Independent Games Festival 2019 Finalists Announced
Finalists announced for this years IGF award ceremony
The nominations are in! The finalists for this year’s Independent Games Festival awards have been announced. The awards ceremony will take place on March 20th during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Franciso this year. This is the 21st year the awards have been run and is always a great celebration of indie games from the previous year. IGF Award winners are set to win more than $50,000 of prizes in various categories, including the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
2018 was an absolute riot of a year for indie games and it is great to see so many different ones in the running for these awards. There are some which have made the shortlist in multiple categories, which is even more fantastic. Games such as Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope and Noita by Nolla Games are up for more than one award.
Check out the full list of finalists below!
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann)
Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
Noita (Nolla Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Honorable Mentions: Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit); Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment); Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley); Moss (Polyarc); Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games); Iconoclasts (Joakim Sandberg); Virtual Virtual Reality(Tender Claws); Beat Saber (Beat Games)
Excellence in Visual Art
Forgotton Anne (ThroughLine Games)
Alto’s Odyssey (Team Alto)
Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
Just Shapes & Beats (Berzerk Studio)
Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Honorable Mentions: Beat Saber (Beat Games); Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit); Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment); Moss (Polyarc); Iconoclasts(Joakim Sandberg); Guildlings (Sirvo Studios); Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
Excellence in Audio
ETHEREAL (Nonsense Arts – Nicolás Recabarren and Tomás Batista)
Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
Moss (Polyarc)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Alto’s Odyssey (Team Alto)
Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
Honorable Mentions: Creaks (Amanita Design); Holedown (grapefrukt games); Pikuniku (Sectordub); The Messenger (Sabotage); Distance (Refract Studios); Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit); Wattam (Funomena)
Excellence in Design
What the Golf? (Triband)
Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Noita (Nolla Games)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Dicey Dungeons (Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, and Marlowe Dobbe)
Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
Honorable Mentions: Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment); Carto (SunheadGames); Black Room (Cassie McQuater); JUMPGRID (Ian MacLarty); Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley); Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran); Beat Saber (Beat Games)
Excellence in Narrative
Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit)
Genital Jousting (Free Lives)
Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games)
Seers Isle (Nova-box)
Watch Me Jump (Jeremy Gable)
Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Honorable Mentions: Do Not Feed The Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios); The Hex (Daniel Mullins Games)
Speed Dating for Ghosts (Copychaser Games); after HOURS (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel); Fortune-499 (AP Thomson); Marie’s Room (like Charlie); Tango: The Adventure Game (Gualicho Games)
Nuevo Award
Circle0 (yesyes)
eCheese Zone (Seemingly Pointless)
Noita (Nolla Games)
Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
Black Room (Cassie McQuater)
Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Nth Dimension[al] Hiking (Zachariah Chandler)
Honorable Mentions: All Our Asias (Sean Han Tani); Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran); Cyberpet Graveyard (alienmelon); levedad (solimporta); Subserial Network (Aether Interactive); macdows 95(gamebra.in); The Norwood Suite (Cosmo D); Nerve Damage (Dennis Carr)
Best Student Game
It’s Paper Guy! (Paper Team)
Grace Bruxner Presents: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (Grace Bruxner)
After HOURS (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel)
En Garde! (En Garde! Team)
levedad (solimporta)
Sole (Gossamer Games)
Honorable Mentions: We Should Talk (HeartBeetStudio); Coffin Rot Brewing Co.(Rosser-McGraw Studio); Fling to the Finish (SplitSide Games); Indecision. (Bilge Kaan); Seasons (David Su and Dominique Star); supertype (Philipp Stollenmayer); Atlas’ Fate: Between Light and Darkness (Baby Robot Games); Marbloid (Supyrb)
If you hold a GDC 2019 pass, you can attend the IGF Awards but if you aren’t heading to San Franciso in March, the awards will be streamed live via Twitch.