The Indie Game Challenge is an award competition run in conjunction between the
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
(AIAS),
GameStop
GameStop Corp. is an American video game, consumer electronics, and gaming merchandise retailer. The company is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas (a suburb of Dallas), and is the largest video game retailer worldwide. , the company operates 4,5 ...
and
The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University (SMU) to support
independent video game development
An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
. Started in 2009, the competition highlights ten to twelve independent games, with winning games receiving monetary rewards in addition to the award. The Indie Game Challenge ceremonies are held during the annual
D.I.C.E. Summit
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...
, during which the finalists are able to demonstrate their games to the press.
Concept
The Indie Game Challenge awards were created by AIAS, Gamestop, and the Guildhall to promote innovation in gaming from independent development. Mike Hogan, senior vice-president of marketing for Gamestop, cited the need for "new, cutting edge game developers who continue to stretch the boundaries and imaginations of gamers" in the industry, and hoped that the awards would "stimulate a new generation of game developers".
The competition was designed to offer both monetary and scholarship prizes, valued up to $300,000.
The Challenge accepts games in playable, near-complete versions (including
beta software
A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...
), and for games that have been released, limits such entries to those that have earned less than $100,000 prior to the competition. The Challenge allows entries for games that have already been submitted to other game contests. Once the judges have selected the finalists, a public voter for "Gamer's Choice" is started among the finalists for a $10,000 prize. The finalists are invited to the D.I.C.E. Summit, giving them exposure to major video game publishers and journalists, a lucrative opportunity for independent developers.
After the major awards have been announced, the judges then select finalists to give graduate scholarships to SMU.
The first year for the Challenge drew more than 250 entries to select from.
Finalists and winners
2010
Finalists
* ''Aaaa! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity'' -
Dejobaan Games
Dejobaan Games, LLC is an American video game developer based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded in 1999 by Ichiro Lambe, and originally developed games for mobile devices, but has since branched out to other products for Micro ...
* ''Altitude'' - Nimbly Games
* ''Climb to the Top of the Castle'' - TwO Bros. Games
* ''
Cogs'' - Lazy 8 Studios
* ''Dreamside Maroon'' - Terraced
* ''
Fieldrunners'' -
Subatomic Studio
* ''
Galactic Arms Race'' - Evolutionary Complexity Research Group at UCF
* ''Gear'' - Team 3
* ''Miegakure'' - Marc ten Bosch
* ''Vessel'' - Strange Loop Games
* ''Waker'' - Poof Productions
* ''Zeit2'' - Brightside Games
Winners
* Grand Prize Award (Professional) - ''Cogs'' ($100,000 award)
* Grand Prize Award (Non-professional) - ''Gear'' ($100,000 award)
* Technical Achievement - ''Altitude'' ($2,500 award)
* Achievement in Art Direction - ''Cogs'' ($2,500 award)
* Achievement in Gameplay - ''Cogs'' ($2,500 award)
* Gamer's Choice Award - ''Altitude'' ($10,000 award)
2011
Finalists
* ''Confetti Carnival'' - SpikySnail Games
* ''Fortix 2'' - Nemesys Games
* ''Hazard: The Journey of Life'' - Alexander Bruce
* ''Inertia (video game), Inertia'' - Team Hermes
* ''
Limbo
In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...
'' -
Playdead
Playdead ApS is a Danish independent video game developer based in Copenhagen. Game designers Arnt Jensen and Dino Patti created the company in 2006 to develop ''Limbo'', which was released in 2010 to critical acclaim. After a year of Xbox 360 ...
* ''Monaco: What's Yours is Mine'' - Pocketwatch Games
* ''
Q.U.B.E.'' - Toxic Games
* ''Solace'' - One Man Down
* ''Spirits'' - Spaces of Play
* ''Subsonic'' - Team Height Advantage
* ''Symon'' - ZZZ Games
* ''Vanessa Saint-Pierre Delacroix & Her Nightmare'' - Bad Pilcrow
Winners
* Grand Prize Winner (Professional): ''Limbo'' ($100,000 prize)
* Grand Prize Winner (Non-professional): ''Inertia'' ($100,000 prize)
* Kongregate Award: ''Symon''
* Technical Achievement: ''Inertia'' ($2,500 prize)
* Achievement in Art Direction: ''Limbo'' ($2,500 prize)
* Achievement in Gameplay: ''Inertia'' ($2,500 prize)
* Gamer's Choice Award: ''Inertia'' ($10,000 prize)
2012
Finalists
* ''
Atom Zombie Smasher
''Atom Zombie Smasher'' is a real-time strategy game developed by independent developer Blendo Games. In it, the player attempts to rescue as many citizens as possible from an oncoming zombie horde using helicopter rescue units and an array of m ...
'' -
Blendo Games
Blendo Games is an American independent video game development company based in Culver City, California. It was founded by Brendon Chung in 2010 and is primarily a one-person effort. Blendo Games gained more widespread exposure with the short fo ...
* ''
The Bridge The Bridge may refer to:
Art, entertainment and media Art
* ''The Bridge'' (sculpture), a 1997 sculpture in Atlanta, Georgia, US
* Die Brücke (''The Bridge''), a group of German expressionist artists
* ''The Bridge'' (M. C. Escher), a lithograph ...
'' - Ty Taylor and Mario Castaneda
* ''
Closure'' - Eyebrow Interactive
* ''Demolition Inc.'' - Zeroscale
* ''The Dream Machine'' - Team Dream
* ''The Fourth Wall'' - Team Pig Trigger
* ''Nitronic Rush'' - Team Nitronic
* ''Paradox Shift'' - Paradox Shift
* ''The Swapper'' - Facepalm Games
* ''
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...
'' -
Empty Clip Studios
Empty Clip Studios, LLC is a video game developer based in San Diego, California and was founded in July 2007. It was formed by Francois Bertrand and Matt Shores.
On September 8, 2008, the company released their debut game ''Groovin' Blocks'', ...
Winners
* Grand Prize Winner: ''Closure'' ($100,000 prize)
* Technical Achievement: ''Symphony'' ($2,500 prize)
* Achievement in Gameplay: ''The Bridge'' ($2,500 prize)
* Achievement in Art Direction: ''The Bridge'' ($2,500 prize)
* GameStop PC Digital Download Award: ''Symphony''
* Gamer's Choice Award: ''Nitronic Rush'' ($2,500 prize)
See also
*
PitchYaGame
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.indiegamechallenge.com
Video game development
Video game development competitions
Indie games