The Game Developers Conference (GDC) this week announced the finalists for the Independent Games Festival’s awards event, which is part of the former’s conference. The IGF’s awards event, where it reveals the winners of each award, will take place on March 26 alongside the Game Developers Choice Awards. The previous winner of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize in 2024 was Venba by Visai Games.
The games with the most nominations are Jenny Jiao Hsia’s Consume Me, a dark comedy life sim inspired by the creator’s experience with disordered eating; and Despelote, a slice-of-life game about playing soccer and meeting people on the streets of Quito, Ecuador.
Here is a complete list of the nominees:
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
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)
Nuovo Award
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 Maisillind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project Y ( …