Damn, 2018 had a lot of really great indie games

Here are your Independent Games Festival finalists

That headline probably goes without saying, but it’s true! The indie scene brought some genuinely great games in 2018 that will continue to stick with us for years to come. Look no further than the , which rounded up its finalists this week. That’s a good starting point.

The list also serves as a gentle nudge for me to check out games I’m liable to foolishly let slip by. I need to pencil in Hypnospace Outlaw, a peculiar yet heartfelt ’90s internet simulator fever dream.

It seems remarkably likely that Papers, Please creator Lucas Pope will fiᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnd his way back onto the award show stage. His latest title, the ship-bound murder-mystery adventure Return of the Obra Dinn, is up🎐 for awards in not only Audio, Design, Visual Art, a💃nd Narrative, but also the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

We’ll see what’s what when the IGF Awards kick off at 6:30pm Pacific on March 20. The ceremony is the same night as the Game Developers Choice Awards and it’ll be led by 80 Days writer Meg Jayanth.

Here’s the full list of finalists and runners-up:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

(Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann)

(Zachtronics)

(Nolla Games)

(Lucas Pope)

(Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)

(Fictiorama Studios)

Honorable Mentions: (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit); (Unknown Worlds Entertainment); (Ian Lilley); (Polyarc); (Wadjet Eye Games); (Joakim Sandberg); (Tender Claws); (Beat Games)

Excellence in Visual Art

(ThroughLine Games)

(Team Alto)

(Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)

(Berzerk Studio)

(Ian Lilley)

(Lucas Pope)

Honorable Mentions: (Beat Games); (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit); (Unknown Worlds Entertainment); (Polyarc); (Joakim Sandberg); (Sirvo Studios); (Arbitrary Metric)

Excellence in Audio

(Nonsense Arts – Nicolás Recabarren and Tomás Batista)

(Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)

(Polyarc)

(Lucas Pope)

(Team Alto)

(Arbitrary Metric)

Honorable Mentions: (Amanita Design); (grapefrukt games); (Sectordub); (Sabotage); (Refract Studios); (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit); (Funomena)

Excellence in Design

(Triband)

(Fictiorama Studios)

(Nolla Games)

(Lucas Pope)

(Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, and Marlowe Dobbe)

(Zachtronics)

Honorable Mentions: (Unknown Worlds Entertainment); (Sunhead Games); (Cassie McQuater); (Ian MacLarty); (Ian Lilley); (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran); (Beat Games)

Excellence in Narrative

(Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit)

(Free Lives)

(Wadjet Eye Games)

(Nova-box)

(Jeremy Gable)

(Lucas Pope)

Honorable Mentions: (Fictiorama Studios); (Daniel Mullins Games)

(Copychaser Games); (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel); (AP Thomson); (like Charlie); (Gualicho Games)

Nuovo Award

(yesyes)

(Seemingly Pointless)

(Nolla Games)

(Ian Lilley)

(Cassie McQuater)

(Arbitrary Metric)

(Fictiorama Studios)

(Zachariah Chandler)

Honorable Mentions: (Sean Han Tani); (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran); (alienmelon); (solimporta); (Aether Interactive); (game♐bra.in); (Cosmo D); 𓆏(Dennis Carr)

Best Student Game

(Paper Team)

(Grace Bruxner)

(Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel)

(En Garde! Team)

(solimporta)

(Gossamer Games)

Honorable Mentions: (HeartBeetStudio); (Rosser-McGraw Studio); (SplitSide Games); (Bilge Kaan); (David Su and Dominique Star); (Philipp Stollenmayer); (Baby Robot Games); (Supyrb)

[IGF]