A range of innovative indie games has been celebrated at the annual IndieCade Festival 2023, an awards show designed to highlight the sheer breadth of talent and creativity in the global games industry. Amongst this year’s award winners are some familiar faces, with the Australian-made Stray Gods picking up the Developers Choice Award, and titles like Goodbye Volcano High, Viewfinder, and We Are OFK nabbing accolades.
Notably, Goodbye Volcano High took out the Grand Jury Award and the Performance Award, for its cinematic depiction of love and music at the end of the world.
Elsewhere, a range of Honorary Awards handed out during IndieCade Festival 2023 celebrated more personal achievements in the games industry. Indie development studio Amanita Design (Machinarium) took out the Vanguard Award for its animation work, and its efforts to create unique “immersive audiovisual worlds with a hand-crafted aesthetic”.
Read: Embracing Unreality in Stray Gods
Nonny de la Peña, CEO of Emblematic Group was recognised with the Trailblazer Award for her work in immersive storytelling. Kellee Santiago, a game developer known for her work with thatgamecompany (Journey) as well as on Niantic AR/VR games like Ingress and Peridot was celebrated with the Game Changer Award. Meanwhile, Nik Mikros and Josh DeBonis were awarded the Bernie DeKoven Big Fun Award – both for their work as game designers.
You can check out the full list of IndieCade Festival 2023 award winners below.
IndieCade Festival 2023: Honorary Awards
VANGUARD AWARD – Amanita Design (Machinarium, Botanicula, Creaks)
TRAILBLAZER AWARD – Nonny de la Peña
GAME CHANGER AWARD – Kellee Santiago
BERNIE DEKOVEN BIG FUN AWARD – Nik Mikros & Josh DeBonis (BumbleBear Games)
IndieCade Festival 2023: Spotlight Awards
VISUAL DESIGN AWARD – World of Horror (panstasz)
LIVE ACTION AWARD – Chú Mó (The Chú Mó Team @ ArtCenter)
AUDIO DESIGN AWARD – We Are OFK (OFK)
TABLETOP DESIGN AWARD – Desperation (Bully Pulpit Games)
PERFORMANCE AWARD – Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
NARRATIVE AWARD – Gerda: A Flame in Winter (Bird Island)
IMPACT AWARD – Dead Pets Unleashed (Triple Topping)
MIKE SELLERS SYSTEMIC DESIGN AWARD – Against the Storm (Eremite Games)
IndieCade Festival 2023: Universal Awards
DEVELOPERS CHOICE – Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios)
INNOVATION IN INTERACTION DESIGN AWARD – Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios)
JURY PRIX AWARD – Cryptmaster (Paul Hart & Lee Williams)
INNOVATION IN EXPERIENCE DESIGN AWARD – He Fucked The Girl Out of Me (Taylor McCue)
GRAND JURY AWARD – Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
You can learn more about each IndieCade Festival 2023 award winner on the IndieCade website.
