2025 IGF Finalists
Honoring the Best Games of 2025
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Finalists:
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- WINNER: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
- despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack), Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Nine Sols (RedCandleGames) , Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
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Best Student Game
Finalists:
- A Dual Ascent (Mountain Toad Entertainment / Rubika Supinfogame)
- DisplaceMen (Eversea Club)
- Growth Spurt: A Meandering Intermission into the Afterhours of a Miscalculation (Games for my Computer)
- WINNER: Slot Waste (Vinny Roca)
- The WereCleaner (The WereCleaner Team / USC Games)
- Year Unknown (Julian Heuser)
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)
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Excellence in Audio
Finalists:
- Anger Foot (Free Lives / Devolver Digital)
- WINNER: despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- ODDADA (Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffmann, Bastian Clausdorff)
- Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
- Utopia Must Fall (Datasette/Pixeljam / Pixeljam)
Honorable Mentions: Animal Well (Billy Basso / Bigmode), Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ / CRITICAL REFLEX), Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive), The Rise of the Golden Idol (Color Gray Games / Playstack), UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
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Excellence in Design
Finalists:
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
- Blue Prince (Dogubomb / Raw Fury)
- Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
- Pacific Drive (Ironwood Studios / Kepler Interactive)
- WINNER: Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments)
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)
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Excellence in Narrative
Finalists:
- WINNER: Caves of Qud (Freehold Games / Kitfox Games)
- Closer the Distance (Osmotic Studios / Skybound Games)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
- despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- INDIKA (Odd Meter / 11 bit studios)
- No Case Should Remain Unsolved (Somi)
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)
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Excellence in Visual Arts
Finalists:
- Children of the Sun (René Rother / Devolver Digital)
- Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
- WINNER: Hauntii (Moonloop Games / Firestoke)
- Judero (Talha & Jack Co.)
- Nine Sols (RedCandleGames)
- Thank Goodness You're Here! (Coal Supper / Panic)
Honorable Mentions: Crow Country (SFB Games), Death of the Reprobate (Joe Richardson), Miniatures (Other Tales Interactive), Tiny Glade (Pounce Light), Ultros (Hadoque / Kepler Interactive)
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Nuovo Award
Finalists:
- WINNER: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
- despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena / Panic)
- Extreme Evolution: Drive to Divinity (Sam Atlas)
- Ginger (Kevin Du)
- individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware manifesto (alienmelon)
- Starship Home (Creature)
- tapeçaria (tapestry) (mut / moochi)
- The Exit 8 (KOTAKE CREATE / PLAYISM)
Honorable Mentions: Arctic Eggs (The Water Museum, cockydoody, abmarnie, Cameron Ginex / CRITICAL REFLEX) , Judero (Talha & Jack Co.), Onto Maizilind Unto Infinity (Kas Ghobadi, Julián Palacios Gechtman / Kasrah Ghobadi), Price of Flight (WATERBOX), Project_Y: Working Title (Project_Y Production Committee), Refind Self: The Personality Test Game (Lizardry / PLAYISM)
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Wings Award (NEW)
Finalists:
Caravan Sandwitch (Plane Toast / Dear Villagers)
- WINNER: Consume Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken "coda" Snyder)
- Tavern Talk (Gentle Troll Entertainment)
- The Crush House (Nerial / Devolver Digital)
- Urban Myth Dissolution Center (Hakababunko / SHUEISHA GAMES)