Fez wins IGF 2012 Grand Prize

The movers and shakers of the indie scene came together at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last night for the 2012 Independent Games Festival awards ceremony, where prizes aplenty were handed out to this year’s winners and future stars.

March 8, 2012 7:00 AM11The movers and shakers of the indie scene came together at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last night for the 2012 Independent Games Festival awards ceremony, where prizes aplenty were handed out to this year’s winners and future stars.Polytron’s eternally in-development puzzle-platformer Fez lifted the Grand Prize and $30,000, four years after it won an IGF award for Excellence In Visual Art. Other notable winners include Dear Esther, Frozen Synapse, and Spelunky.The majority of the winners were decided by the hundreds of IGF judges and jurors, while the Audience Award was chosen by a vote on IGN, and the XBLA Prize was decided by a separate jury with Microsoft. Over $60,000 was awarded as prize money in total.GameSpot recorded the ceremony if you want to see it unfold, speeches and all, but here are your 2012 IGF winners.Best Student Game – $3,000Winner:Way (Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center)Runners-up:The Bridge (Case Western Reserve University)Dust (Art Institute of Phoenix) The Floor Is Jelly (Kansas City Art Institute) Nous (DigiPen Institute of Technology) One and One Story (Liceo Scientifico G.B. Morgagni) Pixi (DigiPen Institute of Technology – Singapore) The Snowfield (Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab)

Way

Technical Excellence – $3,000Winner:Antichamber by DemruthRunners-up:Fez by PolytronProm Week by Expressive Intelligence Studio, UC Santa CruzRealm of the Mad God by Wild Shadow Studios & Spry FoxSpelunky by Mossmouth

Antichamber

Excellence In Design – $3,000Winner:Spelunky by MossmouthRunners-up:Atom Zombie Smasher by Blendo GamesEnglish Country Tune by Stephen LavelleFrozen Synapse by Mode 7 GamesGunpoint by Tom Francis, John Roberts and Fabian van Dommelen

Spelunky

Best Mobile Game – $3,000Winner:Beat Sneak Bandit by SimogoRunners-up:ASYNC Corp by Powerhead GamesFaraway by Steph ThirionRidiculous Fishing by VlambeerWaking Mars by Tiger Style

Beat Sneak Bandit

Excellence In Visual Art – $3,000Winner:Dear Esther by thechineseroomRunners-up:Botanicula by Amanita DesignLume by State Of Play GamesMirage by Mario von RickenbachWonderputt by Damp Gnat

Dear Esther

Excellence In Audio – $3,000Winner:Botanicula by Amanita DesignRunners-up:Dear Esther by thechineseroomPugs Luv Beats by Lucky FrameTo The Moon by Freebird GamesWaking Mars by Tiger Style

Botanicula

Audience Award – $3,000Winner:Frozen Synapse by Mode 7 Games

Frozen Synapse

XBLA AwardThe winner picks up an XBLA publishing deal and funding from Microsoft.Winner:Super T.I.M.E. Force by Capybara Games

Super T.I.M.E. Force

Nuovo Award – $5,000Winner:Storyteller by Daniel BenmerguiRunners-up:At a Distance by Terry CavanaghDear Esther by thechineseroomFingle by Game Oven StudiosGIRP by Bennett FoddyProteus by Ed Key and David KanagaJohann Sebastian Joust by Die Gute FabrikWay by CoCo & Co.

Storyteller

Seumas McNally Grand Prize – $30,000Winner:Fez by PolytronRunners-up:Dear Esther by thechineseroomFrozen Synapse by Mode 7 GamesJohann Sebastian Joust by Die Gute FabrikSpelunky by Mossmouth

Fez