Riverboat Games announced as winner of Dare Academy 2025

Abertay University’s prestigious DARE Academy 2025 games design competition has officially concluded, with Riverboat Games named the overall winner.

Their game, 'Galactic Postal Servitude', is a distinctive simulation puzzle game set in an intergalactic post office, where players manage packages for a wide range of alien customers, each with their own unique requirements.

The awards ceremony marked the culmination of the annual summer-long competition, which brings together student teams from across Abertay’s video games degree programmes. Supported by industry mentors, the teams developed a diverse array of prototype games that demonstrated strong technical execution and thoughtful design across various genres and gameplay styles.

Riverboat Games team leader Lucinda Shale said:

We’re all absolutely thrilled to have won DARE Academy 2025! Huge thanks to the Abertay staff, our industry mentors, the judges, and the sponsors for their support, and to the other teams for making the competition such an inspiring and memorable experience. Having our work recognised like this is incredibly rewarding - it makes us even more excited for what’s ahead, and I couldn’t be prouder of the team for their passion and hard work over the past few months.

Fishbowl Studio was named runner-up for Adorate, a fast-paced real-time strategy game in which players assume the role of a god, possessing followers to defend their base, expand their cult, and unlock divine powers.

This year’s ceremony took place at the CoSTAR Realtime Lab, Water’s Edge, Dundee, with finalists joined by industry guests. In addition to the winning teams, finalists included Hyperfix, Final Prism Interactive, Cosmic Coda, and Bonny Bandits, all of whom showcased their games at the event.

DARE Academy 2025 was proudly sponsored by long-standing partners Lindsays and Henderson Loggie, whose continued support has been vital to the competition’s success.

Dr Dayna Galloway, Head of the Department of Games and Arts, said:

We’re incredibly proud of our brilliant DARE Academy students, whose imaginative and engaging games showcase outstanding technical ability and creative vision. We say it every year—but the level of talent continues to rise, and this year is no exception. A sincere thank you to our sponsors and partners for their invaluable support. Their time, mentorship, and expertise have played a key role in helping our teams develop professionally and gain insights that will stay with them throughout their careers.