Event[0] is an award-winning narrative exploration game where you must build a relationship with a lonely spaceship computer to get home. Set in a retrofuture inspired by sci-fi classics such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the game is about forging a personal relationship with your only companion, an insecure AI entity capable of procedurally generating over two million lines of dialog. You interact with the computer, named Kaizen, by typing messages on terminals throughout the ship. The reality of your situation will emerge organically as you communicate with Kaizen and explore the mysterious ship in first-person perspective.
WARNING: Currently experiencing major game breaking bug on MacOS. Patch coming very soon. Beta branch reported stable.
You’ll freely navigate evocative 3D environments brought to life with physics-based rendering and advanced lighting techniques. You’ll examine items to gather information and solve hacking puzzles as you progress. You can even leave the ship for breathtakingly scary spacewalks! All sound and music come from the environment; there is no traditional score. The ship is essentially the AI computer’s body, and reacts to Kaizen’s feelings by making different sounds—pay attention for clues!
As in any relationship, there can be gratitude, disappointment, or jealousy, and Kaizen reacts differently depending on its mood. By working through the fears and anxieties of your virtual companion, you can eventually find your way back to Earth—while unraveling the cryptic history of the ship and the 1980s society from which it emerged.
Earlier this week, the Independent Games Festival announced the finalists for the 19th annual award show. This year, over 650 entries were narrowed down to the 30 finalists below, covering categories such as Best Student Game, Best Audio, Excellence in Design, Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Visual Art, the Nuovo Award, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
The IGF awards will take place on the evening March 1 this year, during GDC. The prize pool totals US$50,000, with the winner of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize receiving US$30,000. So, without further ado, we’d like to congratulate each of the finalists and wish them the best of luck in March. Here are the games that made the cut.
Sundae Month
Isart Digital
PAF Team
Mr Whale's Game Service
TeamCrew
Sokpop Collective
The Molasses Flood
Art in Heart
Variable State
Heart Machine
David O’Reilly
Playdead
Michael Brough
Clever Endeavour Games
Misfits Attic
Ghost Town Games
Ocelot Society
Blendo Games
Love Conquers All Games
iNK Stories
Variable State
Osmotic Studios
Ocelot Society
Kinmoku
The Molasses Flood
Playdead
Variable State
Broken Rules
Heart Machine
Jumpsuit Entertainment
Carl Burton
Tobias Zarges
Sundae Month
David Kanaga
David O’Reilly
Variable State
Titouan Millet
Florian Veltman
Playdead
ConcernedApe
Blendo Games
Ocelot Society
Heart Machine
Ghost Town Games