Stories like this are why I like GDC. As are ones like this. And this. And the fact it's where the Independent Games Festival Awards are held—whose 20th annual ceremony took place in San Francisco yesterday.
There, Infinite Fall's gorgeous and heartfelt Night in the Woods won the $30,000-worth Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game, and also netted Excellence in Narrative.
Elsewhere, Amanita Design's quirky point-and-clicker Chuchel took home Excellence in Visual Art, whereas upcoming student game Baba Is You secured Excellence in Design and Best Student Game. I hadn't heard of the latter till now, but, having had a wee gander at its Steam page just now, it looks right up my street. I love puzzle games that let you mess with the rules.
Across ten categories, here are the IGF Awards 2018 winners in full:
Excellence in Visual Art ($3,000)
Chuchel (Amanita Design)
Excellence in Audio ($3,000)
Uurnog Uurnlimited (Nifflas Games)
Excellence in Design ($3,000)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Excellence in Narrative ($3,000)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Nuovo Award ($3,000)
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
Best Student Game ($3,000)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Audience Award ($3,000)
Celeste (Celeste Team)
ID@Xbox Gaming for Everyone Award
SpecialEffect
alt.ctrl.GDC Award ($3,000)
Puppet Pandemonium
Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($30,000)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Check out the rest of our GDC 2018 coverage by heading this-a-way. And head over here for Andy's Night in the Woods review.
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