Danish ITU alumni win awards at the Apple App Store Awards
Two alumni from the IT University of Copenhagen have received the highly prestigious Apple Arcade Game of the Year award for the game WHAT THE CLASH?. This is the second time this year that a Danish company with ties to ITU has gained recognition from Apple.
Written 13 March, 2026 13:31
First, the company Tiimo won the main prize App of the Year for their planning app, and then Triband received honors for the game WHAT THE CLASH?
“It is a huge recognition to receive this award. For the company, it means that many more people will discover our fantastic game. There is always tough competition and an incredible number of amazing games on the market, so it’s wild that we can feel among the best at what we do,” says creative director Tim Garbos.
Aiming for laughter
The award-winning game, WHAT THE CLASH?, is the fourth game Triband has developed in the WHAT THE series. The first game, WHAT THE GOLF?, is a comedy game for people who don’t like golf. What characterizes the game series is their focus on making people laugh.
“We want to create the kinds of games that we believe have a positive impact on the world. There are plenty of bad things you can spend time on in front of a screen, so we focus on what makes you laugh and have fun. Simply making what we ourselves think is good. And fortunately, we have seen that the WHAT THE universe has worked and made many people happy around the world. We create fun, strange, and wonderful worlds that you can explore and play in. They are family-friendly games of very high quality — and it works fantastically!” says Tim Garbos.
An alternative approach to business
Triband released their first game, WHAT THE GOLF?, in 2019, and from the beginning they have taken an approach to business where creativity is the top priority.
“We didn’t come with a business plan, spreadsheets, and market analyses. We set out to create games that we felt the world needed. Our business is built around creativity and passion rather than spreadsheets,” says Tim Garbos.
The IT University helped along the way
Tim Garbos holds a BA in Software Development from the IT-University and Tribands Game Director, Daniel Traun-Terkelsen earned his Master’s degree in Game Design, also at ITU. They are both convinced that their time at the IT University has played a major role in their creative success. One instructor in particular has had a great influence on their approach to game development: the head of the Computer Games Research section, Miguel Sicart.
“One of the mantras Miguel drilled into me was, ‘Don’t make games, make people play.’ That has meant a lot for my approach to game development,” says Daniel Traun-Terkelsen.
“Another lesson was that when you make ordinary software, it’s about minimizing the number of clicks and processes so everything is as smooth as possible. With games, it’s more about creating a playground, and the goal becomes secondary. That’s what we want — to create a playground for the player — and the IT University has helped shape that ambition,” says Tim Garbos.
Jari Kickbusch, phone 7218 5304, email jark@itu.dk