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Indie game award finalists include 'Cuphead' and 'Night in the Woods'
The Independent Games Festival has revealed the finalists for its 2018 awards, and this year there are a few definite favorites. Infinite Fall's relentlessly witty adventure Night in the Woods is on the short list for not just the Seumas McNally grand prize, but also the narrative and visual art prizes. And to no one's surprise, StudioMDHR's almost fanatical devotion to classic cartoons in Cuphead has earned it some nods: it's up for audio and visual art prizes in addition to getting an honorable mention for the grand prize.
Backstage with the big winners of the IGF and GDC awards
Every year, the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice award shows bring a bit of glitz and glamour to the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. And 2017 was no different. The two back-to-back spectacles honor the most innovative and important titles of the past year, covering everything from mobile gaming and student projects to mainstream, AAA extravaganzas. We went backstage with the winners directly after they received their awards, capturing their thoughts on the industry -- and their massive smiles.
Watch the 2017 Game Developers Choice Awards right here!
They may not be of the same magnitude as the Oscars, but the Game Developers Choice Awards and Independent Games Festival Awards are happening tonight in San Francisco. The events are going to be hosted by Double Fine CEO Tim Schaefer and Tacoma Games' Nina Freeman, respectively, in an evening where the best AAA and indie developers will be recognized for their work. Will Super Mario Run win the award for Best Mobile/Handheld Game? Tune in to find out at 6:30PM PT/9:30PM ET; there's a livestream below, and you can also go to the GDC's Twitch and YouTube pages.
Indie game award finalists include 'Hyper Light Drifter' and 'Inside'
Now that media outlets have handed out awards to blockbuster games, it's time for the indies to shine. The Independent Games Festival has posted the finalists for its main competition's 2017 awards, and there are a few competitors who clearly stand out from the pack. Both the retro hack-and-slasher Hyper Light Drifter and bleak side-scroller Inside are nominated not only for the Seumas McNally grand prize, but also the audio and visual design awards. Other titles receiving multiple nods will definitely sound familiar if you've been following the scene, including the hacking-themed puzzler Quadrilateral Cowboy and the chaotic food hit Overcooked.
Backstage with the winners of the IGF and GDC Awards
The Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards are the highlight of GDC week. They both honor the best games of the past year in two glamorous, back-to-back ceremonies in downtown San Francisco. This time around, Her Story took home the IGF's $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize, and The Witcher 3 nabbed the coveted Game of the Year prize during the GDC Awards. Other winners across a range of categories include Undertale, Ori and the Blind Forest, Rocket League and Life is Strange. Nine members of the Girls Make Games program, which offers summer camps designed to encourage young women to break into game creation, walked away with the ID@Xbox Rising Star award for their project, The Hole Story. We spoke with some of the big winners on-camera directly after they received their awards, and they had plenty to say (and celebrate).
This is the future of video game development
The Girls Make Games initiative aims to encourage young women to dive into the rich industry of video game development, and it seems to be doing the trick. This year at the Independent Games Festival awards ceremony, nine young ladies from Girls Make Games collected the ID@Xbox Rising Star award for their work on The Hole Story. It's a top-down RPG featuring an archaeologist named Wendy who digs a portal to a fantastical dimension in her backyard. Yeah, it's pretty neat. We caught up with the winners right after they collected their prizes and had one question for each of them: What do you want the future of video games to look like?
'Below' is hiding more mysteries than you think
Capybara Games made a classic mistake in the middle of developing its latest game: announcing the release date too early. Capy unveiled Below, a moody and mysterious exploration experience, back in 2013. A year later, the team revealed plans to release it in 2015 on Xbox One and PC. And then, 2015 came and went. "Microsoft gave us a really good opportunity to show it for the first time a long time ago," Capy Creative Director Kris Piotrowski explained during GDC this week. "Then we went home and kind of realized the game was like 100 times bigger and more complex than we anticipated."
Watch the 2016 IGF and GDC Awards live right here!
Now that the GDC show floor is officially open to attendees, it's time for the routine trophy ceremonies. It all starts with the Independent Games Festival Awards at 6:30PM PT/9:30PM ET tonight, followed directly by the Game Developers Choice Awards. And because we care deeply about you, our readers, we're embedding a livestream of the back-to-back events in this post. We'll also be talking to the 2016 winners as they come off the stage -- more on that soon.
Rock the vote for your favorite game in the GDC awards
Want to make your voice heard in this year's Game Developer's Choice Awards? How about doing the same for the Independent Game Festival's accolades? Boy howdy, you're covered in both cases. Once again, the GDCA and IGF are opening up the floor for audience votes ahead of the 30th annual Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco this year. Winners will be revealed on March 16th and the awards will stream on Twitch starting at 6:30 PM Pacific that day.
'Her Story,' 'Undertale' and more headline IGF 2016 finalists
Innovative games Her Story, Superhot, Mini Metro, Darkest Dungeon, Undertale, and Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes are up for the grand prize at the 2016 Independent Games Festival Awards. The IGF holds its 18th consecutive Awards show on Wednesday, March 16th in San Francisco, during the annual Game Developers Conference. These six games are up for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, which nets the winner $30,000. All told, the Awards offer $50,000 for victorious indie developers across a range of categories.
Even critically acclaimed indie games get delayed
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime was a hit in 2013 when it was just a multiplayer, neon-streaked demo mixed in with all of the nominated, blockbuster indie titles at the Independent Games Festival. Lovers was up for an award in Visual Art, and even though it lost to Kentucky Route Zero, the nomination was enough to create buzz around the game and its studio, Asteroid Base. At the time, co-creator Jamie Tucker felt confident that Lovers would be done within the year. Now, two years later, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime is set to debut on Xbox One and Steam on September 9th. Yes, in 2015. We asked Tucker via email what happened with Lovers' development timeline and he broke it all down -- including details that offer a glimpse at the real rigors and lucky breaks of game development.
Get an IGF 2015-nominated game for free today only
PRY, a finalist in Excellence in Narrative at the 2015 Independent Games Festival, is free today on the App Store. PRY is a hybrid game, containing elements of film, literature and gaming. It tells the story of a Gulf War demolitions expert, allowing players to dive into his thoughts and explore his past, present and subconscious with the flicking or pinching of fingers. The free day is in celebration of the IGF nod, PRY's feature on FWA as Mobile of the Day, and the game's release on iPhone. PRY is broken into two parts; the first installment was previously out for iPad at $3. Once part two launches in March, the full-game price will go up slightly – but those who buy part one before March will receive the second half as a free update. PRY comes from two-person art collective and development studio Tender Claws, which focuses on the intersection of writing, art and technology. "Nomination by IGF is already an incredible validation," Tender Claws co-founder Samantha Gorman tells Joystiq. "We are a small team of two people who have looked up to and been inspired by current and past IGF nominees. It's so nice to know that our interventions in this space of storytelling are being seen and considered. Of course an IGF award would mean a great deal going forward. It would further give us license to establish our studio and continue to push the bounds of narrative in gameplay." The 2015 IGF awards will be held on Wednesday, March 4, during GDC in San Francisco. [Image: Tender Claws]
IGF 2015 finalists: The Talos Principle, 80 Days, Invisible Inc.
Finalists for the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 17th annual Independent Games Festival awards are Klei Entertainment's Invisible Inc., Croteam's The Talos Principle, Inkle Studios' 80 Days, Patrick Smith's Metamorphabet, 11 Bit Studio's This War of Mine and Team Outer Wilds' Outer Wilds. These games make appearances across other categories – Exellence in Visual Art, Narrative, Design, Audio and the Nuovo Award for unconventional game development – as well. Other games up for awards from the IGF are Lumino City, Else Heart.Break(), Pry, Three Fourths Home, Framed, Killer Queen, Shovel Knight, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, The Sailor's Dream, Desert Golfing, Elegy for a Dead World, Bounden and more, listed in full on the IGF website. The IGF jury nominated more than 30 games from a judging pool of almost 650. The IGF awards are held during GDC, alongside the Game Developers Choice Awards, on Wednesday, March 4 in San Francisco. Congrats to all the finalists! [Image: Klei Entertainment, Invisible Inc.]
IGF 2015 now accepting submissions
Indie developers, it's time to start applying the final coat of polish to your star projects. The Independent Games Festival is now accepting submissions for its 2015 event, giving eligible devs the chance to compete across multiple featured categories. IGF entrants compete for over $50,000 in prizes and awards for Excellence in Visual Art, Audio, Design, and Narrative. Finalists will be eligible for the event's prestigious Seumas McNally Grand Prize, which in previous years was awarded to indie standouts like Cart Life, Fez, and Papers, Please. Developers must pay a $95 entry fee to be considered for this year's IGF Awards. IGF Main Competition entries are due by October 22. Finalists will be announced on January 6, 2015. [Image: IGF]
Devolver Humble Bundle has games, films; supports Brandon Boyer
The Devolver Digital Double Debut bundle offers a mix of screen-based activities – five games and five movies – now through March 16. It's hosted by Humble Bundle, so some items are available for whatever price you want, and others unlock if you pay more than a certain amount, this time $10. Available for any price are the games Duke Nukem 3D: Megaton Edition and Shadow Warrior Classic Redux, plus the movies Austin High, The Poisoning and One Couch at a Time. Pay more than $10 to also snag the games Defense Technica, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure and Cosmic DJ, and the films MARS and Good Game. This bundle marks the debuts of Cosmic DJ and Good Game. Cosmic DJ is a music-creation game designed for everyone to pick up and play, regardless of musical competence, and it's available now DRM-free on PC and Mac. Purchase will include a Steam key once the game launches there. Good Game is an independent documentary from Nine Hour Films that chronicles a year on the premiere pro gaming team, Evil Geniuses. Payments are distributed among Humble, the developers and charity, and this time the charity hits close to home for many developers. Proceeds from the bundle can go to the Brandon Boyer Cancer Treatment Relief gofundme campaign – Boyer is chairman of the Independent Games Festival and founder of game culture site Venus Patrol. Great games and a great cause, at whatever price you wish. [Image: Brandon Boyer]
Independent Games Festival reveals 2014 Student Showcase winners
Independent Games Festival organizers have revealed the winners of this year's IGF Student Showcase category, honoring entries from the NHTV University of Applied Science, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Cambridge, among other institutions. This year's top picks feature Hopoo Games' run-and-gun roguelike platformer Risk of Rain, Albert Shih's forced-perspective puzzler Museum of Simulation Technology, and Hafiz Azman and Winston Lee's single-switch rhythm game Rhythm Doctor. Other winning games include Mahdi Bahrami and Moslem Rasouli's Engare, Philipp Beau and Daniel Goffin's Symmetrain, Ostrich Banditos' Westerado, Unblanched Peanuts' Foiled, and Hack n' Hide's Cyber Heist. Five additional games received honorable mentions. This year's IGF saw a record-breaking number of entries, including 346 projects developed by students. The IGF's Main Competition finalists were announced earlier this month, nominating indie standouts like The Stanley Parable, Device 6, and Papers, Please.
Comedy adventure Jazzpunk out on Feb. 7
Necrophone Games' offbeat espionage-themed adventure game, Jazzpunk, will hit Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms via Steam and as a DRM-free download on February 7, developer Luis Hernandez announced this week. Published by Adult Swim Games, Jazzpunk promises a unique tale set in an alternate Cold War universe, with spoof-styled humor inspired by Zucker brothers films like Airplane! and The Naked Gun. Jazzpunk was recently named as a Seumas McNally Grand Prize finalist in this year's Independent Games Festival, competing against the likes of acclaimed indie standouts like The Stanley Parable, Device 6, and Papers, Please. Jazzpunk can be preordered directly from its developer for $15.
IGF 2014 finalists: Device 6, Papers, Please, Don't Starve, The Stanley Parable, more
Finalists in the Independent Games Festival for 2014 have been announced, running the gamut of creativity and novelty that characterizes the indie games scene. This year in particular saw a record number of student submissions. Simogo's Device 6 – one of our favorite games of 2013 – is up for an award in Excellence in Visual Art, on top of Excellence in Narrative and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Lucus Pope's Papers, Please is up for a bunch of awards too, including the Nuovo award as well as Excellence in Design and the Grand Prize. The Stanley Parable, another one of our top selections of 2013, is a finalist in Excellence in Audio and the Grand Prize, while Brace Yourself Games' Crypt of the Necrodancer is nominated for Design. Klei's Don't Starve is up for Design and the Grand Prize, and Jason Roberts' Gorogoa received a nod for Visual Art. This year's grand prize looks to be a heated competition between Papers, Please, The Stanley Parable, Don't Starve, Device 6, Jazzpunk and – deep breath – Dominique Pamplemousse in "It's All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!" Winners for each category will be chosen on March 19, at this year's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. For the full list of this year's nominees, along with each category's jury-selected honorable mentions, head past the break.
IGF 2014 is, like, super popular
People are really into this whole "video game" thing – the annual Independent Games Festival has once again received a record number of entries, this year with 656 Main Competition contestants, topping last year's record of 589. Games in the running for an IGF 2014 award include Dejobaan's Drop That Beat Like an Ugly Baby, Vlambeer's Nuclear Throne, Blendo Games' Quadrilateral Cowboy (shown above), Ico-inspired Against the Wall, Vagabond Dog's Always Sometimes Monsters, thechineseroom's Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, first-person toddler-horror simulator Among the Sleep and The Banner Saga, the $700,000 Kickstarted RPG. Plus 648 more. Whew. This year there will be six finalists per category, rather than five, and the Technical Excellence category is kaput. The Student Showcase and Nuovo Award will both remain at eight contestants, and each category will still see honorable mentions. Valve once again offers Steam deals to all IGF finalists. Last year, minimalist food vendor saga Cart Life swept the top prizes. The IGF Awards take place as usual at GDC in San Francisco in March.
Valve renews IGF deal, finalists to be offered Steam distribution
Valve will offer Independent Game Festival finalists the chance to bring their games to Steam, renewing the agreement set in place last year. As the IGF announcement notes, several of last year's finalists came to Valve's portal after being nominated, including Gone Home, MirrorMoon EP, and Kentucky Route Zero. The award is no doubt illustrious, but a Steam distribution agreement is a big deal, too. Fine print time: The offer applies to every Main Competition finalist in jury-voted categories. That means each finalist for the Seamus McNally Grand Prize, the Nuovo Award, and the Excellence in Art, Narrative, Audio, and Design Awards can have a bite of the Steam pie, working directly with Valve to release their games on PC, Mac, and Linux. The deadline for IGF 2014 submissions is October 19, while entries for the student showcase are due by October 31. The finalists will be announced in January, and two months later the winners will be crowned at GDC 2014.
