Indie sport Eat Me, developed by Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P and Ken “coda” Snyder, gained the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and the Nuovo Award on the 2025 Impartial Video games Competition on Wednesday.
Eat Me is a darkly humorous private sport about creator Jenny Jiao Hsia’s relationship with meals, drawing from her previous experiences with weight-reduction plan and disordered consuming. Along with the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and the Nuovo Award, the title took house this yr’s Wings Award, which “ighlights excellent video games the place girls and different gender-marginalized builders maintain key positions. Eat Me was additionally nominated in a number of classes, together with Excellence in Design, Excellence in Narrative and Excellence in Visible Arts.
The complete slate of 2025 IGF Award winners, in addition to the nominees in every class, represents a various vary of gifted impartial sport builders throughout the worldwide business
Different IGF Awards honorees embody Excellence in Visible Artwork winner Hauntii by Moonloop Video games, an action-adventure a few ghost’s journey via the afterlife.
The Excellence in Audio winner, Despelote by Julián Cordero and Sebastián Valbuena is a slice-of-life journey about childhood and the magical grip soccer held over the individuals of Quito, Ecuador, in 2001. Slot Waste by Vinny Roca was named Greatest Scholar Sport. It is an experimental online game set up that articulates a prolonged, absurdist Rube Goldberg-like manufacturing course of.
The Excellence in Design winner, Tactical Breach Wizards by Suspicious Developments, is a turn-based ways sport the place gamers should management a crew of wizards who battle in opposition to a theocracy. Caves of Qud by Freehold Video games and Kitfox Video games, a science fantasy roguelike epic steeped in retrofuturism, deep simulation and swathes of sentient crops, gained the Excellence in Narrative Award. The WereCleaner by The WereCleaner Group gained the community-driven Viewers Award, which is chosen by followers via a public voting course of.
Lastly, ChromaCorp by The ChromaCorp Group gained the alt.ctrl.gdc Award, which honors probably the most participating, intriguing, and well-executed sport utilizing unconventional, accessible or different bodily controls. Just like the IGF Awards nominees, the alt.ctrl.gdc titles are showcased in playable kind on the GDC Expo.
The winners of the IGF Awards, together with the award quantities they’ve obtained, are:
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Excellence in Visible Artwork ($2,000)
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Hauntii (Moonloop Video games / Firestoke)
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Excellence in Audio ($2,000)
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Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
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Excellence in Design ($2,000)
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Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
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Excellence in Narrative ($2,000)
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Caves of Qud (Freehold Video games / Kitfox Video games)
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Nuovo Award ($2,000)
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Eat Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
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Greatest Scholar Sport ($2,000)
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Viewers Award ($2,000)
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The WereCleaner (The WereCleaner Group / USC Video games)
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alt.ctrl.gdc Award ($2,000)
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ChromaCorp (The ChromaCorp Group)
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Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($10,000)
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Eat Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder)
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The 2025 IGF Awards, which came about on the Sport Builders Convention in San Francisco, is a part of the longest-running competition, summit, and showcase celebrating impartial video games and their creators. The Impartial Video games Competition has served as a springboard for breakthrough impartial titles. Earlier IGF prize winners embody Venba, Neon White, Inscryption, Return of the Obra Dinn, Her Story and lots of extra essential and cultural hits.
All IGF titles, together with each finalists and winners, are playable for any GDC cross holder on the IGF Pavilion, situated on the GDC Expo Flooring in San Francisco’s Moscone Heart, via Friday, March 21.
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