Independent Games Festival announces 2009 award nominees

by Andrew Yoon { Jan 7th 2009 at 2:46PM }

Click me to see this year's IGF nominees.

With consoles opening their doors to digital distribution, indie gaming has exploded in recent years. One look at 2008's IGF winners shows a number of highly recognizable, widely available titles: Crayon Physics Deluxe, World of Goo, Audiosurf, and Desktop Tower Defense. Publishers are always on the lookout for the "next big thing." They'll be keeping an eye out on this year's IGF nominees.

There are many categories to compete in, but only one game can be crowned with the ultimate prize -- the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Find out more about the candidates here.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

Blueberry Garden
Osmos
Carneyvale Showtime
Night Game
Dyson

Excellence in Visual Art:

Cletus Clay
FEIST
Machinarium
PixelJunk Eden
Zeno Clash

Excellence in Audio:

Blueberry Garden
BrainPipe
Musaic Box
PixelJunk Eden
Retro/Grade

Excellence in Design:

Musaic Box
Night Game
Osmos
Retro/Grade
Snapshot

Innovation Award:

Between
Coil
The Graveyard
Mightier
You Have To Burn The Rope

Technical Excellence:

Cortex Command
IncrediBots
The Maw
Osmos
PixelJunk Eden

Finalist games will be playable at the Game Developer Conference, and nearly $50,000 worth of prizes will be handed out. Winners will be announced on stage at the prestigious Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday, March 25, 2009.

Tags: gdc-2009, gdc09, igf, igf-2009

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Alien Lord @ Jan 7th 2009 2:49PM

Tell me which of these indie games can be played on 360 and I'll care.

Levi @ Jan 7th 2009 6:13PM

Alien, with every post, you are proving yourself more and more a retarded troll.

"Cortex Command isn't very good, first it's on PC "
Are you saying that a game gets a point against it if it's on the PC? Are you freaking kidding me? You're not a gamer, you are a Microsoft employee.. wait, no, that doesn't make sense, since these games are most likely Windows based... Oh right, you're just a moron Troll.

imaginarythomas @ Jan 7th 2009 2:56PM

Congrats to the Cortex Command guys. They make a fine title.

Is Zeno clash even playable? I'd love to give that a run through

Alien Lord @ Jan 7th 2009 3:18PM

Cortex Command isn't very good, first it's on PC second it's buggy as fuck, you can't even play cause it wont except any input.

imaginarythomas @ Jan 7th 2009 3:23PM

Maybe you're just touched in the head, child.

Alien Lord @ Jan 7th 2009 3:27PM

I tried a gamepad at first as it was supposed to accept it but it wouldn't so I tried the keyboard still would accept any commands so yeah it's buggy.

Einhanderkiller @ Jan 7th 2009 5:30PM

Zeno Clash looks really cool. I think it's releasing soon, so it should be very playable.

Tez @ Jan 7th 2009 3:04PM

"You Have To Burn The Rope" is up for Innovation? What a joke.

Levi @ Jan 7th 2009 6:14PM

I don't really understand either. Maybe it's just on there because it's someone's favorite meme game? And they know it won't win? Or maybe it's some sorta experiment.

Strategy_Panda (The Sandwich Poisoning Crew) @ Jan 7th 2009 3:15PM

Braid didn't make the list?

I've never played the game but with all the recognition its received this year, it seems like it would get a mention here.

JerJer @ Jan 7th 2009 4:43PM

i think you might be a bit confused as to what indie gaming constitutes for the gaming industry these days...

otherwise i would say braid should be on there.

Mo @ Jan 7th 2009 8:04PM

read my mind

Judd @ Jan 7th 2009 11:35PM

Braid won Innovation in Game Design in 2006.

http://www.igf.com/2006finalistswinners.html

Yes, I know it wasn't released commercially in 2008, but maybe they got an early copy of the game.

Judd @ Jan 7th 2009 11:37PM

I meant that it wasn't released commercially UNTIL 2008, but you probably could have figured that out by yourself.

jon @ Jan 7th 2009 3:15PM

Zeno clash is a game i really, really, really want to play. I cannot wait for that one to come out. Every aspect of the game seems very unique, most of all the art and plot of the game.

yesyes @ Jan 7th 2009 3:20PM

That's not how the IGF works. You submit a game, and it is judged. Braid was actually in the IGF in 2006 and won for Design Innovation.

As for You have to Burn the Rope? It's embarrassing that such a game would even be considered for innovation. The IGF has lost some credibility points here.