GDC will reveal the finalists of the 27th Independent Games Festival

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) this week announced the finalists for the Independent Games Festival, which is part of the former conference. The IGF Awards event, which reveals the winners of each award, will take place on March 26 along with the Game Developers’ Choice Awards. A former champion of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize in 2024 was Venba and Visai Games.

The games with the most titles are Jenny Jiao Hsia’s Consume Me, a dark comedy inspired by the creator’s experiences with eating disordered; and Despelote, a fun game about playing soccer and meeting people on the streets of Quito, Ecuador.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

• Caves of Qud (Free Games / Kitfox Games)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet WP, Ken “coda” Snyder)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
• Thank you Goodness You are here! (Coal Supper / Fear)
• UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwash (Faulty Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Sols Nine (RedCandleGames), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Events )

New Award

• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet WP, Ken “coda” Snyder)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• The Great Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)
• Ginger (Kevin Du / lizu ktap)
• autonomy in the dead age of the internet: an anti-big tech flip shovelware rant manifesto (alienmelon)
• Home of the Stars (Creature)
• tapeçaria (artwork) (mut/moochi (courtesy of plunderludics working group))
• The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / Active Gaming Media Inc)

Credits: Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX), Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maisillind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Geman Palacios / Kasrah Ghobadi), The Price of an Airplane (WATERBOX), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Sports (Lizardry / PAYISM)

Excellence in Visual Arts

• Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet WP, Ken “coda” Snyder)
• Hauntii (Moonloop / Firestoke Games)
• Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya)
• Nine Sols (RedCandle Games)
• Thank you Goodness You are here! (Coal Supper / Fear)

Honorable Mentions: Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of a Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)

Quality in Narrative

• Caves of Qud (Free Games / Kitfox Games)
• Close Away (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet WP, Ken “coda” Snyder)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
• No Case Should Go Unsolved (Somi)

Honorable Mentions: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniature (Other Legends of Use), Mouthwash (Faulty Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Fear), The Thaumaturge (Fool’s Theory / 11 bit studios)

Excellence in Design

• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Caves of Qud (Free Games / Kitfox Games)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet WP, Ken “coda” Snyder)
• Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
• Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Events)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Crime Should Go Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Maursics), The Rise of The Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)

Quality in Audio

• Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)
• Thank you Goodness You are here! (Coal Supper / Fear)
• Utopia Must Fall (Pixeljam)

Honorable Mentions:

Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwash (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive), Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Student Success Games

• A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)
• DisplaceMen (Eversea Club / leafleaves)
• Growth Spurt: Long Jump In Countless Hours (My Desktop Game)
• Slot Waste (Vinny Roca / pickpanpuck productions)
• The WereCleaner (Howlin’ Hugs / USC Games)
• The Unknown Year (Julian Heuser)

Honorable Mentions:

Heart Cards (Good Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Western Games), Lost Garden (Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)