The 2018 Independent Games Festival has just released the nominees and categories for their 20th annual ceremony. This year, nearly 600 independent games were evaluated, with only 35 making the cut. However, many honorable mentions are listed in IGF’s detailed announcement. Here are the final nominees and categories considered:
Excellence in Visual Art:
Night in the Woods
Cuphead
Echo
Luna
The Gardens Between
Chuchel
Excellence in Audio:
Tormentor X Punisher
Cuphead
Vignettes
Rain World
Uurnog Uurnlimited
Celeste
Excellence in Design:
Into the Breach
Shenzhen I/O
Wilmot’s Warehouse
Baba Is You
Uurnog Uurnlimited
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Excellence in Narrative:
Tacoma
Attentat 1942
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Night in the Woods
Butterfly Soup
Tooth and Tail
Best Student Game:
IO Interloper
Don’t Make Love
Penny Blue Finds a Clue
We Were Here
Baba Is You
Guardian of the Gears
Nuovo Award:
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Tarotica Voo Doo
10 Mississippi
A Mortician’s Tale
Cosmic Top Secret
Everything Is Going to Be OK
Baba Is You
Kids
Seumas McNally Grand Prize:
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
Night in the Woods
West of Loathing
Into the Breach
Heat Signature
Baba Is You
While most of the categories are self-explanatory, many might not be familiar with the Nuovo Award, which is given for “thinking differently about games as a medium.” This award is for granted for games that challenge the usual formatting or sequence that a game follows, and rewards those who utilize the medium through creative functions.
The winners of IGF will be awarded with over $50,000 in prizes ranging over the multiple categorizes, which includes the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. The ceremony will be available for all who attended GDC 2018, and will be livestreamed online.