Ukrainian indie game based on a Tukoni books wins DevGAMM award

Ukrainian indie game “Tukoni: Forest Keepers” won in the Excellence in Visual Art category at the DevGAMM Awards 2025, a prestigious competition for independent developers and small studios.

Each year, the DevGAMM Awards honor the most exceptional indie projects. The competition offers a $100,000 prize fund and $35,000 in additional sponsor awards, with entries judged by over 150 industry experts. The awards ceremony was held on Nov. 7, 2025, during the DevGAMM conference in Lisbon.

“Oksana Bula created an extraordinary world filled with kindness, love, and respect for nature and the world around us — the world of Tukoni. Starting with the VR project ‘Getting to Know Tukoni’ and beyond, we are excited to work with this world and create new interactive journeys within it. ‘Tukoni: Forest Keepers’ is the largest and most ambitious project we have worked on (and are still working on!) together, and it’s great to see that even at the development stage, it is receiving global recognition,” Oleksii Furman, the game’s producer, said in a comment to Chytomo.

“Tukoni: Forest Keepers” is a cozy adventure game created by Dream Operator studio, based on the universe of Ukrainian artist Oksana Bula. Immersed in a hand-drawn world, the player explores a fairy-tale forest, helps animals, and solves puzzles. The game will be available in 20 languages, including Ukrainian.

The game is scheduled for release in 2026, but you can already play the demo version on Steam.

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Copy editing: Joy Tataryn