“We congratulate this year’s winners and nominees, which reflect the diverse and innovative nature of the indie games movement,” said IndieCade CEO Stephanie Barish, “Over the weekend at the festival, we had a strong turnout, celebrating the best and most forward-thinking work, and we look forward to reconvening for an even bigger event next year.”
More information on all winners is below, with full details on all titles showcased at the festival available on the website: Indiecade.com
The Grand Jury Award: Bluebeard's Bride by Magpie Games
Representing the best of the best at IndieCade 2018, the Grand Jury Award was given to Bluebeard’s Bride by Magpie Games. This investigatory horror tabletop roleplaying game is based on the Bluebeard fairy tale and engages players in an unpredictable quest down a dark path to an unknown future.
The Jury Prix Award: Kleptocrat by The Mintz Group / BumbleBear Games
Kleptocrat was honored with the Jury Prix, an award for titles that stand above the rest through craftsmanship, innovation and design. Kleptocrat is a unique game of strategy and tactics, based on real-life patterns of money laundering and offshore structuring that have been used by actual corrupt public officials.
The Impact Award: The Game: The Game by Angela Washko
Honoring games that tackle social issues, reach new communities and make a marked impression on the industry, this year’s Impact Award winner was The Game: The Game – a video game presenting the practices of several prominent seduction coaches (aka pick-up artists) through the format of a dating simulator.
The Innovation in Interaction Design Award: TendAR by Tender Claws
TendAR received this year’s Innovation in Interactive Design Award, honoring specialized craftsmanship and innovations to engage audiences with games on a new level. TendAR is a humorous, fun and provocative installation expanding the mythology of our TendAR app. The installation combines environmental storytelling, AR and emotion/face recognition technology.
The Innovation in Experience Design Award: Asta Grande by Pietro Righi Riva
Honoring craft or design of games that provide a unique, curated experience, Asta Grande received the Innovation in Experience Design Award. Asta Grande is a drop-in, drop-out crowd game for 30 people. It’s a pretend auction of legendary items mediated by a digital interface that is used by the auctioneer to present the lots and keep track of players’ objectives and funds.
The Innovation in Aesthetics Design Award: Nishan Shaman by NEXT Studio
Innovation in Aesthetics Design honors a game which offers a unique, immense or sublime experience, be it visual, or by taste, touch, sound or some synesthetic combination. This year’s recipient, Nishan Shaman is a rhythm game that follows an ancient tale passed down by ethnic minority groups in Northern China. The protagonist, the Nishan Shaman, is a female shaman who delves into the underworld to rescue the soul of a young boy.
The IndieCade Choice Award: One Hand Clapping by Bad Dream Games
The IndieCade Choice Award, voted on by attendees and media, was bestowed upon One Hand Clapping – a puzzle platformer that requires players to sing into their microphone to solve musical puzzles. The game provides players with a an outlet for creative self-expression, as well as encouragement to explore their vocal abilities
The IndieCade Developers Choice Award: BlindFold by Tom Ackerman
The IndieCade Developers Choice Award is voted on by nominated IndieCade Festival developers. This year’s winner, BlindFold, is an area control party game where players take turns writing words on a sheet of paper and manipulating the sheet (through folding, unfolding, flipping, and tearing it) to ensure that only their own words are face up and fully visible during scoring. The catch however, is that players must take their turns while blindfolded!
iThrive – Find the Kind Prize: I WAS HERE by Kate Smith
The iThrive Find the Kind Prize is awarded to the game that contains examples of kindness which go beyond mere dialogue choices and resource management, but which approach the idea of kindness thoughtfully and sincerely. This year’s recipient, I WAS HERE, is a first-person narrative walking simulator game where players get a voyeuristic and intimate look into the lives of others.
The Game Changer Award: Kate Edwards
IndieCade’s Game Changer Award celebrates individuals who have impacted the gaming landscape in a significant way – positive disruptors who have brought a paradigm shift to indie development. This year’s recipient Kate Edwards is the CEO and principal consultant of Geogrify, a consultancy for content culturalization, a Board Member of Take This, and is the former Executive Director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) from 2012 to 2017. In addition to being an outspoken advocate who serves in several advisory/board roles, she is a geographer, writer, and corporate strategist. Following 13 years at Microsoft, she has consulted on many game and non-game projects for BioWare, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and many other companies. Fortune magazine named her as one of the "10 most powerful women" in the game industry and she was named by GamesIndustry.biz as one of their six People of the Year. In April 2018, she was honored with Reboot Develop’s annual Hero Award, and is profiled in the November 2018 publication Women in Gaming: 100 Professionals of Play.
The Bernie DeKoven Big Fun Award: Douglas Wilson
Created in collaboration with Bernie DeKoven, this annual award celebrates his legacy and recognizes individuals and organizations that create large-scale, physical games. This year’s recipient is Douglas Wilson, is a Lecturer at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, where he teaches and researches game design. Douglas is also a co-owner of Die Gute Fabrik, a small games studio based in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is best known for his award-winning motion control game, Johann Sebastian Joust, winner of the Innovation Award at the 2012 Game Developers Choice Awards. His work has been exhibited at festivals and museums around the world, including: MoMA, the Museum of the Moving Image, Hong Kong Arts Centre, SFMOMA, IGF, IndieCade, PAX, and Roskilde Festival.
The Trailblazer Award: Auriea Harvey & Michael Samyn, Tale of Tales
The IndieCade Trailblazer Award is an annual honor bestowed upon creators who have made immense contributions to the games industry, while capturing the pioneering spirit of the indie movement. This year’s recipients are Auriea Harvey and Michael Samyn, founders of the Belgian game videogame development studio Tale of Tales.
ABOUT INDIECADE
Applauded as the “Sundance of the videogame industry,” IndieCade supports independent game development globally through a series of international events highlighting the rich, diverse, artistic and culturally significant contributions of indie game developers. IndieCade's programs are designed to bring visibility to and facilitate the production of new works within the emerging independent game community. Upcoming events include IndieCade Europe on October 19-20 in Paris. For more information, visit: Indiecade.com.
