FINALISTS ANNOUNCED!

The IGF organizers are pleased to announce the Main Competition finalists for the 2008 Independent Games Festival. Chosen from a record 173 entries, nominations were led by titles including 2D Boy's physics construction game World of Goo and Invisible Handlebar's music-adapting puzzle racer Audiosurf. Winners will be announced at the IGF Awards ceremony.
View the full roster of Main Competition finalists on the IGF website.

We've also announced the 12 receipients of the 2008 Independent Games Festival Student Showcase awards, from a field of over 125 entries, including USC Interactive Media Program’s quirky The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom, Sheridan Institute’s stylish booger-busting Gesundheit!, and The National Academy of Digital Interactive Entertainment’s dual-perspective Half-Life 2 modification Flipside. These games willcompete for a Best Student Game award, to be wnnounced at the IGF awards ceremony.
View the Student Showcase winners on the IGF website.

The IGF Mobile organizers have announced the finalists for the inaugural Independent Games Festival Mobile from a field of over 50 entries, with nominations led by titles including Punch Entertainment's social networking game Ego and Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab's waste disposal strategy puzzle game Backflow.
The IGF Mobile website now includes a full list of finalists, including screenshots and links to videos and demonstration versions where available.

The CMP Game Group (producers of Game Developer magazine, Gamasutra.com, and the Game Developers Conference) established the Independent Games Festival in 1998 to encourage innovation in game development and to recognize the best independent game developers.

Just as the Sundance Film Festival benefits the independent film community, the IGF creates a similar event for independent game developers in addition to the student population of game developers. The competition culminates at the GDC where winners are announced and over $50,000 worth in prizes awarded.

Now in its 10th year, the IGF has given away hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes and major recognition to innovative, independently created video games from all over the world, from early pioneering titles such as Tread Marks and Shattered Galaxy, through recent stand-outs such as Oasis, Alien Hominid, Gish, and Darwinia.

There Independent Games Festival event features the main IGF Competition itself, the IGF Student Showcase, and - new for 2008 - the IGF Mobile.

The main IGF Competition will give out seven major awards:

• Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($20,000)
• Excellence In Visual Art ($2,500)
• Excellence In Audio ($2,500)
• Innovation Award ($2,500)
• Technical Excellence ($2,500)
• Best Web Browser Game ($2,500)
• Audience Award ($2,500)

There are five specifically named finalists for each award, except the Best Web Browser Game award, which has three finalists. All finalists will be invited to the IGF award ceremony at GDC 2008. The IGF Audience Award will be voted from the finalists in all other categories.

The IGF's Student Showcase will highlight a total of ten games this year:

• IGF Student Showcase Winner ($500)

In addition there will be a prize for best overall IGF Student Game awarded as part of the IGF Awards, with the finalists comprising all of the Student Showcase winners:

• Best Student Game ($2,500)

The first-ever IGF Mobile Competition event will award almost $20,000 in prizes will be given out at GDC 2008. Find out more here.

Questions?

If you have further questions, check the IGF FAQ page or contact the IGF Chairman.