Independent Games Festival 2011 Main Competition Finalists Revealed; Awards Presented on March 2

January 3, 2011 12:15 PM

After culling through nearly 400 entries since opening submissions back in June 2010, the Independent Games Festival has announced the main competition finalists for its 2011 awards, separated into six categories.

Nominees include the "still in development" cult-hit Minecraft and the harrowing adventure Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which received three nods each.

The awards will be presented on March 2 at the Game Developer's Conference, with all nominees given free passes to the event. During the event, nominees must present "playable versions of their game to all GDC attendees at the IGF Pavilion on the GDC Expo Floor from Wednesday, March 2nd through Friday, March 4th."

Top prize for the awards include a $20,000 payday and a chance to be bombarded by press during GDC--which we presume most developers feel is a burden rather than a reward.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
SpyParty (Chris Hecker)
Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Nidhogg (Messhof)
Honorable mentions: Neptune's Pride (Iron Helmet Games); Super Crate Box (Vlambeer); Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Carpe Fulgur); Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games); Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment).
Excellence In Visual Art
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
The Dream Machine (Cockroach)
Cave Story (2010 Edition) (Nicalis)
Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games)
Hohokum (Honeyslug & Richard Hogg)
Honorable mentions: Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment); Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio); Faraway (Steph Thirion); Helsing's Fire (Ratloop); Flotilla (Blendo Games).
Technical Excellence
Minecraft (Mojang)
Confetti Carnival (SpikySnail Games)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
Neverdaunt:8Bit (Robot Loves Kitty)
Miegakure (Marc Ten Bosch)
Honorable mentions: Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio); Achron (Hazardous Software); Hazard: The Journey Of Life (Demruth); Overgrowth (Wolfire Games); Swimming Under Clouds (Piece Of Pie Studios)
Excellence In Design
Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
Super Crate Box (Vlambeer)
Nidhogg (Messhof)
Faraway (Steph Thirion)
Minecraft (Mojang)
Honorable mentions: Helsing's Fire (Ratloop); Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Carpe Fulgur); Flotilla (Blendo Games); Bo (Mahdi Bahrami); Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now [B.U.T.T.O.N.] (Copenhagen Game Collective)
Excellence In Audio
Bastion (Supergiant Games)
Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
Bit.Trip Beat (Gaijin Games)
Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio)

Honorable mentions: Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games); Cave Story (2010 Edition) (Nicalis); Jamestown (Final Form Games); NightSky (Nicalis); Planck (Shadegrown Games)
Best Mobile Game
Shot Shot Shoot (Erik Svedang)
Colorbind (Nonverbal)
Helsing's Fire (Ratloop)
Solipskier (Mikengreg)
Halcyon (Stfj)
Honorable mentions: Flick Kick Football (PikPok); Shibuya (Nevercenter); Spirits (Spaces Of Play); Tentacles (Press Play); Trainyard (Matt Rix)

Xav de Matos

Xav de Matos was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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GDC 2011

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Milleh

 reply
January 3, 2011 12:26 PM

Though Minecraft will surely win, my personal choice is Amnesia
- Wolfslice
  
   reply
  January 3, 2011 5:06 PM
  
  Amnesia +1
  - SabinRaijin
    
     reply
    January 3, 2011 9:41 PM
    
    Amnesia +1 again - sometimes I wish Shacknews incorporated a Reddit-style upvoting system so we could see which game Shackers prefer overall.
    - shurcool
      
       reply
      January 17, 2011 3:27 PM
      
      Nah, Shacknews will be exactly the same 30 years from now, just like it was 10 yrs ago.
- ajvitaly
  
   reply
  January 3, 2011 8:22 PM
  
  I think Minecraft is probably most deserving simply because of it's success, but then that makes me hope a different game wins so others can get a little bump in their success as well.