Today the Independent Game Festival (IGF) announced it’s shortlisted nominees for its 21st annual award ceremony, which celebrates the greatest and most innovative titles within the indie scene.
The awards will take place and winners announced Mar. 20, 2019 at 6:30 Pacific Time during the Game Developers Conference 2019 in San Francisco, CA. The event will be hosted by the previous IGF Award winner for Excellence in Narrative, Meg Jayanth for her work on the globe-gallivanting 80 Days.
Some of these indie hits have earned themselves multiple nominations, the most nominated title being the Return of the Obra Dinn, nominated for Excellence in Audio, Design, Visual Art, Narrative, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize of $50,000.
The monochromatic murder-mystery, Return of the Obra Dinn, by Lucas Pope, developer of 2013’s acclaimed Papers, Please (which earned itself a Short Film adaption) could be set to sweep the ceremony.
Set on the titular ghost ship, Obra Dinn has you don the role of a nameless insurance adjuster as you investigate the deaths of the felled crew.
Yet between granular, rogue-lite Noita and the miniature adventures of Minit, IGF competition is tough. The list of awards and nominees alongside Honorable Mentions are:
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 (Jat Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Honorable Mentions: Wandersong, Subnautica, Mirror Drop, Moss, Unavowed, Iconoclasts, Virtual Virtual Reality, Beat Saber
Excellence in Visual Art
- Forgotten 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, Wandersong, Subnautica, Moss, Iconoclasts, Guidlings, Paratopic
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, Holedown, Pikuniku, The Messenger, Distance, Wandersong, Wattam
Excellence in Design
- What the Golf? (Triband)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictorama 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, Carto, Black Room, JUMPGRID, Mirror Drop, Hypnospace Outlaw, Beat Saber
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, The Hex, Speed Dating for Ghosts, after HOURS, Fortune-499, Marie’s Room, Tango: The Adventure Game
Nuovo Award
- Circle0 (yesyes)
- eCheese Zone (Seemingly Pointless)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
- Black Room (Cassie McQuater)
- Paratopic (Arbitary Metric)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
- Nth Dimension[al] Hiking (Zachariah Chandler)
Honorable Mentions: All Our Asias, Hypnospace Outlaw, Cyberpet Graveyard, levedad, Subserial Network, macdows 95, The Norwood Suite, Nerve Damage
Best Student Game
- It’s Paper Guy! (Paper Team)
- Grace Bruxner Presents: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (Grace Bruxner)
- After HOURS (Bahiya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel)
- En Garde! (En Garde! Team)
- levedad (solimporta)
- Sole (Gossamer Games)
Honorable Mentions: We Should Talk, Coffin Rot Brewing Co., Fling to the Finish, Indecision, Seasons, supertype, Atlas’ Fate: Between Light and Darkness, Marbloid
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