2006 Independent Games Festival Announces Finalists

The organizers of the 2006 Independent Games Festival, for which winners will be revealed at the 2006 Game Developers Conference in San Jose next March, have announced the finalists for the main 2006 IGF competition. Following a record total of 118 entries, competition was especially fierce, but the forty IGF judges, picked from mainstream and indie game creation and journalism circles, have singled out their pick of the outstanding indie titles. In particular, the finalists for this year's $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize include Introversion's cult action-strategy title Darwinia, Ankama's French strategy-RPG MMO Dofus, Grubby Games' fiendish puzzle platform game Professor Fizzwizzle, Digital Eel's innovative 'short' space exploration title Weird Worlds: Return To Infinite Space, and Pocketwatch Games' ecosystem-building title Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa. Also notable are the finalists for the Innovation In Game Design award, which include the aforementioned Darwinia alongside block-stacking fighter Rumble Box, single-button game Strange Attractors, time-bending platform title Braid, and story-led adventure The Witch's Yarn. In addition, the new Best Web Browser Game category's finalists comprise Looney Tunes-esque Shockwave title Dodge That Anvil, chemical puzzle title Moleculous, and cheeky bullying brawler Dad 'N Me. The remaining finalists are as follows: for Technical Excellence: Saints & Sinners Bowling, Tribal Trouble, Tube Twist, Darwinia, Crazy Ball; for Innovation In Visual Art: Dofus, Darwinia, Putt Nutz, Glow Worm, Thomas And The Magical Words; for Innovation In Audio: Professor Fizzwizzle, Saints & Sinners Bowling, Dodge That Anvil, Glow Worm, Weird Worlds: Return To Infinite Space. The main IGF competition, which has awarded prizes in the past to games including Wik & The Fable Of Souls, Alien Hominid, Oasis, and Gish, sports a total prize pool of $35,000 this year, including a biggest-ever $20,000 Seumas McNally Grand Prize for the best independent game, as well as individual $2,500 prizes for Innovation In Visual Art, Innovation In Audio, Innovation In Game Design, Technical Excellence, Best Web Browser Game, and an Audience Award, for which all finalists will be eligible. The finalists for the IGF Mod Competition and Student Showcase will be announced in early January 2006.