A bunch of cool games are getting awards soon
We’re a couple months away from March’s Game Developers Conference, where everyone has to travel to where I live (uh, the city, not my home) and I just get to roll out of a nice non-hotel bed and make my way to appointments. One of the staples of GDC is the Independent Games Festival, at which Lucas Pope (Papers, Please) cleaned up last year. You almost felt bad for him having to keep walking up and accepting awards.
The IGF has named its finalists from nearly 650 entrants. The nominees for theSeumas McNally Grand Prize (last year, $30,000) are:
I’ve only playedInvisible, Inc.out of the bunch, but I liked it enough to give it aSteven Hansen’s Destructoid’s 2014 GotY awarddespite it not being out of Early Access yet. And I’ve only heard good things aboutTalos Principle,80 DAYS, andThis War of Mine.Metamorphabetseems like aweirdSesame Streetapp, which I am also okay with.
Honorable mentions include:Donut County(Ben Esposito);Endless Legend(Amplitude Studios);Killer Queen(Joshua DeBonis & Nikita Mikros);Shovel Knight(Yacht Club Games);The Sailor’s Dream(Simogo); andThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter(The Astronauts).
Other awards and finalists:
Excellence in Visual Arts:
Honorable mentions:Crawl(Powerhoof);Future Unfolding(Spaces of Play);Hyper Light Drifter(Heart Machine);Mini Metro(Dinosaur Polo Club);The Sailor’s Dream(Simogo); andThe Vanishing of Ethan Carter(The Astronauts).
Excellence in Design:
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 Create Games); andMini Metro(Dinosaur Polo Club).
Excellence in Audio:
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); andSmash Hit(Mediocre).
Excellence in Narrative:
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); andThe Talos Principle(Croteam).
Nuovo Award:
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 Wilds);Phonopath(Kevin Regamey); andPush Me Pull You(House House).
