The organizers behind the 20th annual Independent Games Festival have announced the finalists for the 2018 IGF Awards, which will be held on March 21, 2018, during the Game Developers Conference. After an initial review round that featured over 600 entries judged by over 300 judges, 35 different games have been nominated for the various awards.
Among the selection of games, a handful of titles received multiple nominations in various categories, including Baba is You, a puzzle game that allows players to alter the rules and game logic as you solve puzzles. The game received nominations in four different categories, making it one of the most nominated titles this year. Night in the Woods, an adventure game from Infinite Fall, also received three nominations along with Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy.
For the full list of award finalists and honorable mentions, check out below:
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
West of Loathing (Asymmetric Publications)
Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Heat Signature (Suspicious Developments)
Baba is You (Hempuli)
Honorable Mentions: Tacoma (Fullbright); Rain World (VIDEOCULT); Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator(Game Grumps); Cosmic Top Secret (klassefilm); Hollow Knight (Team Cherry); Cuphead (StudioMDHR); Everything Is Going to Be OK (Nathalie Lawhead)
Excellence in Visual Art
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
Echo (ULTRA ULTRA)
Luna (Funomena)
The Gardens Between (The Voxel Agents)
Chuchel (Amanita Design)
Honorable Mentions: Jettomero: Hero of the Universe (Ghost Time Games); Dead Cells (Motion Twin); AER – Memories of Old (Forgotten Key); Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games); Rain World (VIDEOCULT); Shape of the World (Hollow Tree Games); Hollow Knight (Team Cherry)
Excellence in Audio
Tormentor X Punisher (e-studio)
Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
Vignettes (Skeleton Business)
Rain World (VIDEOCULT)
Uurnog Uurnlimited (Nifflas Games)
Celeste (Matt Makes Games)
Honorable Mentions: Tumbleseed (Benedict Fritz, Greg Wohlwend, Joel Corelitz, David Laskey and Jenna Blazevich); Hollow Knight (Team Cherry); Tacoma (Fullbright); Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games); Million Onion Hotel (Onion Games); Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Excellence in Design
Into the Breach (Subset Games)
Shenzhen I/O (Zachtronics)
Wilmot’s Warehouse (Richard Hogg, Ricky Haggett, Eli Rainsberry)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Uurnog Uurnlimited (Nifflas Games)
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
Honorable Mentions: Heat Signature (Suspicious Developments); Dead Cells (Motion Twin); Factorio (Wube Software); Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions); Battle Chef Brigade (Trinket Studios)
Excellence in Narrative
Tacoma (Fullbright)
Attentat 1942 (Charles University and Czech Academy of Sciences)
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Butterfly Soup (Brianna Lei)
Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games)
Honorable Mentions: A Mortician’s Tale (Laundry Bear Games); Lost Memories Dot Net (Star Maid Games); Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Game Grumps); Bury me, my Love (The Pixel Hunt, Figs and ARTE France); Cosmic Top Secret (klassefilm); West of Loathing (Asymmetric Publications); Rakuen (Laura Shigihara)
Nuovo Award
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
Tarotica Voo Doo (TPM.CO SOFT WORKS)
10 Mississippi (Karina Popp)
A Mortician’s Tale (Laundry Bear Games)
Cosmic Top Secret (klassefilm)
Everything Is Going to Be OK (Nathalie Lawhead)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Kids (Playables)
Honorable Mentions: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games); IO Interloper (DANG!); The Norwood Suite (Cosmo D Studios); Cheap Golf (Pixeljam); Witchball (S.L.Clark); Million Onion Hotel (Onion Games)
Best Student Game
IO Interloper (DANG!)
Don’t Make Love (Maggese)
Penny Blue Finds a Clue (DigiPen Team Cactus Curse)
We Were Here (Total Mayhem Games)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Guardian of the Gears (DigiPen Team Studio 76)
Honorable Mentions: Crewsaders (Titan Squad); A.L.F.R.E.D. (Hugo Lefevre, Joseph Reichenbach, Romain Jaohar-Gaillard, Garance Royere Lebigre, Nicolas Tham, Marion Speiser, Delphine Migeot de Baran, Song Huang); MOLOCH (Seemingly Pointless); Kyklo’s Code (Cube Factory); Membrane (Perfect Hat / Seth S. Scott); That Blooming Feeling (The Tots Team); Tell Me What You See (Pesky Bees)
The winners of the IGF will be announced when the Awards take place on March 21, and winners will receive more than $50,000 of prizes in various categories. Both the IGF Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards will be live-streamed online once again, with more information coming.
