19th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards to be Hosted by Cibele Game Designer, Nina Freeman

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 9, 2017 — (PRNewswire) — The finalists for the Independent Games Festival (IGF) have been revealed for the esteemed 19th annual awards, which honor the most influential, innovative and acclaimed projects in independent game development. The ceremony, taking place on March 1, 2017 during the Game Developers Conference, will be hosted by Nina Freeman, the game designer of the acclaimed 2016 IGF Nuovo Award-winning title, Cibele. The breakthrough game centers around themes of love, sex and the internet, and was largely inspired by Freeman's deeply personal real-life story. Nina's current role is a level designer working on the highly-anticipated Tacoma, the follow-up to Fullbright's critical hit, Gone Home.

After an initial review round by over 340 judges, the more than 650 entries for the 2017 IGF Awards were distributed to a group of experts from across the industry for final consideration. These expert juries specializing in distinct disciplines for each category have selected the IGF finalists after playing, discussing and rigorously evaluating them.

Among the diverse selection of 30 different titles, a few games have received award nominations in multiple categories, including Virginia, developer Variable State's first-person thriller propelled by a thought-provoking and mysterious narrative, which has received a total of four nominations (Best Audio, Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Visual Art and The Nuovo Award).

Three other titles are being recognized for their excellence with three nominations apiece, they include Hyper Light Drifter by Heart Machine, an intense and highly-stylized action adventure RPG that harkens back to classic 16-bit adventures. Inside by developer Playdead, is their much-anticipated follow-up to 2010's Limbo and follows a boy as he finds himself drawn into the center of a secretive and darkly haunting project. Event[0] by Ocelot Society is a sci-fi narrative exploration game in which players must interact with an elaborate onboard AI to communicate and negotiate their way back home.

The winners of the IGF Awards will be announced at the Independent Games Festival Awards which take place the evening of Wednesday, March 1st at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center. The IGF Awards will immediately precede the Game Developers Choice Awards, which recognizes the best games of the year across all sections of video game development.

Winners of the IGF Awards will also receive over $50,000 of prizes in various categories, including the $30,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Both the IGF Awards and the Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies are available to attend for all GDC 2017 pass-holders and will be livestreamed on the GDC's official Twitch channel.

The full list of finalists for each category of the 2017 Independent Games Festival, with additional "honorable mentions," is as follows:

Best Student Game
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month) 
Lily, Colors of Santa Luz (Lily, Colors of Santa Luz Team)
Un Pas Fragile (PAF team)
FAR: Lone Sails (Mr. Whale's Game Service / Mixtvision)
Frog Climbers (TeamCrew)
Bamboo Heart (Sokpop Collective)

Honorable Mentions: Awkward Dimensions Redux (StevenHarmonGames); DYO (Team DYO); Code 7 - Episode 0: Allocation (Goodwolf Studio); You Must be 18 or Older to Enter (Seemingly Pointless)

Excellence in Audio
The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
GoNNER (Art in Heart)
Virginia (Variable State)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
Everything (David OReilly)
Inside (Playdead)

Honorable Mentions: 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories); Kingdom: New Lands (Noio); Dropsy (Tendershoot, A Jolly Corpse); Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month); Sentris (Timbre Interactive); TumbleSeed (TumbleSeed Team)

Excellence in Design
Imbroglio (Michael Brough)
Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavour Games)
Duskers (Misfits Attic)
Overcooked (Ghost Town Games)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)

Honorable Mentions: She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment); Elsinore (Golden Glitch Studios); Inside (Playdead); Antihero (Tim Conkling); Replica (Somi); Space Pirate Trainer (I-Illusions)

Excellence in Narrative
Ladykiller in a Bind (Love Conquers All Games)
1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories)
Virginia (Variable State)
Orwell (Osmotic Studios)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
One Night Stand (Kinmoku)

Honorable Mentions: A Normal Lost Phone (Accidental Queens); The Lion's Song (Mi'pu'mi Games); Far from Noise (George Batchelor); Inside (Playdead); Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe); Burly Men at Sea (Brain&Brain); Sorcery! 4 (inkle / Steve Jackson)

Excellence in Visual Art
The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
Inside (Playdead)
Virginia (Variable State)
Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment)

Honorable Mentions: Inks (State of Play); Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall); Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet); Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play); Sundered (Thunder Lotus Games); Un Pas Fragile (PAF team)