The IGF has released a list of finalists ahead of its annual awards ceremony in March, with former Half-life mod Dear Esther nabbing three nods.

The visually striking title scored an unsurprising Excellence In Visual Art nomination, but also Excellence in Audio as well as the two biggies – the Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Nuovo, which is awarded to abstract, experimental and short-form works.

Tactical favourite Frozen Synapse, Machinarium team Amanita Design’s latest offering Batanicula, Mossmouth’s Spelunky and the long delayed Fez from Polytron also scored multiple mentions, as did newcomer Where Is My Heart, although it didn’t manage and full nominations.

The IGF Awards take place on March 7. Full list of nominees and honourable mentions follows, courtesy of IndieGames.

Excellence In Visual Art
• Botanicula (Amanita Design)
• Dear Esther (thechineseroom)
• Lume (State Of Play Games)
• Mirage (Mario von Rickenbach)
• Wonderputt (Damp Gnat)
• Honorable mentions: Beat Sneak Bandit (Simogo); Dustforce (Hitbox Team); Fader (Chris Makris); Proun (Joost van Dongen); Toren (Swordtales)

Technical Excellence
• Antichamber (Demruth)
• Fez (Polytron)
• Prom Week (Expressive Intelligence Studio, UC Santa Cruz)
• Realm of the Mad God (Wild Shadow Studios & Spry Fox)
• Spelunky (Mossmouth)
• Honorable mentions: Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games); Nitronic Rush (DigiPen Institute of Technology); Reflow (Xymatic); Super T.I.M.E Force (Capy); Tiny and Big – Grandpa´s Leftovers (Black Pants)

Excellence In Design
• Atom Zombie Smasher (Blendo Games)
• English Country Tune (Stephen Lavelle)
• Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games)
• Gunpoint (Tom Francis, John Roberts and Fabian van Dommelen)
• Spelunky (Mossmouth)
• Honorable mentions: ...

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