Ten of the winners, including the Grand Jury Award, were announced at the Red Carpet awards show on Thursday, Oct. 3. The Grand Jury Awardallows IndieCade’s Distinguished Award Jurors to select a game that they feel deserves a special citation for overall excellence.
This could be a game that couldn’t fit into any other category, but the jury each year determines the criteria for assignment of this award. Past recipients could have included Gravitation (2008), Moon Stories (2009), Groping in the Dark (2010), Fez (2011) and Unmanned (2012). This year the jury chose from more than 850 games from six different continents. On Sunday, Oct. 5 the Game Changer, Audience, Developer and Media Choice Awards were announced at the closing party.
This year’s IndieCade included the debut of two new awards: The Media Choice award, given to the game the most media members selected as their favorite, as well as The Trailblazer Award, given to a relative newcomer who has shaken things up and used games in original as well as innovative ways.
The game and developer winners this year are:
· Grand Jury Award: Quadrilateral Cowboy – Blendo Games
· Visuals: Kentucky Route Zero – Cardboard Computer
· Audio: Gone Home – The Fullbright Company
· Impact: Dog Eat Dog – Liwanag Press
· Interaction: Spaceteam – Henry Smith
· Game Design: NIDHOGG – MESSHOF
· Technology: Spin the Bottle: Bumpie’s Party – KnapNok Games & Redgrim
· Story/ World Design: Kentucky Route Zero – Cardboard Computer
· Special Recognition: Porpentine’s Twine Compilation – Porpentine
· The Trailblazers Award: Tracy Fullerton
· Media Choice Award: TowerFall – Matt Makes Games
