Develop 2013: ten finalists for top Indie Showcase prizes revealed

Develop 2013 takes place 9-11 July, and it will host the third annual Indie Showcase competition, in which emerging games and talent will compete for the mantle of best showcase game, People’s Choice Award and Editor's Choice. The ten finalists have just been announced.

In a press release sent to VG247 this morning, Develop's organisers spooled off a list of the ten finalist, along with concepts for each title:

• Ibb and Obb by Sparpweed – a PS3 game designed around cooperative play where two players find themselves in a world split in two.
• Catch-22 by Mango Down – a relaxing and frustrating one-button arcade game for iPad in which the goal is to reach a high score by picking up orbs without crashing into yourself.
• Drop that Candy by Greenfly Studios – Puzzle based iOS title where sweets are trapped behind a vending machine which need to be freed in the least number of moves.
• Icycle: On Thin Ice by Damp Gnat – Dennis, the sole surviving naked cyclist is back for more love lorn trauma in this web based sequel to the 2009 apocalyptic platform puzzler.
• Momonga Pinball Adventures by Paladin Studios - Playing as a cute Japanese dwarf flying squirrel, this iOS title allows players to roll like a ball, float through the skies, complete challenges and battle enemies.
• Tengami by Nyamyam – an atmospheric iOS adventure game set in a Japanese pop-up book. Lone wanderer players explore a beautiful pop-up book world and manipulate it to solve puzzles and make progress.
• Ethan: Meteor Hunter by Seaven Studio – A PC puzzle-platformer adventure where after an unknown events, Ethan gets touched by meteorites giving him the power to pause time.
• Gunpoint by Suspicious Development - Gunpoint is a PC stealth puzzle game that lets you rewire its levels to trick people. Play as a freelance spy, breaking into high security buildings with a device called the Crosslink.
• Epic Eric by 232 Sudios - a single button iOS physics-based action puzzler, flinging the knight from cog to cog in his never-ending quest to save the princess from her uncanny ability to get stuck at the top of locked towers.
• That Dragon, Cancer by Josh Larson – That Dragon, Cancer is a web based point-and-click adventure game that acts as a living painting; a poem; an interactive retelling of Ryan and Amy Green’s experience raising their son Joel, a 4-year-old currently fighting his third year of terminal cancer.

VG247 has interviewed all finalists about their games and will be publishing a feature that gives a closer look at each game soon.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Indie Showcase judging panel, Adam Green said in a statement, “The quality of the entries into the Indie Showcase this year has been nothing short of astounding. The ten shortlisted titles represent the best of what was already an exceptional bunch of games submitted.”

“It was fantastic to see the new, imaginative things the indie community are working on, with everything from highly emotionally impactful narrative titles, new takes on old genres and much more. I have no doubt the Develop Conference and Expo delegates are going to have a lot of fun checking out these top-10 as there are some truly awe inspiring titles among them.”

Do any of the games listed catch your eye? Let us know below, and stay tuned for our interview with all of the developers soon.