We're a couple of months away from Independent Game Festival Awards #17, and so, in the spirit of competition, some finalists have been announced. The chosen hopefuls are distributed across multiple categories covering excellence in design, narrative, audio and art.
It's a pretty eclectic mix this year. A few PC Gamer writers, myself included, were among the hundreds of others involved in the initial judging process. That early list of entrants contained a wealth of weird and wonderful games. It's nice to see that, in picking the finalists, the jurors have drawn broadly from that pool.
The nominees for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize are an equally diverse in style and scope. In the running for the main award are philosophical puzzler The Talos Principle, turn-based stealth-'em-up Invisible Inc. and the unrelenting survival story This War of Mine.
See the full nominees below. The IGF Awards will take place on 4 March. For more details, head to the IGF's site.
Excellence In Visual Art
- Donut County (Ben Esposito)
- Lumino City (State of Play Games)
- Else Heart.Break() (Niklas Åkerblad, Erik Svedäng, et al.)
- Memory of a Broken Dimension (XRA)
- Metamorphabet (Patrick Smith)
- Oquonie (XXIIVV and Kokorobot)
Honorable mentions: Crawl (Powerhoof); Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play); Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine); Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club); The Sailor's Dream (Simogo); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts).
Excellence In Narrative
- 80 Days (Inkle Studios)
- Coming Out Simulator 2014 (Nicky Case)
- Ice-Bound: A Novel of Reconfiguration (Down to the Wire)
- Pry (Tender Claws)
- This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios)
- Three Fourths Home ([Bracket]Games)
Honorable mentions: Curtain (Llaura, Dreamfeeel); Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) (Upper One Games/E-Line Media); Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds); The Fall (Over The Moon); The Sailor's Dream (Simogo); The Talos Principle (Croteam).
Excellence In Design
- 80 Days (Inkle Studios)
- Framed (Loveshack)
- Invisible Inc. (Klei Entertainment)
- Killer Queen (Joshua DeBonis & Nikita Mikros)
- Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds)
- The Talos Principle (Croteam)
Honorable mentions: Desert Golfing (Captain Games); Dungeon of the Endless (Amplitude Studios); Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios); Helix (Michael Brough); Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games); Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club),
Excellence In Audio
- Ephemerid: A Musical Adventure (SuperChop Games)
- Phonopath (Kevin Regamey)
- Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
- The Sailor's Dream (Simogo Games)
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)
- Thumper (Drool)
Honorable mentions: Deep Under the Sky (Rich Edwards and Colin Northway); Fotonica (Santa Ragione); Goat Simulator (Coffee Stain Studios); Hotline Miami 2 (Dennaton); Nuclear Throne (Vlambeer); Smash Hit (Mediocre).
Nuovo Award
- Become A Great Artist In Just 10 Seconds (Michael Brough and Andi McClure)
- Bounden (Game Oven)
- Desert Golfing (Captain Games)
- Elegy For A Dead World (Dejobaan Games & Popcannibal)
- How Do You Do It? (Nina Freeman, Emmett Butler, Jonathan Kittaka and Deckman Coss)
- Plug & Play (Mario von Rickenbach and Michael Frei / Etter Studio)
- Rooftop Cop (Stephen Lawrence Clark)
- Tetrageddon Games (Nathalie Lawhead)
Honorable mentions: Curtain (Llaura, Dreamfeeel); Ice-Bound: A Novel of Reconfiguration (Down to the Wire); International Jetpack Conference (Rob Dubbin and Allison Parrish); Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wiilds); Phonopath (Kevin Regamery); Push Me Pull You (House House).
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- 80 Days (Inkle Studios)
- Invisible Inc. (Klei Entertainment)
- Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds)
- The Talos Principle (Croteam)
- Metamorphabet (Patrick Smith)
- This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios)
Honorable mentions: Donut County (Ben Esposito);Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios); Killer Queen (Joshua DeBonis & Nikita Mikros); Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games); The Sailor's Dream (Simogo Games); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts).
