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:
Winners highlighted in bold:
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)
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)
Honorable Mentions: 20 Small Mazes (FLEB), Peaks of Yore (Anders Grube Jensen / TraipseWare), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Timberborn (Mechanistry)
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)
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)
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)
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)