August 30, 2025 marked the end of YRGB 2025 — an international retro game development competition for the legendary ZX Spectrum computer, held under the auspices of Yandex.
A jury consisting of gaming industry professionals studied the submitted works and evaluated their gameplay, graphics, and sound. The sum of scores in each of these three categories determined the YRGB 2025 winners who received cash prizes.
We thank all the authors who created games for the competition and wish them continued creative success. We express our gratitude to the players who voted for the "Audience Choice Award". And, of course, we congratulate the winners. GG WP!
Player rating (here and below): weighted average rating of site visitors, taking into account the number of voters and excluding dishonest votes.
Download the archive with high-resolution images of the medals and YRGB logos (to show off your victory on social media, print on a T-shirt, and so on):
The game takes place in the distant universe, where the laws of geometry and physics were subject to symmetry and harmony, there lived an amazing people - the Cubics. Their world was built of perfect cubes: cubic towers rose into a cubic sky, cubic cities shimmered with cubic features. At the heart of this world lay the Sacred Talisman - a magical die that radiated balance and order.
But one day, a mysterious villain appeared from the Shadow Dimension - Hexatron, the Lord of Chaos. He hated the perfection of the Cubics and wanted to bring disorder to their harmony. Hexatron stole the Talisman and, using dark magic, split it into six separate faces. Each was hidden at the top of a Great Tower, filled with labyrinths, traps and trials.
Our hero - Bix - an ordinary Cubic who somehow escaped the curse, decides to challenge fate, resolving to climb each of the towers, overcome the treacherous trials, collect each fragment of the Talisman and restore it to order. Only then will Hexatron be banished and peace returned to his people.
The game genre is a puzzle platformer with elements of metroidvania. The game has 6 large locations ("towers"), unlike each other, more than 10 various game mechanics, cute characters and mind-blowing logical puzzles. As the game progresses, the main character gains more and more abilities, allowing him to pass the "towers" non-linearly (i.e. in different ways and routes), the mechanics of the towers change, and the complexity of the puzzles increases.*
Micro Man23.09.2025В техническом отношении полный восторг, конечно. Геймплейно при этом игра неуловимо напоминает Nothing того же автора. Там мне для прохождения понадобился миллион сохранений, и игра показалась ориентированной на профессионалов-спидранеров. Надеюсь, история не повторится.
Earth, the year 3025. After surviving a series of global catastrophes, humanity managed to avoid extinction and build a truly perfect society. But suddenly, a new threat emerged. Through a wormhole, Earth was drawn into a war between two powerful civilizations controlling thousands of galaxies beyond the visible part of the universe. The small planet held no interest for them, but the people caught in the crossfire faced total annihilation. Humanity had nothing to counter the aggression that had descended upon them. There was only one option left: to try to survive. Billions of cyborgs living alongside humans were retrained for a new task — the art of war...*
Charlie31.08.2025После закрытия сайта Zosya, на котором я купил 6 кассет с моими любимыми играми, я не расчитывал увидеть новые игры от этих разработчиков, но чудеса случаются! Я счастлив, что вы с нами, пускай и под другим брендом, для меня ваши игры лучшие! Asymmetry - 10 из 10.
Travel Unlimited is a spin-off of the Travel Through Time series. There’s no storyline here, but the speeds are even higher, and there are options to upgrade your cars. And, of course, plenty of classic cars. In addition, the game also runs on 48K.*
Brave knight, in the heat of your final battle, death has swept you away. You were able to bargain with her to bring you back to life in exchange for your soul, and she agreed. But to do so, you must escape the castle of twilight and its many halls filled with creatures that will want to kill you if you don't eliminate them first. Good luck on your quest, knight. The die is cast.*
It’s very simple: connect colored cubes in a row to make them disappear. A row must consist of at least three cubes and can be diagonal, and consecutive combos double your points. Every 100 cleared combinations, the level increases, shapes move faster, tension rises, and the fun grows! And if you make it to the leaderboard, you’ll be able to watch a replay of your game.*
Micro Man23.09.2025Похожие игры выпускали в перерывах между демомейкингом известные команды на постсоветском пространстве под конец спектрумовской эпохи. Простая неоригинальная идея и исполнение на очень высоком уровне. Поностальгировал.
The goal is to pilot a spaceship to fill empty spaces inside shapes, aiming to form perfect rectangles. With each level, the speed of incoming shapes increases, testing the player’s reaction time. Along the way, you’ll encounter bonuses that can either help or hinder your progress. Expect smooth gameplay at 50 frames per second and plenty of visual effects.*
КлириЯ23.08.2025ооочень хорошо сделана гама, визуально красиво, геймплейно плавна и отзывчива, правда жанр на любителя, да и идея не оригинал, но играется отлично
You are called to lead Tobolsk — the first city in Siberia, founded by Russians in 1587 at the confluence of the great Tobol and Irtysh rivers. It was here that the first stone church and the only kremlin east of the Urals appeared. Until the 20th century, it was the center of the Siberian Governorate, which once stretched from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean. Your task is to restore the city’s former glory and turn it into a modern metropolis. Build housing, infrastructure, transportation, and industry, and the population will grow, bringing wealth and prosperity to the city!*
Home do Concurso04.09.2025Three participants on this contest bring game styles not seen very often on the Speccy, due to the memory limitations of the "official" machines but also because these game genres only became a trend after the end of the ZX's commercial life by the early 90s.
While it's true there was a Sim City before (Infogrames), this new offer brings fresh, relevant mechanics and aspects. Good as it is, it deserves to be developed further, because we have another classic on the making here!
The adventures of a nose that ran away from its owner. Influence people and more using scents. A short but versatile game with nonlinear gameplay and multiple endings.*
Micro Man23.09.2025Отличная идея и исполнение. Графика и стиль напомнили другую спектрумовскую игру, Zorro. Минимализм, но создает некую атмосферу загадочности. Юмор сдержанный и уместный. Биперная музыка — всегда плюс. Игра недооценена, мне кажется.
Try to establish a settlement on an icy island and survive among snow and blizzards. Melt the ice, build houses, hire people, and fight cyclones. Turn a lifeless frozen wasteland into a paradise.*
Home do Concurso04.09.2025Cool (pun unintended) resource management strategy game. We saw many these for PC but not the Speccy, maybe because Civilization only came out in 1991, when the ZX was already in the final run of its commercial era. If you like the type, definitely check this out.
It deserves further improvement for a 128K-specific version making use of the extra RAM!
(As a side note, why would anyone complain about lack of a Joystick option for a turn-based strategy game, the Gods will know...)
The goal of the game is to protect your charge. You play as a sniper bodyguard. The game is made in the classic Spectrum style. It contains references to various computer games and media products.*
The sky tore open, and horror emerged from space. But we had the Galacic Nexus, a ship of unparalleled power, which, piloted by a valiant hero, brought hope back to Earth. Its mission: to traverse the stellar voids toward the core of evil to destroy the threat at its source.*
Micro Man23.09.2025Как-то не очень цепляет, нет изюминки какой-то. Кроме того, корабль "не чувствуется в руке", странное ощущение при управлении, для игр этого жанра это серьезный недостаток.
Home do Concurso04.09.2025Very interesting and original concept. It's obvious there wasn't time to come up with a full finished version for this contest, but the potential lying in there is enormous.
Here's my hope and encouragement for the author to keep developing it, and if that's the case I'm sure that an important game (because it's so different from the usual offerings in the ZX universe) will come out of it, and it will become a classic!
"Attack" is a tactical game for 1–2 players. Two armies — yellow and red — face off. The goal is to capture the enemy Headquarters or destroy their entire army. Players can collect weapon crates, plant mines, and use them to influence the course of the battle. Press 'R' key after victory for continue.*
"Generals" is a strategy game for 1–2 players. The goal is to capture all the Cities on the map. The player must explore the map, discover Cities, Mines, and Factories, capture them, build armies, wage war, and prove that they are the best General. To start the mission, press the "L" key.*
Plummet30.08.2025Подобрал оружие, нажал W и попытался использовать. Игра 1 раз бипнула и повисла: никакой реакции на кнопки. Плюс ждёшь прорисовку поля почти столько же, сколько ходишь, а чтобы она вообще началась надо клацать L. Идея любопытная, но реализация её не тянет.
The Messiah is back on earth and now comes packed with two guns! The goal is simple: shoot anything that moves. Just don't let the guns overheat! Gunman Messiah is a vertical shooter / mild bullet hell game for Spectrum 16K (or better).*
Micro Man23.09.2025Выйди игра в 1982—1984 гг.., ее, наверное, мог бы взять под крыло какой-нибудь бюджетный издатель. Управление отзывчивое, плавный скроллинг, Но в остальном... Krappygamez? Разве что за самоиронию плюс.
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