With the Game Developers Conference fast approaching, the nominees for this year’s IGF Awards have been announced, with 60 finalists competing for accolades across seven distinct categories.
The Independent Games Festival (IGF), which takes place on March 1, pulled together a panel of judges to review more than 650 submissions — down from last year’s 750 — and it’s Inside, Virginia and Hyper Light Drifter that have emerged as the early frontrunners. Fullbright dev Nina Freeman will host the ceremony, who is currently busy developing the studio’s sophomore title Tacoma. Expect the event to be livestreamed through the official GDC Twitch channel, while you’ll be able to find the full, comprehensive list of nominees down below.
Best Student Game
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month)
Lily, Colors of Santa Luz (Lily, Colors of Santa Luz Team)
Un Pas Fragile (PAF team)
FAR: Lone Sails (Mr. Whale’s Game Service/Mixtvision)
Frog Climbers (TeamCrew)
Bamboo Heart (Sokpop Collective)Honorable Mentions: Awkward Dimensions Redux (StevenHarmonGames), DYO (Team DYO), Code 7 — Episode 0: Allocation (Goodwolf Studio) and You Must be 18 or Older to Enter (Seemingly Pointless).
Excellence in Audio
The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
GoNNER (Art in Heart)
Virginia (Variable State)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
Everything (David OReilly)
Inside (Playdead)Honorable Mentions: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories), Kingdom: New Lands (Noio), Dropsy (Tendershoot, A Jolly Corpse), Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month), Sentris (Timbre Interactive) and TumbleSeed (TumbleSeed Team).
Excellence in Design
Imbroglio (Michael Brough)
Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavour Games)
Duskers (Misfits Attic)
Overcooked (Ghost Town Games)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)Honorable Mentions: She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment), Elsinore (Golden Glitch Studios), Inside (Playdead), Antihero (Tim Conkling), Replica (Somi) and Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions).
Excellence in Narrative
Ladykiller in a Bind (Love Conquers All Games)
1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories)
Virginia (Variable State)
Orwell (Osmotic Studios)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
One Night Stand (Kinmoku)Honorable Mentions: A Normal Lost Phone (Accidental Queens), The Lion’s Song (Mi’pu’mi Games), Far from Noise (George Batchelor), Inside (Playdead), Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe), Burly Men at Sea (Brain&Brain) and Sorcery! 4 (inkle/Steve Jackson).
Excellence in Visual Art
The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
Inside (Playdead)
Virginia (Variable State)
Old Man’s Journey (Broken Rules)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment)Honorable Mentions: Inks (State of Play), Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall), Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet); Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play), Sundered (Thunder Lotus Games) and Un Pas Fragile (PAF team).
Nuovo Award
Islands: Non-Places (Carlburton)
Close (Tobias Zarges and Moritz Eberl)
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month)
Oiκοςpiel, Book I (David Kanaga)
Everything (David OReilly)
Virginia (Variable State)
Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet)
Lieve Oma (Florian Veltman)Honorable Mentions: Memoir En Code: Reissue (Alex Camilleri), Far from Noise (George Batchelor), Ladykiller in a Bind (Love Conquers All Games), Witchball (S.L.Clark), Project Perfect Citizen (Bad Cop Studios), Wheels of Aurelia (Santa Ragione) and Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games).
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Inside (Playdead)
Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe)
Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
Overcooked (Ghost Town Games)Honorable Mentions: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories), Orwell(Osmotic Studios), Imbroglio (Michael Brough), Virginia (Variable State), Duskers (Misfits Attic) and Oiκοςpiel, Book I (David Kanaga).
The Independent Games Festival takes place on March 1.
[Source: IGF]
