27th Annual Independent Games Festival Finalists Revealed

The Game Developers Conference (GDC) organizers have revealed the finalists for the 27th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF) awards ceremony.

The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is the longest-running festival, summit, and showcase, setting out to celebrate independent games and their creators. 

The full list of finalists for each 2025 Independent Games Festival category, along with “honorable mentions,” can be seen below:

Best Student Game

A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment /  Rubika Supinfogame)

DisplaceMen (Eversea Club / leafaleaves)

Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)

Slot Waste (Vinny Roca / pickpanpuck productions)

The WereCleaner (Howlin’ Hugs / USC Games)

Year Unknown (Julian Heuser)

Honorable Mentions:

Cards of Heart (GoodMind Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Midwest Games), Lost Garden (Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)

Excellence in Audio

Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital) 

Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic) 

INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)

ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)

Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)

Utopia Must Fall (Pixeljam)

Honorable Mentions:

Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX),  Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive),  Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Excellence in Design

Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)

Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury) 

Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games) 

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder) 

Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)

Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)

Honorable Mentions:

Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Mauersics), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)

Excellence in Narrative

Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games) 

Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)  

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder) 

Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic) 

INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)

No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)

Honorable Mentions:

Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments), Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic), The Thaumaturge (Fool’s Theory / 11 bit studios)

Excellence in Visual Arts

Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital) 

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder) 

Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke) 

Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya) 

Nine Sols (RedCandleGames) 

Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)

Honorable Mentions:

Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive) 

Nuovo Award

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder) 

Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic) 

Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas) 

Ginger (Kevin Du / lizu ktap)

individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware rant manifesto (alienmelon) 

Starship Home (Creature) 

tapeçaria (tapestry) (mut/moochi (with help from plunderludics working group))

The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / Active Gaming Media Inc)

Honorable Mentions:

Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX) , Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (Lizardry / PLAYISM)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games) 

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder) 

Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic) 

INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)

Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)

UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions:

Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode)

Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)

Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)

Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX)

Nine Sols (RedCandleGames) 

Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)

Note that the IGF is part of the 2025 Game Developers Conference, held in-person at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center from March 17 to March 21.

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