This year’s IGF finalists are absolutely overflowing with goodness. Overflowing, I say. Overflowing! As a bit of a bonus, personal favourites like that super addictive card battler Slay the Spire and that incredibly adorable honker, Untitled Goose Game, are among them.
But before I let ya get to the fun of scrolling through the lot, a brief reminder: IGF 2020 will take place on March 18th 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. Best be quick about it though, as the list of those who made the cut totals thirty-five (a lovely step up from last year’s thirty!), and one can only do so much over the course of seventy-two hours. Best of luck to those who made the cut, and may the best indie game(s) win!
(Source)
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- Eliza (Zachtronics)
- A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
- Untitled Goose Game (House House)
- Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
- Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)
- Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (Sean Han Tani & Marina Kittaka)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
Honorable 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)
