The finalists have been revealed for the 26th Independent Games Festival Awards

Game Developers Conference (GDC) has announced the finalists for the 26th Independent Games Festival (IGF). 

The Independent Games Festival will take place during GDC, in-person at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center between March 18 and March 22, 2024. The festival regularly puts the spotlight on the best games that are created by smaller teams with a lower budget.

The list of previous IGF prize winners includes indie darlings like Betrayal at Club Low, Neon White, TUNIC, Umurangi Generation, A Short Hike, Return of the Obra Dinn, Quadrilateral Cowboy, Night in the Woods, Her Story, and more. 

Its latest award winners will be announced at a ceremony on March 20, 2024, that all GDC 2024 pass-holders are able to attend. It will also be simulcast on the GDC Twitch channel, for those that can’t make it. 

Over 500 games were considered for the shortlist of finalists, with the narrative cooking game Venba from Visai Games getting the most nominations, in a total of four categories: Audio, Narrative, Visual Art and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Five other titles got into three categories, 1000xRESIST by Fellow Traveller, A Highland Song by Inkle, Anthology of the Killer by Thecatamites, COCOON by Annapurna Interactive and Mediterranea Inferno by Santa Ragione, all of which are also in competition with Venba for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

Here is the full list of 2024 finalists:

Best Student Game

• goodbye.monster (Monster Team)
• Once Upon a Jester (Bonte Avond / Crunching Koalas)
• Pile Up! (Remoob / Catoptric Games, IndieArk)
• Planetka (TeTerka)
• RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Xylem Studios)
• TRY AGAIN (the Rejects)

Excellence in Audio

• A Highland Song (Inkle)
• COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
• Nour: Play With Your Food (Terrifying Jellyfish / PANIC)
• Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games / 7th Beat Games, indienova)
• Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive)
• Venba (Visai Games)

Excellence in Design

• Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment)
• Cobalt Core (Rocket Rat Games / Brace Yourself Games)
• COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
• Cryptmaster (Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games / Akupara Games)
• Final Profit: A Shop RPG (Brent Arnold)
• Isles of Sea and Sky (Cicada Games, Jason Newman, Craig Collver / Cicada Games, Jason Newman, Gamera Game)

Excellence in Narrative

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• A Highland Song (Inkle)
• Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, Eyeguys / Santa Ragione)
• The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
• The Wreck (The Pixel Hunt)
• Venba (Visai Games)

Excellence in Visual Arts

• Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
• Clash: Artifacts of Chaos (ACE Team / Nacon)
• Darkest Dungeon II (Red Hook Studios)
• Little Goody Two Shoes (AstralShiftPro LDA, AstralShift / Square Enix)
• Phonopolis (Amanita Design)
• Venba (Visai Games)

Nuovo Award

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
• Cryptmaster (Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games / Akupara Games)
• Kevin (1997-2077) (Kevin Du)
• Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, Eyeguys / Santa Ragione)
• NIDUS (Caleb Wood)
• The Forest Cathedral (Wakefield Interactive LLC, Brian Wilson / Whitehorn Games)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• A Highland Song (Inkle / Inkle)
• Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
• COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
• Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, Eyeguys / Santa Ragione)
• Venba (Visai Games)

There will also be an Audience Award at the IGF, for which you can vote on your favourite indie games here. If you’d like to learn more about the Independent Games Festival, you can do that over on their website.