14 DAY TRIAL // At the Game Developers Conference, one of the highlights is always the ceremony that gives the Independent Games Festival Awards, which reward those indie projects that can have a clear impact on the video-gaming industry. This year, Blueberry Garden, created by Erik Svedang, is the big winner, taking home the Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game, which also comes with a 30,000-dollar check.
Blueberry Garden is an exploration game, which is set in an eco system that is ever developing. Expect to witness a commercial release of Blueberry Garden, or of a title based on the concepts it showcases, in the coming year, seeing how previous winners of the Independent Games Festival, like Braid, Audiosurf, Castle Crashers and World of Goo, proved to be critically successful when released to the wider gaming world.
There were several other winners at the IGF. Machinarium, from Amanita Design, got the award for Visual Art, while Musaix Box, from KranX Production, took the one for Excellence in Design, for the way it managed to combine a music title and a puzzle game. The Innovation Award went to Between, a collaborative title created by Jason Rohrer, while BrainPipe took home the one for Excellence in Audio. Cortex Command, from Data Realms, received the Technical Excellence Award and the Audience Award, based on public votes.
The Best Student Game one was taken by the Tag: The Power of Paint action title created by the DigiPen Institute of Technology, while the 10,000-dollar prize offered by Direct2Drive was awarded to Osmos from Hemisphere Games.
Simon Carless, the chairman of the IGF, said that, “Yet again, we've been blown away by the quality and diversity of entries in this year's Independent Games Festival. Every year, indie games seem to get more and more vital, and we're pleased to be able to help honor the very best.”