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Dear Esther leads 2012 IGF Awards nominees

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News by Brenna Hillier Contributor
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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: Faraway (Steph Thirion); FTL (Justin Ma & Matthew Davis); Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik); SpaceChem (Zachtronics Industries); Where Is My Heart (Die Gute Fabrik)
    Excellence In Audio
  • Botanicula (Amanita Design)
  • Dear Esther (thechineseroom)
  • Pugs Luv Beats (Lucky Frame)
  • To The Moon (Freebird Games)
  • Waking Mars (Tiger Style)
  • Honorable mentions: Beatbuddy (THREAKS); Beat Sneak Bandit (Simogo); Fez (Polytron); Proteus (Ed Key and David Kanaga); Where Is My Heart (Die Gute Fabrik)
    Best Mobile Game
  • ASYNC Corp (Powerhead Games)
  • Beat Sneak Bandit (Simogo)
  • Faraway (Steph Thirion)
  • Ridiculous Fishing (Vlambeer)
  • Waking Mars (Tiger Style)
  • Honorable mentions: Fingle (Game Oven Studios); Hundreds (SemiSecret and aeiowu); iBlast Moki 2 (Godzilab); Temple Run (Imangi Studios); Tentacles (Press Play ApS)
    Nuovo Award
    [Designed 'to honor abstract, shortform, and unconventional game development'.]
  • At a Distance (Terry Cavanagh)
  • Dear Esther (thechineseroom)
  • Fingle (Game Oven Studios)
  • GIRP (Bennett Foddy)
  • Proteus (Ed Key and David Kanaga)
  • Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)
  • Storyteller (Daniel Benmergui)
  • Way (CoCo & Co.)
  • Honorable mentions: Deep Sea (WRAUGHK); Four Letter Word (Terry Cavanagh); GlitchHiker (Aardbever); Hundreds (SemiSecret and aeiowu); POP (Rob Lach)
    Seumas McNally Grand Prize
  • Dear Esther (thechineseroom)
  • Fez (Polytron)
  • Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 Games)
  • Johann Sebastian Joust (Die Gute Fabrik)
  • Spelunky (Mossmouth)

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