Achimostawinan Games, an Indigenous-owned independent studio based in Hamilton, Ontario, won the 2022 Ubisoft Indie Series Ontario Grand Prize. The award came with $50,000, mentorship and financial counsel from Ubisoft and National Bank. The studio’s detective mystery Hill Agency: PURITY/decay gives its team a way to explore Indigenous storytelling on its own terms.
Who won the 2022 Ubisoft Indie Series in Ontario?
Ubisoft named Achimostawinan Games the Ontario Grand Prize winner on May 3, 2022. The prize included $50,000, plus mentorship and financial counsel from Ubisoft and National Bank. Ubisoft describes the Hamilton-based studio as Indigenous-owned; its name is a Cree phrase meaning “tell us a story.” Ubisoft Toronto’s winner announcement records the award and support.
The studio had also been a finalist in 2019, according to a 2023 Ubisoft Toronto interview. For founder Meagan Byrne and lead artist Sa’dekaronhes Esquivel, the later win offered a larger platform to discuss their work and culture—not proof by itself of commercial success or a broader change across the industry.
What is Hill Agency: PURITY/decay about?
Ubisoft describes the game as a detective mystery set in a future North America, with a private investigator solving cases across varied landscapes. In the interview, the team calls it an Indigenous cybernoir detective mystery. Those descriptions establish its premise and genre, without implying particular gameplay features or platform availability.
#1 Best Overall
- EXCITING THIRD EDITION: This edition of the Betrayal at the House on the Hill game is rich with horror-based content, gaming elements, and characters not seen in previous versions
- HAUNTED HOUSE TRAITOR GAME: Players must work together to survive the nightmare…but beware . The house turns one player against the others in this cooperative strategy game
- GREAT FOR NEW PLAYERS: This 3rd Edition of the game features artwork, rule books, trackers, and cards that will help new players navigate the game and jump right in
- MODULAR BOARD PIECES: The Betrayal at House on the Hill tabletop game features 50 blood-curdling scenarios. Each trip to the house promises fresh horrors and a new story is created every time you play
- MINIATURES BOARD GAME: The game includes 6 finely detailed character figures, each with a removable colored disc, and features 12 diverse characters not seen in previous editions
Ubisoft Toronto’s interview with Byrne and Esquivel centers the game as the project through which the team discusses its creative choices.
How did the team approach Indigenous representation?
Byrne says the team wanted Indigenous people in both key and less prominent roles so their perspectives would shape the game. She described the goal this way: “During the development of our game, it was really important for us to have as many Indigenous people as possible in key positions, and even in some non-key positions, to have their voices and perspectives reflected in the game.”
Rank #2
- AN ENTHUSIASANT THIRD EDITION: An edition of Betrayal at House on the Hill packed with horror-themed content, gameplay elements, and characters new to previous releases
- THE TRADITOR'S GAME IN THE HAUSTED HOME: In this strategy and cooperative game, players must team up to survive the nightmare but... attention One of the explorers will betray everyone else
- GREAT FOR NEW PLAYERS: graphics, instruction manuals, tokens and cards from this 3rd edition are much more visual and help new players get their way around the game immediately and start having fun right away
- MODULAR BOARD ELEMENTS - Betrayal at House on the Hill features 50 disturbing scenarios, thanks to which each visit to the house presents different horrors and a new story every time you play
- GAME MINIATURES: includes 6 highly detailed character pawns, each with a removable colored disc and 12 different and new characters than previous editions
The interview describes collaborators contributing to audio, set decoration and character modeling. This is an account of Achimostawinan Games’ own production approach, not a universal standard for what authentic Indigenous representation must look like. Indigenous creators and communities are not a single voice, and the interview does not claim otherwise.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does Byrne mean by storytelling through return?
Byrne connects theater and games with oral, performative storytelling. In her account, a storyteller can adjust pacing or explanation in response to an audience; a player, meanwhile, can return to a place in a game after learning more and understand it differently. She relates that experience to a technique she calls “the returning,” or Biskaabiiyaang.
Rank #3
- Secrets of Emerald Hill - Unique 1980's themed murder mystery game by Professor Puzzle.
- A unique murder mystery board game that will keep up to 8 players hooked with an exciting mystery
- Each character is hiding an explosive secret, but only one of them would go so far as murder. It's your job to decide who.
- The set contains 8 Invitations & envelopes, an instruction booklet, character backgrounds, costume ideas, secrets & dialogues, clues, place cards, suspicion & intrigue.
- Part of Professor Puzzle’s unique party game collection.
That comparison describes Byrne’s interpretation of how these forms can work. It is not a general definition of Biskaabiiyaang or a claim about every Indigenous storytelling tradition. Byrne says, “I believe that theater and games are the best media forms to tell our stories.” That is her view of the possibilities she sees in performance and interactive return, rather than an objective ranking of media.
What did the award mean to the studio?
Esquivel described the recognition as a change in visibility: “The Indie Series win catapulted us out of the sea of indie devs and gave us a platform to talk about our culture and our game.” Byrne likewise emphasized the importance of preserving a project’s intent, advising developers: “My advice is to stick to your guns and not let funders compromise it.” Both statements are the interviewees’ personal reflections, not guarantees about what awards or funding will do for other studios.
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