Three GSA Games Among IGF Nominees

The jury has selected the nominees for this year's IGF Awards from almost 500 submissions. The German devs Oddada, Osmotic Studios and René Rother have reason to hope, but the favourites are others. Martin Mauersics from Austria made it into the honorable mentions.

It remains to be seen whether a German studio will triumph at the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards in the end. After all, the three titles are each nominated in one of the strong categories of Audio, Narrarive and Visual Arts. They will always face at least one title that is nominated for the main prize, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.

The game with the best chances of winning at the IGF Awards 2025 is Consume Me by Jenny Jiao Hsia. It has been nominated five times, more than any other title. Despelote by Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena has been nominated four times. Three nominations each went to Indika by Odd Meter/11 bit studios, Caves of Qud by Freehold Games/Kitfox Games , and and Thank Goodness You're Here! by Coal Supper/Panic.

In addition to the nominees, the jury honored numerous other achievements with honorable mentions, which, however, have no chance of winning an award. In the category Excellence in Design, in which no studios from GSA made it onto the list of nominees, Eigengrau, a game by Viennese solo developer Martin Mauersics, was mentioned in the honorable mentions list. According to GamesMarkt's research, no other studios from GSA made it onto the list of mentions.

The Independent Games Festival is part of GDC 2025. The awards will be presented on March 19 at 6:30 p.m. The ceremony will be streamed live on Twitch.

Best Student Game

A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)
DisplaceMen (Eversea Club / leafaleaves)
Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)
Slot Waste (Vinny Roca / pickpanpuck productions)
The WereCleaner (Howlin' Hugs / USC Games)
Year Unknown (Julian Heuser)

Honorable Mentions: Cards of Heart (GoodMind Games), Duck Paradox (Magic Games / Midwest Games), Lost Garden (Ori Shany, Yoni Pushett, Ramon Zerem), Perfect World (Michael Overton Brown), Timeworks (Starworks Studios)

Excellence in Audio

Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital)
Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
Indika (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
Oddada (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)
Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
Utopia Must Fall (Pixeljam)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive), Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Excellence in Design

Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi), UFO 50 (Mossmouth), LOK Digital (Letibus Design, Icedrop Games / Draknek and Friends), Eigengrau (Martin Mauersics), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack)

Excellence in Narrative

Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)
Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
Indika (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)

Honorable Mentions: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / Cristical Reflex), Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments), Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic), The Thaumaturge (Fool's Theory / 11 bit studios)

Excellence in Visual Arts

Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital)
Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)
Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya)
Nine Sols (RedCandleGames)
Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)

Honorable Mentions: Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)

Nuovo Award

Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)
Ginger (Kevin Du / lizu ktap)
individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware rant manifesto (alienmelon)
Starship Home (Creature)
tapeçaria (tapestry) (mut/moochi (with help from plunderludics working group))
The Exit 8 (Kotake Create / Active Gaming Media Inc)

Honorable Mentions: Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / Critical Reflex) , Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (Waterbox), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality TestGame (Lizardry / Playsim)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize

Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
Indika (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
UFO 50 (Mossmouth)

Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / Critical Reflex), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames) , Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)