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IGF 2015 finalists announced

Links to more information on every game listed can be found here:
http://igf.com/2015/01/2015_independent_games_festiva_1.html

Excellence In Visual Art
- Donut County (Ben Esposito)
- Lumino City (State of Play Games)
- Else Heart.Break() (Niklas Akerblad, Erik Svedang, 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).
 
Outer Wilds, was there a new build from the old one that we played back in 2013? Very cool to see it nominated, along with all the others I've heard of/played.
 

dzelly

Member
My game, Ephemerid was nominated for Audio and I am over the moon about it right now.

I am glowing.

This is me, glowing.

That's amazing! Good luck come the awards! I went last year, and Papers, Please won everything. It should have been called IPPA "Independent Papers, Please Awards". Hopefully there will be a more diverse pool of winners this year.

The show itself is pretty dreadful, especially the GDCA. Most of the crowd left after the IGF's and the community manager from Respawn hosted?
 

cirrhosis

Member
Tough competition - there are a lot of great games listed there. I love Talos Principle and think it has the Grand Prize locked down. This War of Mine is great as well - wouldn't even really be mad if it won instead. Well, maybe a bit.

Will certainly check out Ephemerid this evening!
 

Aaron D.

Member
Great list. Congrats to all the nominees & honorable mentions!

Warms my heart to see The Talos Principle up for the Grand Prize.
 

epmode

Member
I'll plug Consortium here as well. I'd like to see it nominated for narrative since it's doing stuff that you just don't see in videogames.

But yeah, The Talos Principle. Amazing.
 

Zia

Member
Transistor was not submitted.

And really pleased with the nominees. A lot of people put in a lot of really hard work this year. Cheering for 80 Days in each category it's nominated in.

Edit: Also interesting to see the shift away from indies on consoles (very few were submitted, to be fair).
 
I'm surprised to see Goat Sim get a honorable mention for Audio. I don't recall the sound effects or music being that memorable.

Transistor was not submitted.

And really pleased with the nominees. A lot of people put in a lot of really hard work this year. Cheering for 80 Days in each category it's nominated in.

Edit: Also interesting to see the shift away from indies on consoles (very few were submitted, to be fair).
There's one or more mobile game nominated in every category. As someone who really enjoys playing on iPhone and iPad, I'm happy to see games on that platform getting recognized.
 

Zia

Member
I'm surprised to see Goat Sim get a honorable mention for Audio. I don't recall the sound effects or music being that memorable.

Me too. Also, having a look at the honorable mentions, I'm surprised Fotonica didn't receive a nom. I like the concept way more than I like the game, but the soundtrack is stunning.
 
Invisible Inc. is simply amazing, and it could EASILY pass as a finished product currently in its early access phase.

It's perhaps the best mix of strategy and turn based tactics I've ever played, including XCOM. DO IT, Gaf.
 
Just played Coming Out Simulator 2014, that was really cool even though I don't play text adventure or visual novel games. The text message like presentation helps a lot with a cohesive art direction, and the developer/player back-and-forth is interesting. I liked the message of bad stuff in life still being of value because it motivated you to improve it.

ixXoZIIykg4pb.png


Also, thank you Nicky Case for introducing manther into my vocabulary.
 
I think Memory of a Broken Dimension should win the visual category, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. I haven't seen much of how it plays beyond early videos but if they do anything interesting with that it's something I'll play.
 
I think Memory of a Broken Dimension should win the visual category, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. I haven't seen much of how it plays beyond early videos but if they do anything interesting with that it's something I'll play.

Jeff Gerstmann is the most hyped game critic for Memory of a Broken Dimension.

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/i-want-to-know-more-about-these-13-games/1100-5165/

Jeff Gerstmann aka MonsterDunk said:
Every few months I go through a phase where I remember that Memory of a Broken Dimension is an announced project, and go hunting for more information. I'm hesitant to classify MOBD, but there's a released build that we looked at awhile ago that has elements of text-prompt hacking mixed with a beautiful, glitched-out first-person situation that appears involve the solving of puzzles, in a sense. But that was a while ago. Since then, the game has gone through Steam Greenlight and is said to be on track for a 2015 release on PC, Mac, and Linux. I love the look of this thing. I could stare at it for hours. Assuming it makes it out this year, I fully intend to stare at it for hours.

They played it last year on Unprofessional Fridays 04/05/2013 (1:25:40-1:36:40).
 
Student Showcase winners were announced
http://igf.com/2015/01/2015_independent_games_festiva_2.html
  • a-part-ment (Team a-part-ment, University of Southern California)
  • Downwell (Ojiro Fumoto - Tokyo University of the Arts)
  • Close Your (GoodbyeWorld Games - University of Southern California)
  • Even the Stars (Pol Clarissou - Supinfogame & Nicholas Gavan - University of Bialystok)
  • Gemini (Echostone Games - Tisch School of the Arts, New York University)
  • Interloper (Monogon Games - HKU Utrecht School of Art and Technology)
  • Rooftop Cop (Stephen Lawrence Clark - Tisch School of the Arts, New York University)
  • Stellar Smooch (Alec Thomson & Jenny Jiao Hsia - New York University)
Honorable mentions:
  • A Story About My Uncle (Gone North Games - Sodertorn University),
  • Ahoooj (Circus Atus - FAMU, University of West Bohemia, CVUT FEL, UMPRUM),
  • Circles (Jeroen Wimmers, University of the Arts Utrecht),
  • Drew and the Floating Labyrinth (Dust Scratch Games, University of Windsor),
  • Lisa (Rubna, Elzendaal College Boxmeer)
  • Mecha Trigger (Team Casserole, Michigan State University).
 
The winners were awarded last night;

Excellence in Visual Art ($3,000)
- Metamorphabet (Patrick Smith of Vectorpark)

Nuovo Award ($5,000)
- Tetrageddon Games (Nathalie Lawhead)

Excellence in Audio ($3,000)
- Ephemerid: A Musical Adventure (SuperChop Games)

Excellence in Narrative ($3,000)
- 80 Days (inkle)

Best Student Game ($3,000)
- Close Your (Goodbye World Games - University of Southern California)

Audience Award ($3,000)
- This War of Mine (11 bit studios)

Excellence in Design ($3,000)
- Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($30,000)
- Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds)
 
Really? how do you Do it got nominated for something?

Like, it's a neat concept, but it plays out like a two-man (or man plus woman) QWOP with kind of a random element (the mom coming in). I mean, I see what it was going for, but it wasn't fun.
 

Zia

Member
Oh cool! I always forget it was in development for awhile. Glad to hear it got some recognition.

Nidhogg was a finalist all the way back in 2011 which disqualified it for reentry. Mark Essen's Flywrench was in competition this year however, and fucking awesome.
 

Corpekata

Banned
Really? how do you Do it got nominated for something?

Like, it's a neat concept, but it plays out like a two-man (or man plus woman) QWOP with kind of a random element (the mom coming in). I mean, I see what it was going for, but it wasn't fun.

It was nominated in the experimental category, which I'd argue it more than fits in with. Not many of the games in that category are "fun" besides Desert Golfing.
 
Nidhogg was a finalist all the way back in 2011 which disqualified it for reentry. Mark Essen's Flywrench was in competition this year however, and fucking awesome.

Wow really? I was hearing about Nidhogg for the first time early last year. Crazy that it was in development that long. I'll have to check out Flywrench.
 
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