The nominees for the 23rd annual Independent Games Festival Awards have been announced, with Genesis Noir, Spiritfarer, and Umurangi Generation leading the pack.
Nominees for the Seamus McNally Grand Prize include Genesis Noir, Spiritfarer, Umurangi Generation, Paradise Killer, Teardown, and Chicory: A Colorful Tale.
Genesis Noir, a noir adventure game set just before the Big Bang, touts the most nominations of all, including Excellence in Audio, Narrative, and Visual Art. Umurangi Generation, the photography game set in a world inspired by real-life (and sci-fi) natural disasters, follows up with three nominations, including the Nuovo Award, which is focused on pushing the video game medium forward.
Blaseball, the absurdist sports game featuring a sentient peanut god, also gets some love in the Nuovo Award category and a few honorable mentions in others.
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The IGF Awards are traditionally held just minutes prior to the annual Game Developer Choice Awards. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, July 21 2021 at 4:30 PM PT. The awards will be streamed as part of a virtual event.
You can read the full list of nominees and honorable mentions below.
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Paradise Killer (Kaizen Game Works)
Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory Team)
Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
Honorable Mentions: A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) (Draknek & Friends), Blaseball (The Game Band), Bugsnax (Young Horses), Carto (Sunhead Games), Disc Room (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Terri Vellmann, Doseone), NUTS (Joon, Pol, Muuutsch, Char & Torfi), OMORI (OMOCAT), Spelunky 2 (Mossmouth, BlitWorks), There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Draw Me A Pixel)
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Excellence in Audio
Say No! More (Studio Fizbin)
Blind Drive (Lo-Fi People)
Sunlight (Krillbite Studio)
Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) (Draknek & Friends)
Honorable Mentions: Ikenfell (Happy Ray Games), Stilstand (Ida Hartmann & Niila Games), BPM: BULLETS PER MINUTE (Awe Interactive), Creaks (Amanita Design), In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age), Olija (Thomas Olsson / Skeleton Crew Studio, Inc.), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory Team), Mixolumia (davemakes)
Best Student Game
Vessels (Local Space Survey Corps, LLC)
Dorfromantik (Toukana Interactive)
Some Old Stuff (Hao Fan, Harry (Weizhong) Chen, Haku (Minyan Cai), Emi Schaufeld)
Rainy Season (Inasa Fujio)
SYMPHONIA (Guillaume Roux, Nicolas Derio, Pierre Vrel, Guillaume Gille, Alexis Grand, Simon Larguier, Martin Lepretre, Corentin Pauvrasseau, Kilian Dufour, Alexandre Mansois, Quentin Vernet, Hicham Benrhannou, Olivier Esman)
Hadr (Dominik Konečný of Ateliér Duchů)
Honorable Mentions: Quest 4 Papa (Rumba Corp), Bots Are Stupid (Leander Edler-Golla), FAITH: The Unholy Trinity, (Airdorf Games), Liquidators (1986 CL3), Pink Gum (Mad Cream Games), Running Souls (Bar Levi, Asaf Kali, Yakir Oz, Michal Shoshan), Flicker of Hope (Studio Whip), Sketchball (Pincun Liu), Bunny Hill (Brendan Roarty)
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Excellence in Design
Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
Disc Room (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Terri Vellmann, Doseone)
Shady Part of Me (Douze Dixièmes)
There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Draw Me A Pixel)
Signs of the Sojourner (Echodog Games)
A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) (Draknek & Friends)
Honorable Mentions: Boomerang X (DANG!), Ancient Enemy (Grey Alien Games & Jim Rossignol), Biped (NExT Studios), Ynglet (Nifflas & Triple Topping), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory Team), Moncage (Optillusion), Airborne Kingdom (The Wandering Band), The Last Cube (Improx Games)
Excellence in Narrative
Lost Words: Beyond the Page (Sketchbook Games)
Across the Grooves (Nova-box)
Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
Haven (The Game Bakers)
In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age)
Honorable Mentions: Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus), NUTS (Joon, Pol, Muuutsch, Char & Torfi), Blaseball (The Game Band), Inkslinger (Gateway: Jacob Hvid Amstrup and Lucas A. V. Møller), Paradise Killer (Kaizen Game Works), South of the Circle (State of Play), Stilstand (Ida Hartmann & Niila Games), Blind Drive (Lo-Fi People)
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Excellence in Visual Art
Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
Arrog (Hermanos Magia and Leap Game Studios)
In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age)
Shady Part of Me (Douze Dixièmes)
Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue)
Carto (Sunhead Games)
Honorable Mention: Stilstand (Ida Hartmann & Niila Games), Bloodroots (Paper Cult), OMORI (OMOCAT), Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory Team), Going Under (Aggro Crab), Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
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Nuovo Award
Blaseball (The Game Band)
Nightmare Temptation Academy (Lena NW & Costcodreamgurl)
THAT NIGHT, STEEPED BY BLOOD RIVER (Taylor Swietanski)
Airplane Mode (Bacronym)
Welcome to Elk (Triple Topping)
Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
Chasing Light (Vittgen Inc.)
Kristallijn (Gaël Bourhis)
Honorable Mentions: Cai Cai Balão (LookUp Games at DADIU 2020), Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den), Gnosia (Petit Depotto), Liquidators (1986 CL3), Night Dreams (Salem Hughes), Rainy Season (Inasa Fujio), Stilstand (Ida Hartmann & Niila Games), There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Draw Me A Pixel)
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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/indie lover forever for IGN.
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