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Umurangi Generation wins Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards

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Umurangi Generation and Genesis Noir are among the winners at the 2021 Independent Games Festival Awards.

With the IGF Awards again held virtually, there wasn’t an opportunity for this year’s winners to receive a well-deserved round of applause from their peers. Nonetheless, the awards demonstrated that independent studios continue to be at the forefront of creativity and innovation in video games.

The recipient of this year’s Grand Prize, Umurangi Generation, is a prime example. Ostensibly a first-person photography adventure, Naphtali Faulkner’s game is a deserved winner, not only because it’s a best-in-class sim but also because of its thought-provoking social commentary and startling visuals. The game also picked up the Excellence in Narrative Award.

Feral Cat Den’s point-and-click adventure Genesis Noir also won two awards, receiving recognition in the Audio and Visual Art categories. Other winners included Vessels for Best Student Game and Teardown for Excellence in Design.

We send our congratulations to every nominated team. Here’s the complete list of Independent Games Festival Awards winners and nominees.

2021 Independent Games Festival – Winners

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

  • Paradise Killer (Kaizen Game Works)
  • Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
  • Chicory: A Colorful Tale (The Chicory Team)
  • Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
  • Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
  • Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)

Excellence in Audio

  • Say No! More (Studio Fizbin)
  • Blind Drive (Lo-Fi People)
  • Sunlight (Krillbite Studio)
  • Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
  • Spiritfarer (Thunder Lotus)
  • A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) (Draknek & Friends)

Best Student Game

  • Vessels (Local Space Survey Corps, LLC)
  • Dorfromantik (Toukana Interactive)
  • Some Old Stuff (Hao Fan, Harry (Weizhong) Chen, Haku (Minyan Cai), Emi Schaufeld)
  • Rainy Season (Inasa Fujio)
  • SYMPHONIA (Guillaume Roux, Nicolas Derio, Pierre Vrel, Guillaume Gille, Alexis Grand, Simon Larguier, Martin Lepretre, Corentin Pauvrasseau, Kilian Dufour, Alexandre Mansois, Quentin Vernet, Hicham Benrhannou, Olivier Esman)
  • Hadr (Dominik Konečný of Ateliér Duchů)

Excellence in Design

  • Teardown (Tuxedo Labs)
  • Disc Room (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Terri Vellmann, Doseone)
  • Shady Part of Me (Douze Dixièmes)
  • There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension (Draw Me A Pixel)
  • Signs of the Sojourner (Echodog Games)
  • A Monster’s Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) (Draknek & Friends)

Excellence in Narrative

  • Lost Words: Beyond the Page (Sketchbook Games)
  • Across the Grooves (Nova-box)
  • Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
  • Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
  • Haven (The Game Bakers)
  • In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age)

Excellence in Visual Art

  • Genesis Noir (Feral Cat Den)
  • Arrog (Hermanos Magia and Leap Game Studios)
  • In Other Waters (Jump Over the Age)
  • Shady Part of Me (Douze Dixièmes)
  • Call of the Sea (Out of the Blue)
  • Carto (Sunhead Games)

Nuovo Award

  • Blaseball (The Game Band)
  • Nightmare Temptation Academy (Lena NW & Costcodreamgurl)
  • THAT NIGHT, STEEPED BY BLOOD RIVER (Taylor Swietanski)
  • Airplane Mode (Bacronym)
  • Welcome to Elk (Triple Topping)
  • Umurangi Generation (Origame Digital)
  • Chasing Light (Vittgen Inc.)
  • Kristallijn (Gaël Bourhis)

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