Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival ( IGF ) has been held annually since 1999 as part of the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco . It recognizes innovative games that have been developed by independent game developers or pupils and students. The IGF was founded in 1998 to promote innovation in the video game industry, inspired by similar successes of the Sundance Film Festival in terms of independent film production. An example in which this intention worked is the game De Blob , which was presented as a student project at the festival in 2007 and was subsequently announced by THQ for Nintendo DS and Wii .
The awards given are followed by online media. The australian center for the moving image (acmi) shows an exhibition with the participants of past festivals.
Subdivision
The festival is divided into several competitions.
- The IGF Competition is the main competition in which games from independent software companies participate. The jury awards points in different disciplines for each game. Visitors to the festival website will also have the opportunity to watch demonstrations of the participating games and vote for their favorites for the audience award. The first five participants in each category (or the first three games in the Best Web Browser Game category ) will be judged a second time as finalists by a larger jury in order to select a winner in each category; the audience award is determined by visitors to the Game Developers Conference from among the finalists.
- For the IGF Student Showcase (in German: IGF Student Showcase ), the members of a jury award points for games developed by pupils or students. The 12 highest rated games will be exhibited as finalists for the "Best Student Game" award during the festival . The winner of the main prize is the game with the highest number of points in the finalists' freestyle, but will not be revealed until the conference. This category was introduced in 2003 and the additional award for the leading competitor was given for the first time in 2007.
- In 2006 and 2007 there was a third competition in which mods were up for evaluation. In 2006, four categories were available for four popular games: Half-Life 2 , Unreal Tournament 2004 , Neverwinter Nights, and Doom 3 . In 2007 the games were divided according to their genre : Single Player FPS Mod , Multiplayer FPS Mod , RPG Mod and Others . Similar to student games, a prize was also given for the best game. In 2008 mods will again compete with full-fledged games in the IGF competition ; the reduced workload should be included in the jury's assessment.
Browser games have also been recognized in the main competition since 2004 . In 2004 and 2005, the competition categories were divided into two groups: Browser games with a download size of less than 15 MB were given their own section in which the main prize and the individual prizes were awarded a second time. In 2006 this division was abolished and a single category for browser games was introduced.
Prices
The following prizes are awarded in the main IGF Competition : The main prize is the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, which was endowed with $ 20,000 in 2007. Seumas McNally is the name of the first IGF winner; he died shortly after receiving the award. The individual categories in which prize money of $ 2,500 was awarded in 2007 are: Technical Perfection, Innovative Graphics, Innovative Sound, Innovative Game Design, Best Browser Game and the Audience Award. In addition to the cash prize, finalists and winners will receive 1-2 tickets to the Game Developers Conference and permission to use the award to advertise their game for one year. The Student Showcase Prize winners received $ 500 and the Best Student Game Prize was awarded $ 2,500. The overall mod contest winner received $ 5,000.
IGF Competition winner
Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($ 20,000)
- 2018: Night in the Woods
- 2017: Quadrilateral Cowboy
- 2016: Her Story
- 2015: Outer Wilds
- 2014: Papers, Please
- 2013: Cart Life
- 2012: Fez
- 2011: Minecraft
- 2010: Monaco
- 2009: Blueberry Garden
- 2008: Crayon Physics Deluxe
- 2007: Aquaria
- 2006: Darwinia
- 2005: Gish
- 2004: Savage: The Battle for Newerth
- 2003: Wild Earth
- 2002: Bad Milk
- 2001: Shattered Galaxy aka Tactical Commanders
- 2000: Tread Marks
- 1999: Fire and Darkness
Web-based games:
- 2005: Wik and the Fable of Souls
- 2004: Oasis
Technical Perfection ($ 2,500)
- 2013: Little Inferno
- 2012: Antichamber
- 2011: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- 2010: Limbo
- 2009: Cortex Command
- 2008: World of Goo
- 2007: Bang! Howdy (Three Rings Design)
- 2006: Darwinia
- 2005: Alien hominid
- 2004: Savage: The Battle for Newerth
- 2003: Reiner Knizia's Samurai
- 2002: Ace Of Angels
- 2001: Shattered Galaxy
- 2000: Tread Marks
- 1999: Terminus (Vicarious Visions)
Web-based games:
- 2005: RocketBowl
- 2004: Yohoho! Puzzle pirates
Innovative Graphics ($ 2,500)
- 2018: Chuchel
- 2017: Hyper Light Drifter
- 2016: Oxenfree
- 2015: Metamorphabet
- 2014: Gorogoa
- 2013: Kentucky Route Zero
- 2012: Dear Esther
- 2011: BIT.TRIP RUNNER
- 2010: Limbo
- 2009: Machinarium
- 2008: Fez
- 2007: Castle Crashers (The Behemoth)
- 2006: Darwinia
- 2005: Alien hominid
- 2004: Spartan
- 2003: Wild Earth
- 2002: Banja Taiyo
- 2001: Hardwood Spades
- 2000: King Of Dragon Pass
- 1999: Crime Cities
Web-based games:
- 2005: Wik and the Fable of Souls
- 2004: Dr. Blob's Oranism
Innovative Sound ($ 2,500)
- 2018: Uurnog Uurnlimited
- 2017: GoNNER
- 2016: Mini Metro
- 2015: Ephemeris: A Musical Adventure
- 2014: DEVICE 6
- 2013: 140
- 2012: Botanicula
- 2011: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- 2010: Closure
- 2009: BrainPipe
- 2008: Audiosurf
- 2007: Everyday Shooter (Queasy Games)
- 2006: Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space
- 2005: Steer Madness
- 2004: Anito: Defend a Land Enraged
- 2003: Terraformers
- 2002: Bad Milk
- 2001: Chase Ace 2
- 2000: Blix
- 1999: Terminus
Web-based games:
- 2005: Global Defense Network
- 2004: Dr. Blob's Oranism
Nuovo Award ($ 2,500)
- 2018: Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy
- 2017: Oiκοςpiel, Book I.
- 2016: Cibele
- 2015: Tetrageddon
- 2014: Luxuria Superbia
- 2013: Cart Life
- 2012: Storyteller
- 2011: Nidhogg
- 2010: Tuning
- 2009: Between
- 2008: World of Goo
- 2007: Everyday Shooter (Queasy Games)
- 2006: Braid
- 2005: Gish
- 2004: Bontãgo
- 2003: Wild Earth
- 2002: Insaniquarium
- 2001: Shattered Galaxy aka Tactical Commanders
- 2000: Tread Marks
- 1999: Resurrection
Innovative design ($ 2,500)
- 2017: Quadrilateral Cowboy
- 2016: Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
- 2015: Outer Wilds
- 2014: Papers, Please
- 2013: FTL: Faster Than Light
- 2012: Spelunky
- 2011: Desktop Dungeons
- 2010: Monaco
- 2009: Musaic Box
Web-based games:
- 2005: Wik and the Fable of Souls
- 2004: Oasis
Best Browser Game ($ 2,500)
- 2008: Iron Dukes
- 2007: Samorost 2
- 2006: Dad 'n Me
Audience Award ($ 2,500)
- 2017: Hyper Light Drifter
- 2016: Undertale
- 2015: This War Of Mine
- 2014: The Stanley Parable
- 2013: FTL: Faster Than Light
- 2012: Frozen Synapse
- 2011: Minecraft
- 2010: Heroes of Newerth
- 2009: Cortex Command
- 2008: Audiosurf
- 2007: Castle Crashers (The Behemoth)
- 2006: Dofus
- 2005: Alien hominid
- 2004: Savage: The Battle for Newerth
- 2003: Pontifex II
- 2002: Kung Fu Chess
- 2001: Shattered Galaxy aka Tactical Commanders
- 2000: The Rift
- 1999: Fire and Darkness
Web-based games:
- 2005: N
- 2004: Puzzle Pirates
D2D Vision Award
- 2011: Amnesia: The Dark Descent
- 2010: Max and the Magic Marker
- 2009: Osmos
Individual evidence
- ↑ THQ: De Blop ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Page to the game
- ↑ Reports on the IGF at CHIP.de ( Memento of the original from September 2, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , GameStar.de , heise online
- ↑ acmi: best of the independent games festival 2007 ( memento of the original from August 25, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Official website for the exhibition
- ↑ 2007 Independent Games Festival Winners. (English)
- ↑ a b c d Complete list of 2018 Independent Games Festival Awards winners , March 22, 2018 (accessed October 6, 2019)
Web links
- Official homepage of the IGF
- Game Developers Conference website
- GameStar.de : Article on the IGF from March 9, 2000