Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards 2025 finalists announced – GamesHub

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Image: Julián Cordero / Sebastian Valbuena
The finalists for the Independent Games Festival (IGF) Awards 2025 have been announced, with an array of artful, creative games given nods for their artistic achievements. The IGF is now in its 27th year, making it the longest-running “festival, summit, and showcase” of independent games. Naturally, this gives it an air of prestige.
Every year, the IGF Awards celebrate the very best of independent games, with a real focus on creativity and innovation within the space. This year, games including Despelote (Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena) and Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson) lead the nominations, with other titles like The Rise of the Golden Idol, Balatro, Anger Foot, Indika, and Thank Goodness You’re Here! also getting well-deserved nods.
Read: Thank Goodness You’re Here review: Thank goodness for video games
Here’s the full list of finalists and honourable mentions for the IGF Awards 2025.
Best Student Game
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
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
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
Honorable Mentions: Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL 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
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
Honorable Mentions: Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX), Judero (Talha and Jack Co, J. King-Spooner, Talha Kaya), Onto Maisillind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project Y (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (Lizardry / PLAYISM)
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames) 
The winners in each of these categories will be announced on 26 March 2025, following the Game Developers Conference. The IGF Awards 2025 will be followed by the annual Game Developers Choice Awards.
Leah J. Williams is a gaming and entertainment journalist who’s spent years writing about the games industry, her love for The Sims 2 on Nintendo DS and every piece of weird history she knows. You can find her tweeting @legenette most days.
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