Lucas Pope’s Return of the Obra Dinn was the big winner at the 2019 Independent Games Festival awards.
Lucas Pope was the star of the show at the 2019 IGF Awards with Return of the Obra Dinn. Pope’s stunning tale of murder, mystery, and insurance claimed the award for Excellence in Narrative, as well as the prestigious Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
This year’s IGF awards ceremony – which was hosted by writer Meg Jayanth – also saw awards go to Opus Magnum for Excellence in Design, Mirror Drop for Excellence in Visual Art, and Paratopic for Excellence in Audio.
The Nuovo Award – which honours games that think differently about the medium – went to Cassie McQuater for Black Room
Here is the full list of finalists and winners. Congratulations to each and every game and developer on the list.
2019 Independent Games Festival Award Winners
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann)
- Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
- Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Excellence in Visual Art
- Forgotton Anne (ThroughLine Games)
- Alto’s Odyssey (Team Alto)
- Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Just Shapes & Beats (Berzerk Studio)
- Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Excellence in Audio
- Ethereal (Nonsense Arts – Nicolás Recabarren and Tomás Batista)
- Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Moss (Polyarc)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
- Alto’s Odyssey (Team Alto)
- Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
Excellence in Design
- What the Golf? (Triband)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
- Dicey Dungeons (Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, and Marlowe Dobbe)
- Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
Excellence in Narrative
- Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit)
- Genital Jousting (Free Lives)
- Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games)
- Seers Isle (Nova-box)
- Watch Me Jump (Jeremy Gable)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Nuovo Award
- Circle0 (yesyes)
- eCheese Zone (Seemingly Pointless)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
- Black Room (Cassie McQuater)
- Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
- Nth Dimension[al] Hiking (Zachariah Chandler)
Best Student Game
- It’s Paper Guy! (Paper Team)
- Grace Bruxner Presents: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (Grace Bruxner)
- After Hours (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel)
- En Garde! (En Garde! Team)
- levedad (solimporta)
- Sole (Gossamer Games)
Alt.Crtl.GDC Award
- Hots Swop (Peter Gyory and Clement Zheng)
God of War and Florence were among the games to pick up awards at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards. Check out the full list of winners.
