The IGF & Game Developers Choice Awards 2020 winners and finalists
Published , by Sam Chandler
The Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards is a fantastic place for indie developers to receive recognition. Although GDC 2020 was canceled this year, the team behind the event shifted to an online format. This allowed the IGF and GDC Awards to go ahead. Let’s take a look at the nominees and the winners of each category.
The Game Developers Choice Awards
Game of the Year winner: Untitled Goose Game
Nominees
Death Stranding (Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Control (Remedy Entertainment/505 Games)
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (FromSoftware/Activision)
Blood & Truth (SCEE Studio London/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Asgard's Wrath (Sanzaru Games/Oculus Studios)
Boneworks (Stress Level Zero)
Pistol Whip (Cloudhead Games)
Ambassador Award winner: Kate Edwards
Pioneer Award winner: Roberta Williams
Audience Award winner: Sky: Children of the Light
The Independent Games Festival Awards
Seumas McNally Grand Prize winner ($10,000): A Short Hike
Nominees
Eliza (Zachtronics)
A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
Untitled Goose Game (House House)
Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)
Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (Sean Han Tani & Marina Kittaka)
Excellence in Visual Art winner ($2,000): Knights and Bikes
Nominees
Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword)
Void Bastards (Blue Manchu)
Creature in the Well (Flight School Studio)
Eastward (Pixpil)
Stone Story RPG (Martian Rex / standardcombo)
Excellence in Audio winner ($2,000): Mutazione
Nominees
Observation (No Code)
Vectronom (Ludopium)
Astrologaster (Nyamyam)
Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword)
Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
Untitled Goose Game (House House)
Excellence in Design winner ($2,000): Patrick’s Parabox
Nominees
Katana ZERO (Askiisoft)
Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Megagon Industries)
Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)
A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
Elsinore (Golden Glitch)
Patrick's Parabox (Patrick Traynor)
Excellence in Narrative winner ($2,000): Heaven’s Vault
Nominees
Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
Heaven's Vault (inkle)
Elsinore (Golden Glitch)
Wide Ocean, Big Jacket (Turnfollow)
Eliza (Zachtronics)
LIONKILLER (Sisi Jiang)
Nuovo Award winner ($2,000): The Space Between
Nominees
Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 (Cosmo D)
Infini (Barnaque)
The Space Between (Christoph Frey)
Life Tastes Like Cardboard (Demensa)
Promesa (Julián Palacios)
Song of Bloom (Philipp Stollenmayer)
The Longing (Studio Seufz)
PAGAN: Autogeny (Oleander Garden)
Best Student Game winner ($2,000): BORE DOME
Nominees
Orbital Bullet (SmokeStab)
A Juggler's Tale (kaleidoscube)
Forgotten (Mutiny Games)
Neon Beats (OKYO Games)
BORE DOME (Goblin rage)
Nothing In Sight (Nothing In Sight Team)
Audience Award winner ($2,000): A Short Hike
It was definitely a good year for indie games, so it’s great to see the developers receive recognition and praise for all their hard work. Although the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards for 2020 has concluded, it doesn’t mean the fun stops there. There’s still plenty more action left in the year, as well as a host of indie games to check out. In fact, Steam’s Game Festival is now live, featuring over 40 titles that were to be shown at GDC 2020. Go check them out.