The Independent Games Festival award winners this year was full of surprising and not-so-surprising winners.  As I had an opportunity to be a judge again this year I was happy to see some deserving games win awards and disappointed to see a few games, such as the outstanding Armadillo Run, not get their moment to shine.

My vote for the Grand Prize had gone for Aquaria, along with the majority of the judges.  Though it took me awhile to get into the game initially, I really enjoyed the underwater world as I played a later build of the game.  It is a stand-out game that every gamer should be looking forward to (especially for the ten or so of us who happen to have studied all things aquatic for our college degree).

The rest of the winners are noted below in bold among the nominees.  Be sure to check them all out!

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

Aquaria (www.bit-blot.com)
Armadillo Run  (www.armadillorun.com)
Bang! Howdy (www.banghowdy.com)
Everyday Shooter (www.queasygames.com)
Roboblitz (www.roboblitz.com)

Best Web Browser Game:

Bubble Islands (www.dot-invasion.com)
Gamma Bros (www.pixeljam.com)
Samorost 2 (www.samorost2.net)

Design Innovation Award:

Aquaria (www.bit-blot.com)
Armadillo Run (www.armadillorun.com)
Everyday Shooter (www.queasygames.com)
Toblo (www.toblo.info)
Toribash (www.toribash.com)

Excellence in Visual Art:

Aquaria (www.bit-blot.com)
Castle Crashers (www.castlecrashers.com)
Golf? (www.golfquestionmark.com)
Roboblitz (www.roboblitz.com)
Samorost 2 (www.samorost2.net)

Excellence in Audio:

Aquaria (www.bit-blot.com)
Bone: The Great Cow Race (www.telltalegames.com)
Everyday Shooter (www.queasygames.com)
FizzBall (www.grubbygames.com)
Racing Pitch (www.skinflake.com)

Technical Excellence:

Arcane Legions (www.slitherine.com)
Armada Online (www.armada-online.com)
Band of Bugs (www.ninjabee.com)
Bang! Howdy (www.banghowdy.com)
Blast Miner (www.blastminer.com)

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By: Russell Carroll
Posted: Thursday March 08, 2007