Home Gaming IGF Award nominations include Untitled Goose Game, Eliza and Mutazione

IGF Award nominations include Untitled Goose Game, Eliza and Mutazione

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HONK

In a year which saw the biggest games honoured and showered in kudos, it’s easy to forget about the indie side of the gaming industry. Small in scope but gigantic in influence, indie games are the backbone of the medium and as with Led Zeppelin, they deserve a whole lotta love. The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is one such way to honour the best of the best in the independent games sphere, and they’re doing just that with the 22nd annual IGF Awards on March 18 at the 2020 Game Developers Conference.

The nominees have been announced, with Die Gute Fabrik’s Mutazione leading the charge with four nods from the judges so far in the fields of Narrative, Audio, Visual Art and the overall top dog grand prize. It’ll have some stiff competition though, as Untitled Goose Game, Slay the Spire and Elsinore are all gunning for the coveted Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Here’s the full list of nominees, via GamesIndustry:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

  • Eliza (Zachtronics)
  • A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
  • Untitled Goose Game (House House)
  • Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (Sean Han Tani and Marina Kittaka)
  • Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
  • Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)

Honourable Mentions: Katana Zero (Askiisoft), Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Megagon Industries), Song of Bloom (Philipp Stollenmayer), Wide Ocean: Big Jacket (Turnfollow), Elsinore (Golden Glitch), Astrologaster (Nyamyam), Heaven’s Vault (inkle)

Excellence in Visual Art

  • Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
  • Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword)
  • Void Bastards (Blue Manchu)
  • Creature in the Well (Flight School Studio)
  • Eastward (Pixpil)
  • Stone Story RPG (Martian Rex/standardcombo)

Honourable Mentions: Luna: The Shadow Dust (Lantern Studio), Eastshade (Eastshade Studios), Minute of Islands (Studio Fizbin), Katana ZERO (Askiisoft), Song of Bloom (Philipp Stollenmayer), A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu), Creaks (Amanita Design)

Excellence in Audio

  • Observation (No Code)
  • Vectronom (Ludopium)
  • Astrologaster (Nyamyam)
  • Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword)
  • Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
  • Untitled Goose Game (House House)

Honourable Mentions: Afterparty (Night School Studio), Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) (Popcannibal), Manifold Garden (William Chyr Studio), Alt-Frequencies (Accidental Queens), Don’t Look (Don’t Look Team), Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Megagon Industries), Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 (Cosmo D)

Excellence in Design

  • Katana Zero (Askiisoft)
  • Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Megagon Industries)
  • Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)
  • A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
  • Elsinore (Golden Glitch)
  • Patrick’s Parabox (Patrick Traynor)

Honourable Mentions: Guildlings (Sirvo Studios), Nauticrawl (Andrea Interguglielmi); Blabyrinth (Sleeping Beast Games); Children of Morta (Dead Mage); Void Bastards (Blue Manchu); Untitled Goose Game (House House); Creature in the Well (Flight School Studio)

Excellence in Narrative

  • Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
  • Heaven’s Vault (inkle)
  • Elsinore (Golden Glitch)
  • Wide Ocean: Big Jacket (Turnfollow)
  • Eliza (Zachtronics)
  • Lionkiller (Sisi Jiang)

Honourable Mentions: American Election (Greg Buchanan), Night Call (Monkey Moon, BlackMuffin), Astrologaster (Nyamyam), A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu), Adventures With Anxiety! (Nicky Case), Observation (No Code)

Nuovo Award

  • Tales from Off-Peak City Vol.1 (Cosmo D)
  • Infini (Barnaque)
  • The Space Between (Christoph Frey)
  • Life Tastes Like Cardboard (Demensa)
  • Promesa (Julián Palacios)
  • Song of Bloom (Philipp Stollenmayer)
  • The Longing (Studio Seufz)
  • Pagan: Autogeny (Oleander Garden)

Honourable Mentions: Astrologaster (Nyamyam), Elsinore (Golden Glitch), Fit for a King (Brent Ellison & Tanya X. Short), My Exercise (Atsushi Wada, Ryoya Usuha, Nobuaki Doi), Where the Bees Make Honey (Brian Wilson), Smile For Me (Gabe Lane and Yugo Limbo / LimboLane)

Best Student Game

  • Orbital Bullet (SmokeStab)
  • A Juggler’s Tale (kaleidoscube)
  • Forgotten (Mutiny Games)
  • Neon Beats (OKYO Games)
  • Bore Dome (Goblin Rage)
  • Nothing in Sight (Nothing in Sight Team)

Honourable Mentions: Unhatched (Filip Loster); Du Rejser (You Travel) (Victor Selnæs Breum + Katinka); Trail Mix (Puzzsoft); Where the Bees Make Honey (Brian Wilson); Northbound (Johannes Köberle & Arno Justus); Evergreen Blues (David Su and Dominique Star)

Previous years have seen Minecraft (2011), Night in the Woods (2017) and Return of the Obra Dinn (2018) rake in the coveted grand prize award. Can House House’s Untitled Goose Game triumph over Mutazione in what will be a tight race though? There’s only one way to secure that spot I reckon: UNLEASH THE GEESE!

Last Updated: January 8, 2020

One Comment

  1. I know 3 games from the above lists. Slay the Spire, Children of Morta, and I’ve heard of Unititled Shit… Uh, Goose Game.

    HONK

    Reply

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