Google Play Awards winners announced: Clash Royale nabs Best Game, Houzz Best App

Google I/O is a great time for Google to announce cool new apps and features to a global consumer audience. But, before anything else, Google I/O is dedicated to developers, the hard working people who collectively built the Android ecosystem.

At I/O 2016, Google is honoring the best Android developers with the first edition of the Google Play Awards. Google picked the best developer, app, or game out of five nominees for each of the ten categories. The nominees were announced on April 21, and, as you would expect, the list is a who’s who of Android development.

Clash Royale, the new game from Supercell, the developer of Clash of Clans, took home the Best Game award, after a tight race against Alphabear, Clash of Kings, MARVEL Future Fight, and Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes.

The Best App award went to Houzz, an interior design app that beat out BuzzFeed News, Colorfy, TuneIn Radio, and Yummly.

While Alphabear lost the Best Game title, its developers were recognized with the Standout Indie award.

Google loves when developers create apps with Material Design, and this year, the app that impressed Googlers the most with its Material look and feel was Robinhood.

Virtual reality is a red hot trend right now, and Google’s new Daydream platform will ensure that more VR-ready devices and VR headsets will hit the stores in the coming months. It’s no surprise that the Play Store Awards honored a VR app with the title of Most Innovative: New York Times’ NYT VR.

Here’s the complete winners list, and make sure to check out the full nominee list as well:

• Best App – Houzz
• Best Families App – Thinkrolls 2
• Best Game – Clash Royale
• Best Use of Material Design – Robinhood
• Best Use of Google Play Services – Table Tennis Touch
• Early Adopter – World Around Me
• Go Global – Pokémon Shuffle Mobile
• Most Innovative – NYT VR
• Standout Indie – Alphabear
• Standout Startup – Hopper

Who would win your Best Game and Best App awards? Let us know in the comments!