The nominees for the twenty seventh Annual Independent Games Festival have been revealed. UFO 50, Thank Goodness You’re Here, and more will compete for this yr’s top honors, the Seamus McNally Grade Prize, but there’s one shocker that didn’t make the ultimate cut: Balatro.
The Independent Games Festival awards ceremony takes place every yr at Game Developers Conference, with this yr’s set to happen March 17-21. The show celebrates independent games, often nominating unexpected deep cuts and upcoming games that go on to grow to be critical darlings. Last yr’s ceremony, for example, featured multiple nominations for 1000xResist ahead of its official release. That may go on to grow to be one among 2024’s best-reviewed games.
This yr, six games will compete for the Seamus McNally awards: Caves of Qud, Devour Me, Despelote, Indika, Thank Goodness You’re Here, and UFO 50. Essentially the most eye-catching game on that list is Despelote, a narrative coming-of-age story set in Ecuador that’s scheduled to launch this yr. It’s not only up for the Seamus McNally award but in addition Excellence in Audio, Narrative, and the show’s Nuovo Award, which honors more experimental games.
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As for other unreleased games nominated this yr, Devour Me leads the pack with five total nominations. Raw Fury’s upcoming Blue Prince also made a splash this yr, racking up an Excellence in Design nomination and an honorable mention for the Seamus McNally Award.
The large surprise here is that the Game Awards-winning Balatro didn’t make the cut for the Seamus McNally, despite making the honorable mentions list. It wasn’t entirely shut out, though, because it’ll compete on this yr’s Design field.
Loads of other 2024 releases made a serious splash. Standouts like Nine Sols, Judero, Tactical Breach Wizards, Children of the Sun, and more all snagged nominations. Here’s the total list.
Best Student Game
- A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)
- DisplaceMen (Eversea Club / leafaleaves)
- Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)
- Slot Waste (Vinny Roca / pickpanpuck productions)
- The WereCleaner (Howlin’ Hugs / USC Games)
- 12 months Unknown (Julian Heuser)
Honorable Mentions
Cards of Heart (GoodMind Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Midwest Games), Lost Garden (Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)
Excellence 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 Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- Utopia Must Fall (Pixeljam)
Honorable Mentions
Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Incorrect Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive), Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Excellence in Design
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Devour Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
- Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
Honorable Mentions
Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Mauersics), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)
Excellence in Narrative
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)
- Devour Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)
Honorable Mentions
Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Incorrect Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic), The Thaumaturge (Idiot’s Theory / 11 bit studios)
Excellence in Visual Arts
- Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital)
- Devour Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)
- Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya)
- Nine Sols (RedCandleGames)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
Honorable Mentions
Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)
Nuovo Award
- Devour Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)
- Ginger (Kevin Du / lizu ktap)
- individualism within the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware rant manifesto (alienmelon)
- Starship Home (Creature)
- tapeçaria (tapestry) (mut/moochi (with help from plunderludics working group))
- The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / Lively Gaming Media Inc)
Honorable Mentions
Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX), Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (Lizardry / PLAYISM)
Seamus McNally Grand Prize
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Devour Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
- Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Honorable Mentions:
Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Incorrect Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
