Update 21/03 – The winners at the 2024 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards have been revealed, with the best of 2023’s independently-developed games having been in the running for accolades across a number of categories recognising excellence in art, narrative, design and more.
Venba, from Visai Games, has taken out the top Seumas McNally Grand Prize after being nominated in four categories including Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Visual Art. Other notable winners include Cryptmaster for Excellence in Design, Mediterranea Inferno for Excellence in Narrative and Phonopolis for Excellence in Visual Art.
Check out the full list of finalists, winners and honourable mentions via the official GDC portal below:
Independent Games Festival Awards 2024 Finalists And Winners
Winners highlighted in bold:
BEST STUDENT GAME
- goodbye.monster (Monster Team)
- Once Upon a Jester (Bonte Avond / Crunching Koalas) – WINNER
- Pile Up! (Remoob / Catoptric Games, IndieArk)
- Planetka (TeTerka)
- RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Xylem Studios)
- TRY AGAIN (the Rejects / USC Games, the Rejects)
Honorable Mentions: A Day With Mochi (San Felicete Studio / Rubika Supinfogame), Barkane: The Folds of Calamity (Chase O’Brien & VGDev), Birds Aren’t Real: The Game (USC Games), Cyberside Picnic (Michael Luo / Cathode Radiator), Entangled (Fibula Studio), Lime Juice (Benbees), Re:Fresh (Merge Conflict Studio)
EXCELLENCE IN AUDIO
- A Highland Song (Inkle)
- COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
- Nour: Play With Your Food (Terrifying Jellyfish / PANIC)
- Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games / 7th Beat Games, indienova) – WINNER
- Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Honorable Mentions: Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites), El Paso, Elsewhere (Strange Scaffold), Let’s! Revolution! (Antfood, BUCK / Hawthorn Games, BUCK), Planet of Lana (Wishfully / Thunderful Publishing), Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios / Humble Games)
EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN
- Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment)
- Cobalt Core (Rocket Rat Games / Brace Yourself Games)
- COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
- Cryptmaster (Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games / Akupara Games) – WINNER
- Final Profit: A Shop RPG (Brent Arnold)
- Isles of Sea and Sky (Cicada Games, Jason Newman, Craig Collver / Cicada Games, Jason Newman, Gamera Game)
Honorable Mentions: 20 Small Mazes (FLEB), Peaks of Yore (Anders Grube Jensen / TraipseWare), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Timberborn (Mechanistry)
EXCELLENCE IN NARRATIVE
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- A Highland Song (Inkle)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, EYEGUYS / Santa Ragione) – WINNER
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
- The Wreck (The Pixel Hunt)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Honorable Mentions: Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP), Saltsea Chronicles (Die Gute Fabrik / Die Gute Fabrik), Slay the Princess (Black Tabby Games), Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios / Humble Games) The Archivist and the Revolution (Autumn Chen)
EXCELLENCE IN VISUAL ART
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
- Clash: Artifacts of Chaos (ACE Team / Nacon)
- Darkest Dungeon II (Red Hook Studios)
- Little Goody Two Shoes (AstralShift / Square Enix Collective)
- Phonopolis (Amanita Design) – WINNER
- Venba (Visai Games)
Honorable Mentions: 30 Birds (RAM RAM Games, Business Goose / ARTE France), Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment), Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP), NIDUS (Caleb Wood), SLUDGE LIFE 2 (Terri Vellmann, DOSEONE / Devolver Digital)
NUOVO AWARD
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites) – WINNER
- Cryptmaster (Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games / Akupara Games)
- Kevin (1997-2077) (Kevin Du)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, EYEGUYS / Santa Ragione)
- NIDUS (Caleb Wood)
- The Forest Cathedral (Wakefield Interactive, Brian Wilson / Whitethorn Games)
Honorable Mentions: BlueSuburbia (alienmelon), goodbye.monster (Monster Team), In Stars and Time (insertdisc5 / Armor Games Inc.), Nour: Play With Your Food (Terrifying Jellyfish / PANIC), The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
SEUMAS MCNALLY GRAND PRIZE
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- A Highland Song (Inkle)
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
- COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, EYEGUYS / Santa Ragione)
- Venba (Visai Games) – WINNER
Honorable Mentions: Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment), Final Profit: A Shop RPG (Brent Arnold), Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP), In Stars and Time (insertdisc5 / Armor Games Inc.), Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games / 7th Beat Games, indienova), Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive), The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
alt.ctrl.gdc AWARD
- Chú Mó by The Chú Mó Team @ ArtCenter
AUDIENCE AWARD
- RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Xylem Studios)
