IndieCade 2009 Awardees
Jury Award: Moon Stories by Daniel Benmergui
Gameplay Innovation: Closure by Tyler Glaiel and Jon Shubbe
World/Story: Dear Esther by The Chinese Room
Auteur: Eliss by Steph Thirion
Vanguard: Train by Brenda Brathwaite
Fun/Compelling: Osmos by Hemisphere Games
Sublime Experience: Tuning by Jonatan "Cactus" Soderstrom
Finalist/Audience Choice Winner: Minor Battle by Peanut Gallery (USC Interactive Media)
Finalist and Audience Choice First Runner Up: Deep Sleep Initiative by ARx
Honorable Mention: Papermint by Avaloop, Aether by Edmund McMillen and Tyler Glaliel, and Spectre by The Vaguely Spectacular Team
EA Best in Show: Osmos by Hemisphere Games
IndieCade 2009 Finalists
Aether
Aether is a beautiful, simple game about childhood and escapism from Edmund McMillen (Gish) and Tyler Glaiel.
Akrasia
Akrasia is an elegant and artful experiment in expressing an emotional experience through a game mechanic.
Classic Night
ClassicNight is a lovely strategy/arcade game from JoYoung Won / Akarolis, a Korean developer, with novel gameplay and a meditative play style.
Closure
The return of the side-scrolling platformer has been a staple of indie game development, and Closure is one of the most inventive of these to-date.
Cogs
Cogs, by Lazy 8 Studios, is a charming puzzler with a stylized steampunk aesthetic and a unique twist.
Eliss
Developed in Spain by Steph Thiron, Eliss challenges you to use all of your fingers to keep harmony in a world of colored planets.
Everybody Dies
Everybody Dies is an intriguing and humorous game in the tradition of a text adventure.
Global Conflicts: Latin America
From Denmark's Serious Games Interactive, Global Conflicts: Latin America is the second in a compelling series of documentary games.
Gray
Gray is a simple flash game by Greg Wohlwend and Mike Boxleiter that attempts to challenge common ideas about conflict.
Mightier
Mightier is one of a growing movement of games that are experimenting with alternative interfaces and interaction paradigms.
Minor Battle
Minor Battle is an immersive 2D multiplayer platform game displayed on four screens forming faces of a cube.
Modal Kombat
Not a game, Modal Kombat is a performance interface for traditional games (often Mortal Kombat) that allows the player to control their avatars by playing real guitars.
Nanobots
This charming old school point and click adventure game has a unique twist: a group of tiny robots (who incidentally hate each other) have to work together to solve a series of puzzles.
Osmos
Osmos, by Canadian developers Hemisphere Games, reflects emerging trends in experimental games that use abstract graphics and biologically-influenced gameplay.
Papermint
Developed by Avaloop, a Viennese development studio, Papermint is a radical departure from the current spate of high-end, 3D multiplayer games.
Radioflare
A musical shooter for the iPhone, RADIO FLARE by Austrian team Radiolaris, has a focus on rhythmic interaction while allowing for a free flowing experience.
Ruben & Lullaby
Ruben & Lullaby makes innovative use of the iPhone's interface dynamics in a story-based application.
Shadow Physics
In Shadow Physics, your are a two-dimensional character (a shadow character) interacting with a three-dimensional space space.
Spectre
Spectre is a game about memory from the Vaguely Spectacular Team at USC's Interactive Media Division.
The Maw
The Maw, now playing on xBox Live Arcade, is a charming buddy movie of a game, a kind of Ratchet and Clank meets Picmin.
The Path
The Path is the latest offering by award-winning Belgium-based game developers Tale of Tales.
Train
Train, a new non-digital art game by video game pioneer and academic Brenda Brathwaite, is part of a suite of experimental board games she is developing to address challenging emotional topics.
Tuning
Cactus fans will not be disappointed by this diabolical twister of a platformer, in which each level consists of an oscillating constellation of cubes
You Get Me
Eight players at computer stations in the Royal Opera House connect with runners in a park five miles away, representing a narrow geographical distance, but a cultural chasm.
Zeno Clash
For those weary of the standard fare of Tolkien-inspired fantasy, Zeno Clash provides a disturbingly original alternative.
IndieCade 2008 Awardees
Aesthetics: Machinarium by Amanita Design
Design Innovation: Ibb and Obb by Richard Boeser
Finalist Choice: Rükblende by Nils Deneken
Fun: Dark Room Sex Game by Dark Room Sex Game Team IT University Copenhagen
Jury Award: Gravitation by Jason Rohrer
Sublime Experience: The Night Journey by Bill Viola and Tracy Fullerton & the Night Journey Team (USC Game Innovation Lab)
Technical Innovation: levelHead by Julian Oliver
World/Story: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom by The Odd Gentlemen.
IndieCade 2008 Finalists
And Yet It Moves
Created by a group of students at the Vienna Institute of Technology, And Yet It Moves is designed as an interactive collage world of ripped paper.
Cactus Arcade
Cactus Arcade is a collection of 17 short, stylish games of various genres. Cactus is known for his abstract freeware games and his short development time.
Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble
This is the game where good girls get better by being bad. Paint the town red with a party of adventurers inspired by the 1920’s.
Dark Room Sex Game
Dark Room Sex Game is a multiplayer, erotic rhythm game without any visuals, played only by audio and haptic clues.
Darkgame
Darkgame's immersive gameplay is based upon the experience of communication and conflict under stress of sensory deprivation and sense isolation.
Democracy 2
Democracy 2 is the ultimate political strategy/simulation game. It simulates the motivations, loyalties and desires of everyone in the country.
FLYWRENCH
Players must perform different aerial stunts to pass through barriers. Though difficult and tense, the game does not punish the player for mistakes.
Global Conflicts: Palestine
Global Conflicts: Palestine puts players in the role of journalists to explore the various sides of the Palestinian conflict.
Gravitation
Gravitation expresses the designer's thoughts and feelings about mood cycles, creative endeavors, and familial relationships.
ibb and obb
Taking the player to a world with different rules and goals, ibb and obb challenges you to learn how to survive through cooperation and teamwork.
levelHead
levelHead uses a hand-held solid-plastic cube as its only interface. By tilting the cube the player directs this character from room to room in an effort to find the exit.
Machinarium
A little robot who’s been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood, a rather nefarious band of robots.
Miss Management
Miss Management humorously and lightheartedly explores topics of stress management, the role of work in our lives, stereotypes, sexual harassment, race, and more.
PMOG
PMOG transforms web surfing into ongoing social play. This unconventional massively multiplayer online game merges your web life with an alternate, hidden reality.
Polarity
The goal of the game is to navigate environments and solve puzzles by using magnetic properties in different ways.
Rückblende
A man is confronted with his childhood memories while walking around a familiar summerhouse. The more he dwells in his memories, the more secrets he unravels.
Rider Spoke
Head out into the streets with a handheld computer. There you will answer questions and listen to others answers in the very place they were recorded.
Sociable Tetris 360
Sociable Tetris 360 is a collaborative Tetris game played by finger touch. The game is projected onto a cylinder and has multi-touch functionality.
Standard Bits
Standard Bits is an abstract exploration game in a low resolution. The game focuses on a single pixel and his journey to the unknown.
Synaesthete
Synaesthete creates a harmony between player actions and in-game music, in a way that each influences the other.
Tank Universal
Tank Universal creates a huge virtual “Tron-like” world where you take part in immense 3D tank battles.
The Graveyard
More like an explorable painting than a game, The Graveyard is an experiment with real-time poetry, storytelling without words.
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Harness your time-bending abilities to cooperate with, compete against, and disrupt your past, present, and future selves.
The Night Journey
The Night Journey is a sublime and meditative journey into the soul that explores the path to enlightenment.
The Unfinished Swan
Unfinished Swan is a surreal maze game set in an entirely white world. Players can throw paint, splattering their surroundings with color to help them navigate the space and find a way to the exit.
IndieCade 2008 - IndieCade @ E3
Block H
Block H is a game installation comprised of sound-reactive television and an FPS mod set within a housing estate in Northern Ireland.
Bumper Stars
Bumper Stars is an online game that combines aspects of pinball, pool, and slot machines. It's a game of skill that requires a healthy dose of luck.
Dark Room Sex Game
Dark Room Sex Game is a multiplayer, erotic rhythm game without any visuals, played only by audio and haptic clues.
Darkgame
Darkgame's immersive gameplay is based upon the experience of communication and conflict under stress of sensory deprivation and sense isolation.
Democracy 2
Democracy 2 is the ultimate political strategy/simulation game. It simulates the motivations, loyalties and desires of everyone in the country.
Gravitation
Gravitation expresses the designer's thoughts and feelings about mood cycles, creative endeavors, and familial relationships.
ibb and obb
Taking the player to a world with different rules and goals, ibb and obb challenges you to learn how to survive through cooperation and teamwork.
JoJo's Fashion Show
It's your job to build outfits through interesting and fun clothing choices, all in an effort to get JoJo Cruz' fashion empire back on top of its game.
levelHead
levelHead uses a hand-held solid-plastic cube as its only interface. By tilting the cube the player directs this character from room to room in an effort to find the exit.
Prototype 161: The Lonesko Abduction
Prototype 161 immerses players in compelling adventures through the integration of online activities and live-action chapters in an ongoing story.
Rider Spoke
Head out into the streets with a handheld computer. There you will answer questions and listen to others answers in the very place they were recorded.
The Graveyard
More like an explorable painting than a game, The Graveyard is an experiment with real-time poetry, storytelling without words.
The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Harness your time-bending abilities to cooperate with, compete against, and disrupt your past, present, and future selves.
IndieCade 2007 - IndieCade @ E3, IndieCade @ E for All, IndieCade @ Game City
8
Based on the traditional fairytale Sleeping Beauty, 8 takes a little girl on a magical journey through a sleeping world full of mystery.
And Yet It Moves
Created by a group of students at the Vienna Institute of Technology, And Yet It Moves is designed as an interactive collage world of ripped paper.
Beethoven's Hair: The Haunting
Beethoven’s Hair: The Haunting explores the strange tale of a lock of Beethoven’s hair taken by a child on the composer’s deathbed.
Braid
Braid utilizes time manipulating game mechanics inside a 2-D puzzler to highlight themes of perception and intent.
Can You See Me Now?
Players in an online virtual map control runners in a real city on an elaborate chase that mixes real and virtual space.
Cloud
Cloud realizes the childhood fantasy of cloud-gazing, allowing players to fly through the sky and draw pictures with clouds.
Cruel 2 B Kind
Cruel 2 B Kind has players sling compliments at strangers in a highly competitive "assassins"-style game.
Cute X Doom
CuteXdoom is set in a sugary-sweet fairytale land of brightly colored toys that critiques the consumer culture of cuteness.
Defcon
Defcon places the player in a situation no one will win, and they're only hope is to lose the least.
Escape from Woomera
Boldly critiquing the Australian government, Escape from Woomera exposed a secret interment camp for refugees in the desert.
Everyday Shooter
Everyday Shooter places the traditional shooter in the context of a musical album, where each level is a different audio and play experience.
Fijuu2
Fijuu2 is a toy/musical instrument/art object that players sculpt to mix and dj their own musical scores.
Freedom Fighter '56
This interactive graphic novel commemorates the 1956 Hungarian revolution from the point of view of three teenagers drawn into the uprising.
GAMBIT Games
GAMBIT Game Lab serves as an interpreter between academia and industry by creating playable demonstrations of academia concepts.
Game Over
Game Over is a stop-motion animation short re-enacting scenes from famous early games using everyday objects.
giantJoystick
giantJoystick is an epic play sculpture, a working large-scale game interface designed for collaborative play.
Global Conflicts: Palestine
Global Conflicts: Palestine puts players in the role of journalists to explore the various sides of the Palestinian conflict.
Mr. Robot
Mr. Robot explores the humanity of the inhuman and the philosophy of artificial intelligence.
N
N is a minimalist exploration of the platformer, with entertaining "ragdoll" physics and a large collection of user-developed levels and challenges.
Out of Your Mind
Utilizing a specialized drawing mechanic, Out of Your Mind comments on and satirizes modern spa culture.
Play With Fire
Play with Fire is a theory-driven puzzler/platformer where the player manipulates a fireball to destroy scenery.
Prospero's Island
Prospero’s Island is an interactive reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s classic, The Tempest.
Revolution
In Revolution, players try to foment an uprising in Colonial Williamsburg immediately before the American Revolution.
Rumble box
Rumble Box takes a traditional fighter mechanic and turns it on its head by turning defeated characters into level elements and obstacles.
Steam Brigade
Steam Brigade is a side-scrolling strategy game set in an alternate history steam-power rules the battlefield.
The Arcade Wire
The Arcade Wire provides editorial and edification on today's most important issues.
The Endless Forest
The Endless Forest is an ethereal multiplayer fairytale world where players are presented as human-faced deer who communicate through gesture and sound.
The Night Journey
The Night Journey is a sublime and meditative journey into the soul that explores the path to enlightenment.
Whyville
This science learning MMOG for kids hosts a vibrant community of over 1.7 million “virtual citizens.”