It’s been a good weekend for indie games. First, Riot Games’ League of Legends cleaned up at the 1st annual GDC Online Awards, and now the IndieCade 2010 winners have been announced.
The IndieCade conference has just concluded its fourth year with the aim to promote the innovative culture of independent games development around the globe. Such indie game award ceremonies give much needed exposure to independent developers who may otherwise go unnoticed.
Keep your eyes peeled for the developers and their games – they will likely be the next big thing on digital download platforms.
A total of 350 game submissions from around the world were whittled down and awarded in across 12 categories. Below are the winners; there was even a special ‘Trailblazer’ award.
Trailblazer Award: Tim Schafer
Tim Schafer is the president and CEO of Double Fine Productions, a San Francisco based video game studio, makers of the critically acclaimed games Psychonauts, Brutal Legend and the recently announced Costume Quest. Prior to Double Fine, Schafer was a project leader at LucasArts Entertainment, where he was responsible for several classic PC adventure games, including Full Throttle and Grim Fandango. Schafer also co-designed Day of the Tentacle, and served as writer and assistant designer on The Secret of Monkey Island 1 and 2.
Gameplay Innovation Award: Continuity
(Ragtime Games, Sweden): A well-designed and mechanically clever mashup of a simple platformer with classic sliding puzzle gameplay.
Technological Innovation Award: Miegakure
(Marc ten Bosch, USA): Miegakure is a platform game where you solve puzzles by exploring the fourth dimension.
Sound Award: Limbo
(Playdead, Denmark): Limbo is a hauntingly beautiful black and white “horror” platform puzzler, set among the rooftops of a mesmerizing macabre world that draws you into its dark narrative.
World and Story Award: Games of Nonchalance
(Nonchalance, USA): This one stands apart because the game involves visiting real world locations. Set around real-life San Francisco, players explore the area following clues found on the website, and uncovering a story as they go along.
Documentary Award: The Cat and the Coup
(Peter Brinson, USA): The Cat and the Coup is a documentary game in which you play the cat of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran.
Aesthetics Award: Spirits
(Spaces of Play, Germany): Spirits is an action-puzzle game for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad with a Lemmings-style mechanic in which players manipulate the wind to guide name-giving Spirits towards each level of the game world.
Sublime Experience Award: Faraway
(Steph Thirion, USA): Faraway is a one-button game where you swing your way through space, finding and connecting star clusters to create the most complex constellations you can.
Fun and Compelling Award: VVVVVV
(Terry Cavanagh, Ireland): In VVVVVV, you play as the fearless leader of a team of dimension-exploring scientists who are separated after inadvertently crashing their ship.
Wild Card Award: B.U.T.T.O.N. – (Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now)
(Copenhagen Game Collective, Denmark): B.U.T.T.O.N. is a four-player, one-button party game played with Xbox controllers on the PC.
Virtuoso Award and Vanguard Award: A Slow Year
(Ian Bogost, USA): A Slow Year is a collection of four game “poems” for the Atari Video Computer System, one for each season, about the experience of observation and awareness.
Jury Award: Groping in the Dark
(Team Arex, South Korea): Groping in the Dark is a lyrical interactive narrative that tells the story of a kidnapped girl’s decision and attempt to escape her captors.
Discuss the IndieCade 2010 award winners on the MyGaming forum.
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