Finalists for the Independent Games Festival (IGF) have been announced, with games published by Australian videogame publishing house Fellow Traveller accumulating seven nominations.
Leading the way for Fellow Traveller–a label specialising in narrative games–is the Feral Cat Den-developed Genesis Noir, receiving four nominations across Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Audio, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Made in New York, Genesis Noir is a cosmic jazz adventure about a man who attempts to stop the expansion of the universe for the woman of his dreams.
Also published by the Australian label is In Other Waters, developed by London-based Jump Over the Age, a one-man studio operated by Gareth Damian Martin. Playing as a xenobiologist named Ellery Vas, In Other Waters sees you discover extraterrestrial life while searching for Vas’ missing partner. In Other Waters received nominations for Excellence in Narrative and Excellence in Visual Art.
Rounding out the nominations for Fellow Traveller is Paradise Killer, which was also nominated for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Developed by the UK-based Kaizen Game Works, Paradise Killer is a supernatural murder mystery with a vaporwave design where facts and truth are two entirely different concepts.
After Genesis Noir, one of the next most-nominated IGF games is the New Zealand-made Umurangi Generation from Naphtali Faulkner (known online as Veselekov), with three nominations across Excellence in Narrative, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, and the arthouse Nuovo Award.
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Other nominations for the Grand Prize include Teardown from Tuxedo Labs, Chicory: A Colorful Tale by The Chicory Team, and Spiritfarer from Thunder Lotus.
Previous notable winners of IGF awards since the event began in 1999 include games such as A Short Hike, Return of the Obra Dinn, Outer Wilds, Her Story, Fez, and Minecraft.
The nominations for Fellow Traveller add a nice footnote to a recent busy period for the company, having recently wrapped on their digital LudoNarracon event, which featured talks from acclaimed developers such as Greg Kasavin from Supergiant Games, known for Hades.
Winners are due to be announced at the IGF Awards as part of the virtual Game Developers Conference on Wednesday 21 July 4.30pm Pacfic Time.
