LocalThunk’s deck-building roguelite also secured the title for Best Debut, Best Design, and the Innovation accolade.
Balatro triumphed at the Game Developers Exchange Awards last night, winning Game of the Year along with Best Debut, Best Design, and the Innovation accolade.
Astro Bot garnered two awards in the Audio and Technology categories, while Dark Fantasy: Wukong received the prize for Best Visual Art.
Studio Zero’s Metaphor: ReFantazio was awarded Best Narrative, with Deck 9 Games’ Life is Strange: Double Exposure winning the Social Impact award.
As previously mentioned, Remedy’s creative director Sam Lake received the Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by Alan Wake and Control actor Matthew Porretta.
Lucas Pope was honored with the Pioneer Award for his contributions to game design, notably as the creator of Papers, Please and Return of the Obra Dinn, as well as his work at Playful Studios.
The Independent Games Festival also took place yesterday, with Love Me winning the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Developed by Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thompson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, and Ken ‘coda’ Synder, the game also claimed the Nuovo and Wings awards.
Freehold Games’ Caves of Qud received Excellence in Narrative, Moonloop Games’ Hauntii won Excellence in Visual Arts, while Suspicious Trends’ Tactical Breach Wizards secured Excellence in Design.
Despelote, created by Julián Cordero and Sebastian Valbuena, was awarded Excellence in Audio, and Vinny Roca’s Slot Wreck took home Best Student Game.
Here is the complete list of winners for both ceremonies:
GDCA 2025 winners
- Game of the Year: Balatro (LocalThunk, Playstack)
- Best Debut: Balatro
- Best Visual Art: Dark Fantasy: Wukong (Game Science)
- Best Audio: Astro Bot (Team Asobi, Sony Interactive Entertainment)
- Best Narrative: Metaphor: ReFantazio (Studio Zero, Atlus, Sega)
- Best Technology: Astro Bot
- Best Design: Balatro
- Social Impact Award: Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck 9 Games, Square Enix)
- Innovation Award: Balatro
- Pioneer Award: Lucas Pope
- Lifetime Achievement Award: Sam Lake
IGF 2025 winners
- Seumas McNally Grand Prize: Love Me (Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thompson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken ‘coda’ Synder)
- Excellence in Visual Art: Hauntii (Moonloop Games, Firestoke)
- Excellence in Audio: Despelote (Julián Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena, Fright)
- Excellence in Design: Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Trends)
- Excellence in Narrative: Caves of Qud (Freehold Games, Kitfox Games)
- Nuovo Award: Love Me
- Wings Award: Love Me
- Best Student Game