Spotlight on the IGF Awards 2025: Meet the Finalists!
Exercise Me tops the nominations in 5 categories, while Despelote garnered four
GDC 2025 has announced the finalists for the 27th annual Independent Games Festival (IGF).
From nearly 500 submissions, the judges selected the finalists “following gameplay, discussions, and thorough assessments” in each category: Audio, Visual, Student, Nuovo, Design, Narrative, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson, the creators of Exercise Me, lead the nominations with five categories, including Excellence in Design, Excellence in Narrative, Excellence in Visual Arts, the Nuovo Award, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Despelote, created by Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena, achieved four nominations: Excellence in Audio, Excellence in Narrative, the Nuovo Award, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
The extensive list of finalists also includes honorable mentions