Puzzling it out to find games award winner

MENTAL arithmetic, microscopic worlds and murder mysteries are among the subjects of the games nominated for this year's Edinburgh Interactive Entertainment Festival Edge Award.

The award, part of the annual video games festival being held later this year, aims to highlight games which have shown a new innovation or set a new standard of excellence.

Among the shortlisted games are Brain Training, which includes elements of mental arithmetic, Dickens readings and memory tests, Electroplankton, which is set in a microscopic world of musical microbes, and Fahrenheit, an innovative murder mystery which lets gamers play as both the police and the killer.

Also nominated for the award are snowboarding game Amped 3, violent shoot-em-up Killer 7 and fantasy favourite Dragon Quest VIII.

The winner of the award will be announced at a reception in the Jam House on August 21.

The fourth annual festival will once again feature a major conference featuring industry figures from around the world, as well as game screenings which give members of the public a chance to learn more about the creators of video games.