Mutazione earned the most nominations
The next time you’re looking to branch out beyond your typical week-to-week video game backlog, consider poring over the finalists for the2020 Independent Games Festival. The list is brimming with wonderful indie games – some you’ll recognize, others you won’t – and it’s a great place to start.
One of the games on my must-play list isMutazione, a garden-tending hang-out adventure from Die Gute Fabrik “where small-town gossip meets the supernatural.” It’s the most prevalent nominee this year, earning nods for the Grand Prize along with Excellence in Visual Art, Audio, and Narrative.
The IGF Awards will be hosted byArmellodirector Trent Kusters andlive-streamedon Jul 21, 2025. After that ceremony wraps up, the night will continue with the Game Developers Choice Awards.
Let’s get into it. These are the Independent Games Festival finalists and runners-up for 2020:
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Honorable Mentions:Katana ZERO(Askiisoft);Lonely Mountains: Downhill(MegagonIndustries);Song of Bloom(PhilippStollenmayer);Wide Ocean, Big Jacket(Turnfollow);Elsinore(Golden Glitch);Astrologaster(Nyamyam);Heaven’s Vault(inkle)
Excellence in Visual Art
Honorable Mentions:LUNA The Shadow Dust(Lantern Studio);Eastshade(Eastshade Studios);Minute of Islands(Studio Fizbin);Katana ZERO(Askiisoft);Song of Bloom(Philipp Stollenmayer);A Short Hike(Adam Robinson-Yu);Creaks(Amanita Design)
Excellence in Audio
Honorable Mentions:Afterparty(Night School Studio);Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to)(Popcannibal);Manifold Garden(William Chyr Studio);Alt-Frequencies(Accidental Queens);Don’t Look(Don’t Look Team);Lonely Mountains: Downhill(Megagon Industries);Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1(Cosmo D)
Excellence in Design
Honorable Mentions:Guildlings(Sirvo Studios);Nauticrawl(Andrea Interguglielmi);Blabyrinth(Sleeping Beast Games);Children of Morta(Dead Mage);Void Bastards(Blue Manchu);Untitled Goose Game(House House);Creature in the Well(Flight School Studio)
Excellence in Narrative
Honorable Mentions:American Election(Greg Buchanan);Night Call(Monkey Moon, BlackMuffin);Astrologaster(Nyamyam);A Short Hike(Adam Robinson-Yu);Adventures With Anxiety!(Nicky Case);Observation(No Code)
Nuovo Award
Honorable Mentions:Astrologaster(Nyamyam);Elsinore(Golden Glitch);Fit for a King(Brent Ellison & Tanya X. Short);My Exercise(Atsushi Wada, Ryoya Usuha, Nobuaki Doi);Where the Bees Make Honey(Brian Wilson);Smile For Me(Gabe Lane and Yugo Limbo / LimboLane)
Best Student Game
Honorable Mentions:Unhatched(Filip Loster);Du Rejser (You Travel)(Victor Selnæs Breum + Katinka);Trail Mix(Puzzsoft);Where the Bees Make Honey(Brian Wilson);Northbound(Johannes Köberle & Arno Justus);Evergreen Blues(David Su and Dominique Star)
Here are your finalists for the 2020 Independent Games Festival Awards![IGF]
