SKGleba Plays great, made me order a DS copy to enjoy it natively :P
Non-monetary prize winners Original Game category
1. Dream Punk
Judicial Vote: 19.20 / 25.00
gl33ntwine Totally a highlight of FuHEN for me. I'd like to see some more polishing of controls and mechanics, but generally it's great. If it was released while the Vita was still supported, I guarantee it would have always been included in some "TOP-10 Vita Indie Games" next to the legends like FEZ, Limbo, and Super Meat Boy.
2. Feline Future
Judicial Vote: 19.00 / 25.00
2 Old 4 Gaming I was very impressed with Feline Future. The game played well and ran surprisingly fast on Vita. It has a lot of potential but there were some bugs that I found and the sound of shooting bullets felt a bit weak. With work, this could be really special.
3. Gnomopolis
Judicial Vote: 18.40 / 25.00
SKGleba Had me hooked - engaging gameplay, very few bugs, good maze design.
Non-monetary prize winners Utility category
1. ezRemote Client
Judicial Vote: 23.25 / 25.00
Cimmerian Nobody really tried to do a file manager since vitashell exist, but this one is incredble, even surpassing vitashell in itself. The double windows and the great UI makes it easy to transfer files to an ftp server, like easy backup for our psvita save games.
2. Vita TRP Builder
Judicial Vote: 18.50 / 25.00
frangarcj Essential utility for fancy developers.
3. Genki Vocab
Judicial Vote: 18.25 / 25.00
SKGleba Great design, with handwriting/drawing support i could see myself using this tool.
Non-monetary prize winners Game Port category
1. Late Shift
Judicial Vote: 21.40 / 25.00
2 Old 4 Gaming I’m really happy and impressed that Late Shift can now be played on Vita. The FMV looks great. There is some freezing when you make a decision but it doesn’t ruin the experience.
2. Professor Layton: Curious Village HD
Judicial Vote: 19.20 / 25.00
gl33ntwine I’m a sucker for puzzle games in general, have my thanks for not only introducing me to this series but also bringing it to the Vita. I didn't notice any issues with the port itself, and despite some controversies I saw in the community, personally for me playing something with portrait orientation on the Vita feels refreshing. Also quite easy to control when you’re taking a bus or a metro and can only stand up :)
3. Gone Home
Judicial Vote: 18.00 / 25.00
Cimmerian Another game that would fill a big gap in the PSVita library, but unlilke ‘Layton’, the performance is not enjoyable. The game is technically challenging so I'm not too surprised about this. But still. I hope there's more update to fix the performances.
Note: Due to the fact that Rinnegatamante already has the first place with Late Shift, Gone Home will receive the second place prize, and the third place prize will go to REDRIVER2 by OsirisX in accordance to our rules.
What's next?
We will contact all winners shortly and discuss the ways to deliver prizes to them, please stay tuned! You can find a spreadsheet with complete breakdown of public & judicial votes with comments here.
Thank you again to everyone who participated, donated, promoted, voted, and enjoyed the contest! Mayhaps, see you next year? ;)
See also the results of our previous contests: