January’s here and you know what that means: speedrunning marathon charity, Awesome Games Done Quick! Oh, and IGF finalists. This is what this article is all about, much as I absolutely love Games Done Quick. So… unsurprisingly, like last time, we’ve got a mix of well-known titles and ones I feel I should be more familiar with than I am. Huh. What a groovy assortment, though.
But first things first, because facts are important: IGF 2018 will take place from March 21st through March 23rd, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, during the ever-awesome Game Developers Conference (GDC). On top of that… all finalists will be playable during GDC. You best be quick about it too, as the list of those who made the cut totals thirty-four (up from last year’s thirty!) and one can only do so much over the course of seventy-two hours.
This time around, my metaphorical money’s on West of Loathing, because games set in the Wild West are much too rare, and the interactive fiction-y Don’t Make Love. Will either pick up one or more awards, come March? I don’t know! Give me a time machine and I’ll let ya know, but failing that, we’ll just have to wait and see. Either way, best of luck to those who made the cut, and may the best indie games win!
(Source)
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)