Nico Valdivia Hennig

Recognitions + CV

Awards, fellowships, festival selections, residencies and public funds, for my games and my research.

Download CV (PDF)Full CV, updated September 2026

Game Awards & Accolades

  • 2025Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant [Dreamhealer] Grant supporting innovative puzzle design, with one year of professional mentorship. Draknek & Friends. 2025. – $15,000 USD.
  • 2025Google Play Indie Games Fund Grant for high-potential indie games in Latin America, supporting publication of an original game on Google Play. Google. 2025. – $200,000 USD.
  • 2024Nominee: Explorer Award [Hawk & Puma] AMaze/Berlin, Arthouse Games & Playful Media Festival. Berlin, Germany.
  • 2024Nominee: BIG Impact: Social Matters [Hawk & Puma] Gamescom Latam / BIG Festival. São Paulo, Brazil.
  • 2024Nominee: BIG Impact: Best Diversity Game [Hawk & Puma] Gamescom Latam / BIG Festival. São Paulo, Brazil.
  • 2023Nominee: Best Audio [Cuteland] EVA Awards. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 2023Nominee: Best Mobile [Cuteland] EVA Awards. Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 2022Indie Games Accelerator, Google Play [Cuteland] Three-month training program for high-potential indie game studios. USA & Singapore.
  • 2022Honorable Mention: Games For Change [Cuteland] G4C. USA.
  • 2021Best Chilean Videogame Studio [Niebla Games] Old Spice Hall of Fame. Santiago, Chile.
  • 2019Best Game Design [Cuteland] EVA Awards. Córdoba, Argentina.
  • 2019Best Multiplayer [Causa] Indie Playground. DreamHack Summer. Jönköping, Sweden.
  • 2019Best Game [Cuteland] Deconstruction Workshop. White Nights. St. Petersburg, Russia.
  • 20191st Place: Game Pitch Championship [Cuteland] DreamHack Summer. Jönköping, Sweden.
  • 2019Nominee: Indie Prize [Cuteland] Casual Connect. London, UK.
  • 2019Nominee: Best Indie Game [Cuteland] Digital Dragons. Krakow, Poland.
  • 20182nd Place: Big Indie Pitch [Causa] Gamescom. Cologne, Germany.
  • 20183rd Place: Big Indie Pitch [Cuteland] Chinajoy. Shanghai, China.
  • 20153rd Place: Creative Business Cup [Causa] Santiago, Chile.
  • 2015Best Pitch [Niebla Games] Balmaceda Arte Joven. Valparaíso, Chile.

Academic Awards & Fellowships

  • 2026–27Dissertation Program Award UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA. 2026 - 2027. – $11,500 per quarter (declined).
  • 2025–26Graduate Student Dissertation Grant University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI). CA, USA. 2025 - 2026. – $1,000.
  • 2025Distinguished Teaching Award (Honorable Mention). Campus-wide recognition for excellence in teaching. Graduate Division, UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA.
  • 2025University Teaching Certificate UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA.
  • 20253rd Place at UCR Grad Slam A research communication competition. UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA. 2025. – $1,000.
  • 2025Audience's Choice Award at CHASS UCR Grad Slam A research communication competition. College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA.
  • 2025Conference Award Grant to organize larger-scale, public-facing research presentations and conferences. Center for Ideas and Society, UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA. 2025. – $5,000.
  • 2025Humanities Graduate Student Research Grant Center for Ideas and Society, UC Riverside, CA. 2025. – $625.
  • 20252nd Place at ORCA Open Research and Creative Activities Competition (ORCA), Orbach Science Library, UC Riverside. Riverside, CA, USA.
  • 2025Summer Research Grant Hispanic Studies, UC Riverside. Riverside, CA. 2025. – $550.
  • 2024–25Speculative Play and Just Futurities Fellowship An academic and artistic fellowship for research-creation. Indiana University, Indianapolis, supported by the Mellon Foundation. Indianapolis, IN. 2024 - 2025. – $5,000.
  • 2024–25Barricelli Memorial Award for Interdisciplinary Research Comparative Literature and Languages. UC Riverside. Riverside, CA. 2024 - 2025. – $9,000.
  • 2024–25Health Humanities and Disability Justice Fellowship Health Humanities and Disability Justice (HHDJ) Lab, UC Riverside, CA. 2024 - 2025. – $2,000.
  • 2024–25Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts Gluck Foundation and UC Riverside, CA. 2024 - 2025. – $5,000.
  • 2024Humanities Graduate Student Research Grant Center for Ideas and Society, UC Riverside, CA. 2024. – $1,500.
  • 2024Summer Research Grant Hispanic Studies, UC Riverside, CA. 2024. – $550.
  • 2023–24Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts Gluck Foundation and UC Riverside, CA. 2023 - 2024. – $5,000.
  • 2023–24Summer Research Grant Hispanic Studies, UC Riverside, CA. 2023 - 2024. – $1,500.
  • 2022–23Gluck Fellows Program of the Arts Gluck Foundation and UC Riverside, CA. 2022 - 2023. – $5,000.
  • 2020Dean's Distinguished Fellowship Award UC Riverside, CA.
  • 2019Pacific Alliance Youth Fellowship Pacific Alliance / Nestlé. Mexico City, Mexico.
  • 2012Azul Award for Student Creativity Welfare Directorate of the University of Chile. Recipients Maureen Berho & Nico Valdivia Hennig. 2012. – $1,500.
  • 2010Student Initiatives Fund - CONFIA Student Affairs Office, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso. Valparaíso, Chile. 2010. – $400.
  • 2008Ruben Castro Honorary Scholarship for the Highest Regional Score in the National University Selection Test in History & Social Sciences. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile.

Official Selections & Exhibits

  • 2025NowPlayThis. Festival of Experimental Game Design [Hawk & Puma] London, UK.
  • 2024Artgames Showcase. GAIA, Game Arts International Assembly. [Hawk & Puma] Online.
  • 2024Royal Danish Library Selection. Culture Night in Copenhagen. [Hawk & Puma] Online.
  • 2024Game Devs of Color Expo. GDoC. [Hawk & Puma] Online.
  • 2024BIG Festival / Gamescom Latam. [Hawk & Puma] Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  • 2024AMaze / Berlin. Arthouse Games & Playful Media. [Hawk & Puma] Berlin, Germany.
  • 2024SLSArcade. Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts. [Hawk & Puma] Dallas, TX, USA.
  • 2023EVA Expo. [Cuteland] Buenos Aires, Argentina.
  • 2023Chile Games Conference. [Dreamhealer] Santiago, Chile.
  • 2022TactiCon. [Causa] Hooded Horse & Firesquid, Steam. Online.
  • 2021Art Games. Nodo/Game On!. [Hawk & Puma] Argentina. Online.
  • 2020Indie Showcase. Digital Dragons. [Causa] Krakow, Poland. Online.
  • 2020INDIGO. Dutch Game Garden. [Causa] Netherlands. Online.
  • 2019Indie Live Expo. [Causa] INDIE Live Expo Board. Online.
  • 2019Indie Showcase, Game Access. [Causa] Brno, Czech Republic.
  • 2019Indie Bits Festival. [Causa] Columbia, SC, USA.
  • 2019Indie Showcase. Digital Dragons. [Causa] Krakow, Poland.
  • 2019Indie Showcase. White Nights. [Cuteland] Saint Petersburg, Russia.
  • 2019Indie Pod. MEGA MIGS. [Causa] Montreal, Canada.
  • 2019Indie Showcase. White Nights. [Cuteland] Saint Petersburg, Russia.
  • 2019Latam Game Showcase. EVA. [Causa] Córdoba, Argentina.
  • 2018Indie Game Area. Tokyo Game Show. [Causa] Tokyo, Japan.
  • 2018Busan Indie Connect Festival. [Causa] Busan, Korea.
  • 2018Indie Megabooth. PAX West. [Causa] Seattle, WA, USA.
  • 2018Indie Megabooth. PAX East. [Causa] Boston, MA, USA.
  • 2018Indie Megabooth. PAX East. [Hegemony] Boston, MA, USA.
  • 2018Indie Showcase. PAX East. [Cuteland] Boston, MA, USA.
  • 2018Chilean Showcase. Spiel. [Hegemony] Essen, Germany.
  • 2018Latam Showcase. MICBR. [Causa] Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  • 2017Chilean Showcase. Festigame. [Causa] Santiago, Chile.
  • 2016Latam Showcase. MICSUR [Causa] Bogotá, Colombia.
  • 2016Chilean Showcase. Festigame. [Causa] Santiago, Chile.
  • 2015Educational Showcase. National Science Festival. [Guardians of Chile] Viña, Chile.
  • 2014National Showcase. Fan Viña. [Careta] Viña, Chile.
  • 2013National Showcase. Fan Viña. [Causa] Viña, Chile.
  • 2013Chilean Showcase. Medieval Festival. [Causa] Viña del Mar, Chile.

Residencies & Accelerator Programs

  • 2024–25Speculative Play and Just Futurities A residency, teaching, and community engagement program imagining new futures focused on social justice for emerging scholars and artist to develop a research-creation project through speculative play. Awarded by Indiana University, Indianapolis, & the Mellon Foundation. IN, USA. 2024 - 2025.
  • 2024Short-Term Artist Residency at the Tube Factory Artspace One-month artistic residency at the Tube Factory, Contemporary Art Museum & Community Space. Awarded by Big Car Collective. Indiana, IN, USA.
  • 2022Indie Games Accelerator, Google Play Three-month training program for high-potential indie game studios. Awarded by Google. USA & Singapore.
  • 20163IE Business Incubator Incubation program supporting technology-based startups. Awarded by 3IE, Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. Valparaíso, Chile.

Public Funds Obtained

  • 2024Audiovisual Fund [Dreamhealer] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. Chile. 2024. – $50,000.
  • 2024Audiovisual Production Fund [Dreamhealer] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. Chile. 2024. – $20,000.
  • 2021Audiovisual Fund [Dreamhealer] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. Chile. 2021. – $25,000.
  • 2018Audiovisual Unitary Projects Fund [Dreamhealer] CORFO. Chile. 2018. – $20,000.
  • 2018Audiovisual Fund [Causa] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. Chile. 2018. – $20,000.
  • 2018Audiovisual Distribution Fund [Causa] Chilean Economic Development Agency. Chile. 2018. – $15,000.
  • 2017National Design Fund [Hegemony] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. Chile. 2017. – $25,000.
  • 2017Audiovisual Submit [Cuteland] Chilean Economic Development Agency. Chile. 2017. – $25,000.
  • 2017Audiovisual Fund [Causa] Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage. Chile. 2017. – $20,000.
  • 2016Regional Program for Entrepreneurship Support [Causa] Chilean Economic Development Agency. Chile. 2016. – $25,000.
  • 2013Business Idea [Causa] SERCOTEC, Ministry for the Economy, Development, and Tourism. Chile. 2013. – $7,000.