Independent Games Festival Awards Nominees Announced

The Independent Games Festival has announced its nominees for this year's awards, with critically-acclaimed indie games like Night in the Woods and Baba is You topping the list with multiple nominations.

In total, 35 games have been nominated for the awards, which will be given out in March at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco. It'll be hosted by Trent Kusters, co-founder of League of Geeks, the Australia-based development team behind Armello.

The most-nominated game is Baba is You, a puzzle game that allows players to alter the rules and game logic to help them solve puzzles. The adventure game Night in the Woods, known for its exploratory gameplay and iconic cat characters, has received several nominations too, and so has Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, a sadistic climbing game that rewards players who reach the top of the mountain. All three games are nominated for the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize, along with West of Loathing, Into the Breach, and Heat Signature.

The IGF awards will be announced immediately before the Game Developers Choice Awards, which highlights all sections of video game development. Follow GameSpot for full coverage of the winners, and check out the full list on nominees below.

The alt.ctrl.GDC award is also returning to IGF Awards. For the second year, it will honor the most creative and unique video game controller, with a prize of $3,000 given out to the winning game. IGF Award winners will receive more than $50,000 of prizes in various categories, both the IGF Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies are available to attend for all GDC 2018 pass-holders. They'll also be livestreamed online.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

• Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
• West of Loathing (Asymmetric Publications)
• Into the Breach (Subset Games)
• Heat Signature (Suspicious Developments)
• Baba is You (Hempuli)

Excellence in Visual Art

• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• Echo (ULTRA ULTRA)
• Luna (Funomena)
• The Gardens Between (The Voxel Agents)
• Chuchel (Amanita Design)

Excellence in Audio

• Tormentor X Punisher (e-studio)
• Cuphead (StudioMDHR)
• Vignettes (Skeleton Business)
• Rain World (VIDEOCULT)
• Uurnog Uurnlimited (Nifflas Games)
• Celeste (Matt Makes Games)

Excellence in Design

• Into the Breach (Subset Games)
• Shenzhen I/O (Zachtronics)
• Wilmot's Warehouse (Richard Hogg, Ricky Haggett, Eli Rainsberry)
• Baba Is You (Hempuli)
• Uurnog Uurnlimited (Nifflas Games)
• Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)

Excellence in Narrative

• Tacoma (Fullbright)
• Attentat 1942 (Charles University and Czech Academy of Sciences)
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games)
• Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
• Butterfly Soup (Brianna Lei)
• Tooth and Tail (Pocketwatch Games)

Nuovo Award

• Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
• Tarotica Voo Doo (TPM.CO SOFT WORKS)
• 10 Mississippi (Karina Popp)
• A Mortician's Tale (Laundry Bear Games)
• Cosmic Top Secret (klassefilm)
• Everything Is Going to Be OK (Nathalie Lawhead)
• Baba Is You (Hempuli)
• Kids (Playables)

Best Student Game

• IO Interloper (DANG!)
• Don't Make Love (Maggese)
• Penny Blue Finds a Clue (DigiPen Team Cactus Curse)
• We Were Here (Total Mayhem Games)
• Baba Is You (Hempuli)
• Guardian of the Gears (DigiPen Team Studio 76)