The results are in from the Independent Games Festival. Both Night in the Woods and Baba is You have landed major victories at the 2018 IGF Awards.
Going into the awards, both titles held several nominations across multiple categories. Night in the Woods, a story-focused adventure title about a young adult coming to terms with how her life and home town have changed over the years, was nominated for Excellence in Visual Art, Excellence in Narrative, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. Meanwhile, Baba is You, a puzzle title that encourages adapting the rules of the game to your advantage, held four nominations including Best Student Game, Excellence in Design, the Nuovo Award, and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
And The Winners Are…
By the end of the night, both had received two awards each: Excellence in Design and Best Student Game went to Baba is You, while Night in the Woods took home the award for Excellence in Narrative as well as the Seumas McNally Grand Prize.
Other winners included Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, which received the Nuovo Award for presenting a title that made the jurors think differently about gaming as a medium, Chuchel, which took home the award for excellence in visual art; and Celeste, a challenging platformer with an engaging narrative, took home the Audience Choice Award.
The full list of winners, along with the cash prizes provided by the IGF, can be viewed down below.
Excellence in Visual Art ($3,000)
Chuchel (Amanita Design)
Excellence in Audio ($3,000)
Uurnog Uurnlimited (Nifflas Games)
Excellence in Design ($3,000)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Excellence in Narrative ($3,000)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Nuovo Award ($3,000)
Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy (Bennett Foddy)
Best Student Game ($3,000)
Baba Is You (Hempuli)
Audience Award ($3,000)
Celeste (Celeste Team)
ID@Xbox Gaming for Everyone Award
SpecialEffect
alt.ctrl.GDC Award ($3,000)
Puppet Pandemonium
Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($30,000)
Night in the Woods (Infinite Fall)
Those who wish to watch the awards ceremony in its entirety can do so via the archived live stream on Twitch. For more on some of the winning games, check out our spotlight pieces on the nominated games. (Spoiler: we liked a lot of them). For more on the IGF and what they do, check out their official website.
