The Independent Games Festival judges have announced the finalists that’ll go toe-to-toe in the Independent Games Festival Awards in March. All told, there’s 26 games vying for prizes – a number that was whittled down from over 750 by over 400 industry experts. As you might expect, the list is oozing with talent and great games.
The IGF Awards celebrates the best indie games on the market, so why not check out our list of best PC games?
Winners can look forward to cash prizes, including the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize – a category which houses Mini Metro, Darkest Dungeon, Her Story, Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes, Superhot, and Undertale. Where do you even begin to call that one?
The IGF site notes a list of honourable mentions relevant to each category, but here’s the list of finalists in full:
Excellence in Visual Art
- Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)
- Panoramical (Fernando Ramallo & David Kanaga)
- Gnog (KO_OP)
- Armello (League of Geeks)
- Oxenfree (Night School Studio)
- Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios Inc.)
Excellence in Narrative
- The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
- Black Closet (Hanako Games)
- That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
- The Magic Circle (Question)
Excellence in Design
- Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)
- Kingdom (noio & Licorice)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
- Superhot (SUPERHOT)
- Infinifactory (Zachtronics)
Excellence in Audio
- Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)
- Panoramical (Fernando Ramallo & David Kanaga)
- That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)
- Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios Inc.)
- Lumini (Speelbaars)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
Nuovo Award
- The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.)
- Panoramical (Fernando Ramallo & David Kanaga)
- Fantastic Contraption (Northway Games & Radial Games)
- Orchids To Dusk (Pol Clarissou)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Cibele (Star Maid Games)
- Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
- Progress (Tim Garbos, Martin Kvale and Joel Nyström)
Best Student Game
- Pitfall Planet (Bonfire Games)
- Ape Out (Gabe Cuzzillo)
- Beglitched (Jenny Jiao Hsia & Alec Thomson)
- Circa Infinity (Kenny Sun)
- Orchids To Dusk (Pol Clarissou)
- Chambara (team ok)
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)
- Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios Inc.)
- Her Story (Sam Barlow)
- Keep Talking & Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
- Superhot (SUPERHOT)
- Undertale (Toby Fox)
The Independent Games Festival Awards 2016 winners will be announced on March 16, during this year’s GDC that runs from March 14-18.