IGF 2020 Inspiration: Star Maid's Nuovo Award-winning Cibele

Calling all indie developers: Game Developers Conference organizers are still accepting submissions for the 22nd annual Independent Games Festival, now through September 30th!

If you've made your own game, this is a fantastic opportunity to submit it for award consideration by a diverse array of industry experts who hail from game companies of all sizes and shapes, as well as the press and the independent games community.

Even if you don't wind up taking home any awards, participating in the IGF is a great way to bring some attention to your work, build camaraderie with your fellow indie devs, and partake in a major celebration of the best in indie games!

If you're nervous, don't be; every year indie devs of all skill levels and backgrounds submit games of all sorts to the IGF, and it's always a wonderful surprise to see which of your fellow game makers take to the stage to accept an award.

Consider Cibele, Star Maid Games' acclaimed 2015 release, which earned the prestigious Nuovo Award and some honorable mentions at the 2016 IGF Awards. 

Based on a true story, this remarkable game uses what at first glance seem like very familiar, mundane elements -- the desktop of a virtual computer (replete with photos, emails, and other narrative-building artifacts) and the simulacrum of an online multiplayer game -- to tell a moving story about love, sex, and the ways in which being online shape the way we relate to other people.   

"I never expected this," Freeman said while accepting the award during IGF 2016. "We're with such amazing games. I love every one of the other nominees; you're all amazing. Keep making super experimental games that push us all to think about games differently; I think that's the most important thing that any of us can do."

Freeman and her collaborators have consistently done just that, and hopefully their success can serve as inspiration for other game makers with a passion for pushing the limits of what games can do. You can go back and watch the Cibele team's acceptance speeches for yourself on Twitch, where the livestreamed 2016 IGF and Game Developers Choice Awards ceremonies are archived. Look at it as inspiration: that could be you on that stage next year!

The IGF is part of the Game Developers Conference 2020, which will take place from March 16th through the 20th at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center. Now that submissions are officially open for IGF 2020, you can refer to our official rules for the IGF Competition in much greater detail.

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