The IGF & Game Developers Choice Awards 2025 winners and nominees

The Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards for 2025 occurred tonight with many excellent games earning their laurels. These awards seek to honor the incredible games released in 2024 and the people that make such titles possible. Below you’ll find all of the nominees and winners for the IGF and the GDC Awards. Please, check it out!

The Independent Games Festival Awards 2025

Best Student Game winner: Slot Waste

Nominees:

• A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)
• DisplaceMen (Eversea Club / leafaleaves)
• Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)
• Slot Waste (Vinny Roca / pickpanpuck productions)
• The WereCleaner (Howlin' Hugs / USC Games)
• Year Unknown (Julian Heuser)

Honorable Mentions: Cards of Heart (GoodMind Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Midwest Games), Lost Garden (​​Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)

Excellence in Audio winner: despelote

Nominees:

• Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
• ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)
• Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
• Utopia Must Fall (Pixeljam)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive),  Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Excellence in Design winner: Tactical Breach Wizards

Nominees:

• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
• Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
• Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
• Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Mauersics), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)

Excellence in Narrative winner: Caves of Qud

Nominees:

• Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
• Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
• No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)

Honorable Mentions: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments), Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic), The Thaumaturge (Fool's Theory / 11 bit studios)

Excellence in Visual Arts winner: Hauntii

Nominees:

• Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
• Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)
• Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya)
• Nine Sols (RedCandleGames)
• Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)

Honorable Mentions: Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive) 

Nuovo Award winner:  Consume Me

Nominees:

• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)
• Ginger (Kevin Du / lizu ktap)
• individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware rant manifesto (alienmelon)
• Starship Home (Creature)
• tapeçaria (tapestry) (mut/moochi (with help from plunderludics working group))
• The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / Active Gaming Media Inc)

Honorable Mentions: Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX) , Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality TestGame (Lizardry / PLAYISM)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize winner: Consume Me

Nominees:

• Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
• Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
• Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
• INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
• Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
• UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames) , Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)

The Game Developer Choice Awards 2025

Game of the Year winner: Balatro

Nominees:

• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Best Audio winner: Astro Bot

Nominees:

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Square Enix)
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Silent Hill 2 (Bloober Teams SA / KONAMI)

Best Debut winner: Balatro

Nominees:

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
• Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Honorable Mentions: Manor Lords (Slavic Magic / Hooded Horse), Mullet Madjack (HAMMER95 / Epopeia Games), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Best Design winner: Balatro

Nominees:

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Lorelai and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Grezzo, Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development / Nintendo), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Innovation Award winner: Balatro

Nominees:

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions: Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC), Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo / Annapurna Interactive), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper /Panic), The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures / Devolver Digital), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Best Narrative winner: Metaphor: ReFantazio

Nominees:

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio / SEGA)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
• Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / Critical Reflex)

Honorable Mentions: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix), Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios), Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix), Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)

Best Technology winner: Astro Bot

Nominees:

• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios / PlayStation Publishing LLC)
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios)
• Tiny Glade (Pounce Light)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso/ Bigmode), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Threyarch, Raven Software, Beenox, High Moon Studios, Activision Shanghai, Sledgehammer Games, Infinity Ward, Demonware /Activision), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios / Coffee Stain Publishing), Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Studios Inc / Bandai Namco Entertainment)

Best Visual Art winner: Black Myth: Wukong

Nominees:

• Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
• Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
• Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware Inc. / Bandai Namco Entertainment), Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory / Xbox Game Studios), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)

Social Impact winner: Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Nominees:

• 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
• Astro Bot (Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
• Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios)
• Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
• Neva (Nomada Studio / Devolver Digital)

Honorable Mentions: Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games), Distant Bloom (Ember Trail / Kina Brave), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare / Electronic Arts), Tales of Kenzera: Zau (Surgent Studios / Electronic Arts)

Audience Award winner: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)

Pioneer Award winner: Lucas Pope

Lifetime Achievement Award winner: Sam Lake

Those are your winners for all of the categories in the Independent Games Festival and Game Developers Choice Awards for 2025. There are a ton of fantastic games released in 2024 and more coming this year. So stay tuned to the Shacknews 2025 Video Game Release Date Calendar to see what’s coming out and what might be featured in the 26^th annual GDCA show.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler