London mobile developer Space Ape was the big winner at the UK trade body TIGA's Games Industry Awards 2015.

Its fantasy strategy mobile game Rival Kingdoms won a public vote of 30,000 to scoop the Game of the Year award.

Meanwhile the studio was also voted by the Best Independent Studio by the expert panel of judges.

Happy apes

"We're over the moon to be winners at this year's TIGA awards. It's a great honor to be awarded Best Independent Studio, particularly given the stiff competition in the category," commented COO Simon Hade.

"We're especially proud that Rival Kingdoms was voted Game of the Year - it's amazing to receive that recognition from our players.

"It's also a huge testament to the hard work and dedication of the talented Space Ape team, who are continuously driving us forward and producing an epic pipeline of new games for 2016 and beyond."