2018 Independent Gaming Festival entries revealed

We have a nice mix of both expected and unexpected names.

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The Independent Gaming Festival (IGF) will be held on March 21 for the 20th time (during the Game Developers Conference) and, following this nice jubilee, we will see the awards being given to the most influential as well as the most innovative and acclaimed game development products from the previous year. More than 300 judges in total took part in the selection process and, out of a pool composed of more than 600 different games, they managed to nail it down to 35 finalists that will get a chance to get the (additional) recognition at the awards ceremony and fight for the grand prize(s).


Here's a list of all the finalists and their respective categories:


Excellence in visual art

Night in the Woods
Cuphead
Echo
Luna
The Gardens Between
Chuchel

Excellence and 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 and narratives

Tacoma
Attentat 1942
Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
Night in the Woods
Butterfly Soup
Tooth and Tail

Best student game

IO Interloper
Do not 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


It should be noted that the Nuovo award is basically handed over for "thinking differently about games as a medium". The other categories are very self-explanatory in their nature.


It's also interesting to add that some titles got multiple nominations in several different categories. That includes the immensely successful Cuphead and Night in the Woods but also games like Baba is You (a puzzle game that lets the players modify both the basic rules and the overall game logic as a core mechanic in solving various different puzzles) and Getting Over with Bennet Foddy (an exceptionally difficult climbing game developed by....Bennet Foddy).


The winners will receive more than $50 000 while the winner of Seumas McNally grand prize will get $30 000. All the GDC 2018 pass-holders will be able to attend the grand ceremony but the whole event will also be streamed as well.


In order to see full details as well as the list of honorable mentions that didn't make the cut, make sure to check out the official website.