IGF finalists include Stardew Valley, Inside and Event[0]

And so this cosmic dance begins anew. The finalists for the Independent Games Festival awards 2017 have been announced. Out of 650 games examined by the giant gang of 340 judges, a final 30 have been selected for a bunch of categories. There’s plenty of familiar names among them, including Inside, Stardew Valley, Virginia, Hyper Light Drifter and Event[0]. But also some other boyos worth giving some attention. Come on over here and let’s take a look at them all.

Let’s start with the big dollah prize, aka the Seumas McNally Grand Prize of $30,000. What’s in the running here and, more importantly, what do we think of it?

Seumas McNally Grand Prize nominees

• Inside (Playdead) – John found it attractive but bland and purposeless, Alec thought it was darkly comical, and I refuse to use its name, instead referring to it only as ‘Limbo 2’.
• Stardew Valley (ConcernedApe) – Steven thought it well-deserving of Harvest Moon’s floral crown, and Holly found it fresh to start a new life after 70 hours. I gave a copy to my girlfriend and she subsequently left me for someone called “Abigail” who is “kind and boring”.
• Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games) – Graham thought it was fine but a little hollow, but I enjoyed putting post-it notes on everything.
• Event[0] (Ocelot Society) – Alec found this limited but nevertheless “glossy and clever”, it inspired Alice to chat to another, robot Alice
• Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine) – John didn’t like it, and then he did like it. Make up your mind, John! Meanwhile, Alex thinks the ammo is well good
• Overcooked (Ghost Town Games) – Pip thought it was super and interviewed one of the dev peeps. The rest of us are too introverted to play it.

That’s that. Her Story was last year’s big winner, beating Undertale, Mini Metro and Darkest Dungeon (among others) to the Grand Prize while also picking up the award for excellence in narrative. This year, Nina Freeman of Cibele (which won the Nuovo award last year) will be hosting the whole shebang on March 1 during the Game Developers Conference. We’ll let you know what wins on the day. Or you can watch it yourself on GDC's Twitch stream. Until then you can argue among yourselves what deserves the love. Here’s the full list of finalists for all the other categories (or you can see it with additional honourable mentions here):

Best Student Game
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month)
Lily, Colors of Santa Luz (Lily, Colors of Santa Luz Team)
Un Pas Fragile (PAF team)
FAR: Lone Sails (Mr. Whale's Game Service / Mixtvision)
Frog Climbers (TeamCrew)
Bamboo Heart (Sokpop Collective)

Excellence in Audio
The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
GoNNER (Art in Heart)
Virginia (Variable State)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
Everything (David OReilly)
Inside (Playdead)

Excellence in Design
Imbroglio (Michael Brough)
Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavour Games)
Duskers (Misfits Attic)
Overcooked (Ghost Town Games)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
Quadrilateral Cowboy (Blendo Games)

Excellence in Narrative
Ladykiller in a Bind (Love Conquers All Games)
1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories)
Virginia (Variable State)
Orwell (Osmotic Studios)
Event[0] (Ocelot Society)
One Night Stand (Kinmoku)

Excellence in Visual Art
The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
Inside (Playdead)
Virginia (Variable State)
Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules)
Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
She Remembered Caterpillars (jumpsuit entertainment)

Nuovo Award
Islands: Non-Places (Carlburton)
Close (Tobias Zarges and Moritz Eberl)
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor (Sundae Month)
Oiκοςpiel, Book I (David Kanaga)
Everything (David OReilly)
Virginia (Variable State)
Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet)
Lieve Oma (Florian Veltman)