Independent Games Festival 2011 Finalists Announced

The 13th Annual Independent Games Festival finalists for 2011 have been announced. These are the creme of the crop of indie games, Minecraft is up for 3 awards including the "Seumas McNally Grand Prize." As is the terrifying Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

Other finalists include Supergiant Games' Bastion, Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip Runner, and Messhof's Nidhogg. Those attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco will be able to check out all of these games on the show floor starting February 28, 2011. Check out all the nominees below, the IGF awards will be held March 2nd.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

• Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
• SpyParty (Chris Hecker)
• Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
• Minecraft (Mojang)
• Nidhogg (Messhof)

Honorable mentions: Neptune's Pride (Iron Helmet Games); Super Crate Box (Vlambeer); Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Carpe Fulgur); Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games); Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment).

Excellence In Visual Art

• Bastion (Supergiant Games)
• The Dream Machine (Cockroach)
• Cave Story (2010 Edition) (Nicalis)
• Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games)
• Hohokum (Honeyslug & Richard Hogg)

Honorable mentions: Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment); Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio); Faraway (Steph Thirion); Helsing's Fire (Ratloop); Flotilla (Blendo Games).

Technical Excellence

• Minecraft (Mojang)
• Confetti Carnival (SpikySnail Games)
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
• Neverdaunt:8Bit (Robot Loves Kitty)
• Miegakure (Marc Ten Bosch)

Honorable mentions: Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio); Achron (Hazardous Software); Hazard: The Journey Of Life (Demruth); Overgrowth (Wolfire Games); Swimming Under Clouds (Piece Of Pie Studios)

Excellence In Design

• Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
• Super Crate Box (Vlambeer)
• Nidhogg (Messhof)
• Faraway (Steph Thirion)
• Minecraft (Mojang)

Honorable mentions: Helsing's Fire (Ratloop); Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Carpe Fulgur); Flotilla (Blendo Games); Bo (Mahdi Bahrami); Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now [B.U.T.T.O.N.] (Copenhagen Game Collective)

Excellence In Audio

• Bastion (Supergiant Games)
• Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment)
• Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
• Bit.Trip Beat (Gaijin Games)
• Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio)

Honorable mentions: Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games); Cave Story (2010 Edition) (Nicalis); Jamestown (Final Form Games); NightSky (Nicalis); Planck (Shadegrown Games)

Best Mobile Game

• Shot Shot Shoot (Erik Svedang)
• Colorbind (Nonverbal)
• Helsing's Fire (Ratloop)
• Solipskier (Mikengreg)
• Halcyon (Stfj)

Honorable mentions: Flick Kick Football (PikPok); Shibuya (Nevercenter); Spirits (Spaces Of Play); Tentacles (Press Play); Trainyard (Matt Rix)