The Independent Games Festival has announce the finalists for its annual awards, highlighting a smorgasbord of indie titles up for accolades at this year's Game Developers Conference. The panel added a new "Excellence in Narrative" award this year, alongside six other regular categories.

The finalist list includes several games that spanned multiple categories, including FTL, Cart Life, and Kentucky Route Zero. The Nuovo Award, which honors abstract game ideas, nominated Cart Life, Spaceteam, Dys4ia, Bientot l'ete, 7 Grand Steps, MirrorMoon, VESPER.5, and Little Inferno. The Seumas McNally Grand Prize nominees include Hotline Miami, FTL, Cart Life, Little Inferno, and Kentucky Route Zero.

Last year Fez won the Seumas McNally prize, and went on to release on Xbox Live Arcade this year to critical praise. Since the awards don't rely on games having been released to a purchasable state, sometimes it serves as a glimpse of the next indie hit.