The Independent Games Festival (IGF) has named the main competition finalists for its historic tenth annual set of awards, celebrating the creations of the independent game community this year.
From a record field of 173 entries, nominations were led by 2D Boy's physics construction game World of Goo and Invisible Handlebar's music-adapting puzzle racer Audiosurf. Games were adjudicated by a panel made up of the creators of previous IGF honorees Aquaria, Braid, Cloud and N; industry veterans from studios including Foundation 9, Crytek, Electronic Arts, Big Huge Games and Midway; and noted journalists from Newsweek, Games For Windows Magazine, Joystiq, Wired, Kotaku, MTV News, and more.
World of Goo and Audiosurf were both nominated for three prizes, including the $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize category; other multiple nominees include 2D/3D platform title Fez, physics-heavy steampunk flying combat title Hammerfall, and Guitar Hero controller-using action game Fret Nice. Other notable nominees for the 10th Annual IGF Awards include stylish 2D pixel action title Noitu Love 2: Devolution, design-nominated bird-watching casual title Snapshot Adventures: Secret Of Bird Island, and evocative art-game The Path.
In addition, an initial set of sponsors for the 2008 Independent Games Festival have been announced. Wizards of the Coast's Gleemax.com is 2008 Platinum Sponsor, alongside Sony and Microsoft as Silver Sponsors and DigiPen as Platinum Student Showcase Sponsor.
The finalists for the 2007 Independent Games Festival are:
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
* Audiosurf, by Invisible Handlebar, LLC
* Crayon Physics Deluxe, by Kloonigames
* Hammerfall, by GKosh
* Noitu Love 2: Devolution, by Konjak
* World of Goo, by 2D Boy, LLC
Best Web Browser Game
* Globulos.com, by GlobZ
* Iron Dukes, by One Ton Ghost
* Tri-Achnid, by TriAchnid Inc
Design Innovation Award
* Battleships Forever, by WYRDSYM Games
* Fez, by Kokoromi
* Fret Nice, by Bits & Pieces Interactive
* Snapshot Adventures: Secret Of Bird Island, by Large Animal Games
* World Of Goo, by 2D Boy, LLC
Excellence in Visual Art
* Clean Asia!, by Cactus?
* Fez, by Kokoromi
* Hammerfall, by GKosh
* Synaesthete, by DigiPen Institute of Technology
* The Path, by Tale of Tales
Excellence in Audio
* Cinnamon Beats, by Secret Exit
* Fret Nice, by Bits & Pieces Interactive
* Audiosurf, by Invisible Handlebar, LLC
* Clean Asia!, by Cactus?
* OokiBloks, by Studio Work3 / Hermit Games
Technical Excellence
* World of Goo, by 2D Boy, LLC
* Audiosurf, by Invisible Handlebar, LLC
* Goo!, by PillowFort
* Axiom: Overdrive, by Reflexive Entertainment
* Gumboy Tournament, by CINEMAX, s.r.o.
The IGF was established in 1998 by the CMP Game Group to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers, in the way that the Sundance Film Festival honors the independent film community. A separate set of finalists, for the Student Showcase award, will be announced December 17. The finalists will compete for more than $50,000 in prizes. Nominated games will be exhibited at the IGF Pavilion, February 20-22, and announced at the IGF Awards Ceremony on February 20, at CMP's Game Developers Conference (GDC).
