The winners of the 2024 Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards have been revealed as part of the annual Game Developers Conference, and after a largely difficult year for the industry, it’s wonderful to see so many incredible and nuanced games recognised.
The IGF awards seek to recognise the best of the best when it comes to independently-made games, with categories including narrative, design, audio, and art.
The big winner on the night, scoring the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, was Venba. Developed by Visai Games, Venba is a stunning narrative adventure framed from the perspective of an Indian mother, which sees the player exploring the importance of family and cooking.
Read: ‘Venba’ is a Moving Depiction of Diasporic Guilt – Review
Congratulations to all the winners, finalists, and honourable mentions of the 2024 IGF Awards.
Table of Contents
IGF Awards 2024 – Full list of nominations
Best Student Game
- goodbye.monster (Monster Team)
- Once Upon a Jester (Bonte Avond / Crunching Koalas) – WINNER
- Pile Up! (Remoob / Catoptric Games, IndieArk)
- Planetka (TeTerka)
- RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Xylem Studios Inc.)
- TRY AGAIN (the Rejects / USC Games, the Rejects)
Honourable Mentions: A Day With Mochi (San Felicete Studio / Rubika Supinfogame), Barkane: The Folds of Calamity (Chase O’Brien & VGDev), Birds Aren’t Real: The Game (USC Games), Cyberside Picnic (Michael Luo / Cathode Radiator), Entangled (Fibula Studio), Lime Juice (Benbees), Re:Fresh (Merge Conflict Studio)
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) – WINNER
- Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Honourable Mentions: Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites), El Paso, Elsewhere (Strange Scaffold), Let’s! Revolution! (Antfood, BUCK / Hawthorn Games, BUCK), Planet of Lana (Wishfully / Thunderful Publishing), Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios / Humble 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) – WINNER
- Final Profit: A Shop RPG (Brent Arnold)
- Isles of Sea and Sky (Jason Newman / Cicada Games)
Honourable Mentions: 20 Small Mazes (FLEB), Peaks of Yore (Anders Grube Jensen / TraipseWare), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Timberborn (Mechanistry)
Excellence In Narrative
- 1000xRESIST (sunset visitor 斜陽過客 / Fellow Traveller)
- A Highland Song (inkle)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, EYEGUYS / Santa Ragione) – WINNER
- The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
- The Wreck (The Pixel Hunt)
- Venba (Visai Games)
Honourable Mentions: Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP), Saltsea Chronicles (Die Gute Fabrik / Die Gute Fabrik), Slay the Princess (Black Tabby Games), Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Summerfall Studios / Humble Games) The Archivist and the Revolution (Autumn Chen)
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 (AstralShift / Square Enix Collective)
- Phonopolis (Amanita Design) – WINNER
- Venba (Visai Games)
Honourable Mentions: 30 Birds (RAM RAM Games, Business Goose / ARTE France), Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment), Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP), NIDUS (Caleb Wood), SLUDGE LIFE 2 (Terri Vellmann, DOSEONE / Devolver Digital)
Nuovo Award
- 1000xRESIST (sunset visitor 斜陽過客 / Fellow Traveller)
- Anthology of the Killer (Thecatamites, Tommy Tone, A. Degen / Thecatamites) – WINNER
- Cryptmaster (Paul Hart & Lee Williams / Akupara Games)
- Kevin (1997-2077) (Kevin Du)
- Mediterranea Inferno (Lorenzo Redaelli, EYEGUYS / Santa Ragione)
- NIDUS (Caleb Wood)
- The Forest Cathedral (Wakefield Interactive, Brian Wilson / Whitethorn Games)
Honourable Mentions: BlueSuburbia (alienmelon), goodbye.monster (Monster Team), In Stars and Time (insertdisc5 / Armor Games Inc.), Nour: Play With Your Food (Terrifying Jellyfish / Panic), The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
Audience Award
- RAM: Random Access Mayhem (Xylem Studios) – WINNER
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- 1000xRESIST (sunset visitor 斜陽過客 / Fellow Traveller)
- A Highland Song (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) – WINNER
Honourable Mentions: Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc / Focus Entertainment), Final Profit: A Shop RPG (Brent Arnold), Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP), In Stars and Time (insertdisc5 / Armor Games Inc.), Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games / 7th Beat Games, indienova), Tchia (Awaceb / Kepler Interactive), The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Deconstructeam / Devolver Digital)
