2015 Independent Games Festival Finalists Revealed

Organizers of the 2015 Independent Games Festival (IGF) on Wednesday announced the finalists for the Main Competition, led by games like 80 Days, This War of Mine, and The Talos Principle.

IGF expert judges chose the more than 30 finalists listed below out of a pool of nearly 650 entrants of games released in the past year. The awards show is meant to honor the "most influential and outstanding development in independent video games."

This year's IGF Awards will take place the evening of Wednesday, March 4 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco as part of the 2015 Game Developers Conference. This will be followed by the Game Developers Choice Awards; nominees will be announced later.

There is more than $60,000 in prize money up for grabs at the IGF Awards, including a $30,000 cash prize for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize winner. The full list of finalists for each category, alongside with honorable mentions, is below courtesy of IGF.

Excellence in Visual Art

• Donut County (Ben Esposito)
• Lumino City (State of Play Games)
• Else Heart.Break() (Niklas Åkerblad, Erik Svedäng, et al.)
• Memory of a Broken Dimension (XRA)
• Metamorphabet (Patrick Smith)
• Oquonie (XXIIVV and Kokorobot)

Honorable Mentions: Crawl (Powerhoof); Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play); Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine); Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club); The Sailor's Dream (Simogo); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter(The Astronauts)

Excellence in Narrative

• 80 Days (inkle Studios)
• Coming Out Simulator 2014 (Nicky Case)
• Ice-Bound: A Novel of Reconfiguration (Down to the Wire)
• Pry (Tender Claws)
• This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios)
• Three Fourths Home ([Bracket]Games)

Honorable Mentions: Curtain (Llaura, Dreamfeeel); Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) (Upper One Games/E-Line Media); Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds); The Fall (Over The Moon); The Sailor's Dream (Simogo); The Talos Principle (Croteam)

Excellence in Design

• 80 Days (inkle Studios)
• Framed (Loveshack)
• Invisible Inc. (Klei Entertainment)
• Killer Queen (Joshua DeBonis & Nikita Mikros)
• Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds)
• The Talos Principle (Croteam)

Honorable Mentions: Desert Golfing (Captain Games); Dungeon of the Endless (Amplitude Studios); Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios); Helix (Michael Brough); Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games); Mini Metro (Dinosaur Polo Club)

Excellence in Audio

• Ephemerid: A Musical Adventure (SuperChop Games)
• Phonopath (Kevin Regamey)
• Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
• The Sailor's Dream (Simogo Games)
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)
• Thumper (Drool)

Honorable Mentions: Deep Under the Sky (Rich Edwards and Colin Northway); Fotonica (Santa Ragione); Goat Simulator (Coffee Stain Studios); Hotline Miami 2 (Dennaton); Nuclear Throne (Vlambeer); Smash Hit (Mediocre)

Nuovo Award

• Become A Great Artist In Just 10 Seconds (Michael Brough and Andi McClure)
• Bounden (Game Oven)
• Desert Golfing (Captain Games)
• Elegy For A Dead World (Dejobaan Games & Popcannibal)
• How Do You Do It? (Nina Freeman, Emmett Butler, Jonathan Kittaka and Deckman Coss)
• Plug & Play (Mario von Rickenbach and Michael Frei / Etter Studio)
• Rooftop Cop (Stephen Lawrence Clark)
• Tetrageddon Games (Nathalie Lawhead)

Honorable Mentions: Curtain (Llaura, Dreamfeeel); Ice-Bound: A Novel of Reconfiguration (Down to the Wire); International Jetpack Conference (Rob Dubbin and Allison Parrish); Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wiilds); Phonopath (Kevin Regamery); Push Me Pull You (House House)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

• 80 Days (Inkle Studios)
• Invisible Inc. (Klei Entertainment)
• Outer Wilds (Team Outer Wilds)
• The Talos Principle (Croteam)
• Metamorphabet (Patrick Smith)
• This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios)

Honorable Mentions: Donut County (Ben Esposito); Endless Legend (Amplitude Studios); Killer Queen (Joshua DeBonis & Nikita Mikros); Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games); The Sailor's Dream (Simogo Games); The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)