Cocoon, A Highland Song, and Venba lead the nominations at this year’s Independent Games Festival awards.
At Thumbsticks, we don’t focus much on news these days. However, we always appreciate the work of talented developers, and indie studios in particular. The annual Independent Games Festival is an opportunity to reexamine – or discover – some of the best games released over the past year. This year’s crop of annual IGF award nominees is no exception.
Geometric Interactive’s debut game, Cocoon, was a personal favourite and is nominated in the Audio and Design categories. Venba, the sublime narrative cook ’em up from Visai Games, is up for Audio, Narrative, and Visual Arts. Inkle’s A Highland Song is also nominated for Audio and Narrative.
All three games are in the mix for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, along with 1000xRESIST, Anthology of the Killer, and Mediterranea Inferno.
Other games of note to receive recognition include Chants of Sennaar, Cobalt Core, and Tchia. And in addition to the categories listed below, the game-playing public can vote for their favourite independent game in the Audience Award.
The 2024 IGF awards will be presented during the Game Developer’s Conference, which is taking place at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center from March 18 – 22. The Thumbsticks team sends its congratulations to every nominee. Here’s the complete list.
2024 Independent Games Festival nominees
Best Student Game
- goodbye.monster (Monster Team)
- Once Upon a Jester (Bonte Avond / Crunching Koalas)
- Pile Up! (Remoob / Catoptric Games, IndieArk)
- Planetka (TeTerka)
- RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Xylem Studios)
- Try Again (the Rejects)
Excellence in Audio
- A Highland Song (Inkle)
- Cocoon (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
- Nour: Play With Your Food (Terrifying Jellyfish / PANIC)
- Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games / 7th Beat Games, indienova)
- Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Excellence in Design
- Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment)
- Cobalt Core (Rocket Rat Games / Brace Yourself Games)
- Cocoon (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
- Cryptmaster (Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games / Akupara Games)
- Final Profit: A Shop RPG (Brent Arnold)
- Isles of Sea and Sky (Cicada Games, Jason Newman, Craig Collver / Cicada Games, Jason Newman, Gamera Game)
Excellence in Narrative
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- A Highland Song (Inkle)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, Eyeguys / Santa Ragione)
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
- The Wreck (The Pixel Hunt)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Excellence in Visual Arts
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
- Clash: Artifacts of Chaos (ACE Team / Nacon)
- Darkest Dungeon II (Red Hook Studios)
- Little Goody Two Shoes (AstralShiftPro LDA, AstralShift / Square Enix)
- Phonopolis (Amanita Design)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Nuovo Award
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
- Cryptmaster (Paul Hart, Lee Williams, Akupara Games / Akupara Games)
- Kevin (1997-2077) (Kevin Du)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, Eyeguys / Santa Ragione)
- Nidus (Caleb Wood)
- The Forest Cathedral (Wakefield Interactive LLC, Brian Wilson / Whitehorn Games)
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- 1000xRESIST (Sunset Visitor / Fellow Traveller)
- A Highland Song (Inkle / Inkle)
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites)
- COCOON (Geometric Interactive / Annapurna Interactive)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, Eyeguys / Santa Ragione)
- Venba (Visai Games)
