Last year’s indies are making for some tough competition
The nominees for the 2023 Independent Games Festival Awards arelocked in. And after a stellar year for independent games, the categories look pretty packed with viable candidates.
Both action-adventure gameTunicand dreamlike RPGBetrayal at Club Lowleads the nominations at three apiece. Some other familiar faces from awards season also appear, includingImmortality,Neon White, andNORCO.
Of course, the IGFs are also great for finding hidden gems you missed in the year prior, and the 2023 nominees are no different. While you might be aware of some notable breakouts, there may be somelesser-known gameshanging around in the nominees or honorable mentions worth checking out.
The IGF Awards are part of GDC 2023, which is being held in San Francisco this coming March 20 through 24.
Here’s the full lineup for this year’s 2023 IGF nominees and honorable mentions.
2023 Independent Games Festival Awards nominees
Best Student Game
Honorable Mentions:A Mallard’s Song(Ducky Elford),Error143(Jenny Vi Pham),Paper Planet(Doodlegames),The Longest Walk(Alexander Tarvet),zenosyne(Ezra Szanton)
Excellence in Audio
Honorable Mentions:Betrayal at Club Low(Cosmo D Studios),Cult of the Lamb(Massive Monster),IMMORTALITY(Sam Barlow, Half Mermaid),Melatonin(Half Asleep),Neon White(Angel Matrix),Tinykin(Splashteam)
Excellence in Design
Honorable Mentions:Citizen Sleeper(Jump Over the Age),Cursed to Golf(Chuhai Labs),Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator(niceplay games),Swordship(Digital Kingdom),Terra Nil(Free Lives),Tinykin(Splashteam)
Excellence in Narrative
Honorable Mentions:Eternal Threads(Cosmonaut Studios),Queer Man Peering Into a Rock Pool.jpg(Fuzzy Ghost),Roadwarden(Moral Anxiety Studio),The Case of the Golden Idol(Color Gray Games),The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow(Cloak and Dagger Games),The Wreck(The Pixel Hunt)
Excellence in Visual Arts
Honorable Mentions:I Was a Teenage Exocolonist(Northway Games),Melatonin(Half Asleep),NAIAD(HiWarp),Potion Craft: Alchemist Simulator(niceplay games),Return to Monkey Island(Terrible Toybox),Swordship(Digital Kingdom),Terra Nil(Free Lives),Voodoo Detective(Short Sleeve Studio LLC)
Nuovo Award
Honorable Mentions:Atuel(Matajuegos),Ib(kouri),Not For Broadcast(NotGames),Of Moons and Mania(Absurd Walls),RPG Time: The Legend of Wright(DeskWorks Inc.)
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Honorable Mentions:Tinykin(Splashteam),Terra Nil(Free Lives),RPG Time: The Legend of Wright(DeskWorks Inc.),Roadwarden(Moral Anxiety Studio),Hardspace: Shipbreaker(Blackbird Interactive),Citizen Sleeper(Jump Over the Age)
