GDC 2012: Fez, Spelunky, Antichamber, earn IGF honors

Emotions ran high at the 2012 Independent Games Festival Awards on Wednesday night, where games including Alexander Bruce's Antichamber and Polytron's Fez earned industry recognition. At the event, hosted by Monaco developer and indie game mainstay Andy Schatz, it was Polytron and Phil Fish's Fez that won the top honor, the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. The recognition for the upcoming game comes after a prolonged and -- for Fish -- stressful development cycle. "Thank you so much," said a bewildered Fish, apparently on the verge of tears. "This means the world to me. Five fucking years. I don't know what to say... Thank you." Alexander Bruce, a self-described serial award winner, walked away with the technical excellence award. While he's won various awards and nominations in the past, as a dedicated coder and game designer, the technical award in particular was a hard-won honor for Bruce, who also expressed disbelief and teary eyes. Derek Yu also gave a brief yet heartfelt acceptance speech when he and his team won Excellence in Design for Spelunky, with Yu thanking his parents for their support. Other notable winners include thechineseroom's haunting Dear Esther for Excellence in Visual Art, Simogo's Beat Sneak Bandit for Best Mobile Game, and Daniel Benmergui's Storyteller for the Nuovo award. Here's the full list of the 2012 IGF Award Winners: Best Student Game: Way (Carnegie Mellon University, Entertainment Technology Center) Technical Excellence: Antichamber (Alexander Bruce) Excellence in Design: Spelunky (Mossmouth) Best Mobile Game: Beat Sneak Bandit (Simogo) Excellence in Visual Art: Dear Esther (thechineseroom) Excellence in Audio: Botanicula (Amanita Design) Audience Award: Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games) Microsoft XBLA Award Super T.I.M.E. Force (Capy) Nuovo Award: Storyteller (Daniel Benmergui) Seumas McNally Grand Prize Fez (Polytron)