Late last year we saw some indie games nominated alongside triple A blockbusters at The Game Awards, but the time is nigh for their own night of glory and shiny awards. The finalists for the Independent Games Festival awards have been announced.

This will be the 18th (!) instalment of the annual festival and this year there were over 750 games submitted for consideration by over 400 judges. The winners will be announced in a ceremony held during the Game Developer’s Conference on March 16.

The nominees for the festivals biggest honour, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, are a mix of ubiquitous hits, some less celebrated titles, and surprise inclusions like the still-in-early-access RPG Darkest Dungeon and the unreleased-but-anticipated Superhot.

There’s a throng of nominees and categories, so for the full list check out the official IGF website, but here are the games vying for the top gong, as well as the honourable mentions for that category.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

Honorable Mentions: The Beginner’s Guide (Everything Unlimited Ltd.); Panoramical (Fernando Ramallo & David Kanaga); Affordable Space Adventures (KnapNok Games and Nifflas’ Games); Twelve Minutes (Luis Antonio); Oxenfree (Night School Studio); That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games); Cibele (Star Maid Games); Soft Body (Zeke Virant)

There’s an impressive prize pool of $50K to be distributed amongst the winners, with a $30K slice of that pie going to the Grand Prize winner.

Returning from last year to cover the hosting duties is co-founder and president of Capybara Games, Nathan Vella.

The presentation will be streamed via Twitch on March 16.

About The Author

As an Australian, Simon enjoys paying slightly more for games, and occasionally isn't allowed to have the really naughty ones. When he isn't writing about video games, he studies journalism so he can actually one day be good at it. He also experienced an existential crisis after writing in the third person.

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