2014 Independent Games Festival finalists revealed

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) juries have announced the Main Competition finalists for the 16th annual awards which honour the most influential and outstanding development in independent video games.

The IGF has nominated over 30 game titles released in the past year. The IGF Awards will take place on 19 March 2014 at the San Francisco Moscone Convention Center.

Winners of the IGF Awards will also receive nearly US$60,000 of prizes in various categories, including the US$30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

The IGF Awards precede the Game Developers Choice Awards, which recognises the best games of the year across all sections of video game development.

South Africa had a moment of glory in 2011 when Desktop Dungeons won the Excellence in Design Award at the 13th IGF. The game was up against some stiff competition in the category – Minecraft, Faraway, Super Crate Box, Nidhogg.

The full list of finalists in each category for the 2014 Independent Games Festival, with jury-picked “honorable mentions,” is as follows:

Excellence In Visual Art

DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Gorogoa (Jason Roberts)
The Banner Saga (Stoic)
Perfect Stride (Arcane Kids)
Samorost3 (Amanita Design)
Drei (Etter)

Honorable mentions: Shelter (Might & Delight), Galak-Z (17-BIT), The Swapper (Facepalm Games), The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll), Don’t Starve (Klei Entertainment).

Excellence In Narrative

The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll)
Paralect (Paralect Team)
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Dominique Pamplemousse in “It’s All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!” (Deirdra Kiai Productions)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)

Honorable mentions: Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games), Gorogoa (Jason Roberts), Redshirt (The Tiniest Shark), Detective Grimoire (SFB Games), Monster Loves You! (Radial Games Corp. & Dejobaan Games).

Excellence In Design

TowerFall Ascension (Matt Thorson)
868-HACK (Michael Brough)
Mushroom 11 (Untame)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
Don’t Starve (Klei Entertainment)
Crypt of The NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)

Honorable mentions: The Banner Saga (Stoic), Perfect Stride (Arcane Kids), Threes (Asher Vollmer, Greg Wohlwend & Jimmy Hinson), DEVICE 6 (Simogo), Gorogoa (Jason Roberts).

Excellence In Audio

Samorost3 (Amanita Design)
Dominique Pamplemousse in “It’s All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!” (Deirdra Kiai Productions)
The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
Crypt of the NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games)
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll)

Honorable mentions: Sokobond (Alan Hazelden, Harry Lee & Ryan Roth), The Banner Saga (Stoic), Potatoman Seeks the Troof (Pixeljam), Jazzpunk (Necrophone Games), Don’t Starve (Klei Entertainment).

Nuovo Award

Dominique Pamplemousse in “It’s All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!” (Deirdra Kiai Productions)
Luxuria Superbia (Tale of Tales)
Extrasolar (Lazy 8 Studios)
Perfect Woman (Peter Lu and Lea Schönfelder)
SoundSelf (Robin Arnott)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
Save the Date (Paper Dino Software)
Corrypt (Michael Brough)

Honorable mentions: Shelter (Might & Delight), DEVICE 6 (Simogo), Elegy for a Dead World (Dejobaan Games with Popcannibal), SUPERHOT (SUPERHOT team), 18 Cadence (Aaron A. Reed).

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

The Stanley Parable (Galactic Cafe)
Don’t Starve (Klei Entertainment)
Jazzpunk (Necrophone Games)
Papers, Please (Lucas Pope)
DEVICE 6 (Simogo)
Dominique Pamplemousse in “It’s All Over Once the Fat Lady Sings!” (Deirdra Kiai Productions)

Honorable mentions: Crypt Of The NecroDancer (Brace Yourself Games), TowerFall Ascension (Matt Thorson), Kerbal Space Program (Squad), 868-HACK (Michael Brough), The Yawhg (Damian Sommer & Emily Carroll).

All finalist games will be playable at the IGF Pavilion on the Game Developers Conference 2014 Expo floor from March 19-21, 2014, at San Francisco’s Moscone Center, as part of a week of independent game-related content that also includes the Independent Games Summit (March 17th-18th), and the IGF Awards ceremony.

All IGF Main Competition finalists will also receive the opportunity to accept a distribution agreement for Valve’s Steam.

Voting for the IGF Audience Award winner from all Main Competition finalists will begin on February 18th. Additionally, IGF Student Showcase award winners, competing for the Best Student Game award at the Festival, will be announced in mid-January.