Alrighty friends, it’s time for the Indie Game Awards, and we’re here to cover the Award Winners, the nominees, and everything in between. While there are no new announcements during this awards show, there is still plenty to look forward to. After a brief introduction, we’re ready to rock and roll.

Black Salt Games Presents Debut Game

Last year’s winners, Black Salt Games (Dredge) are live to present the first award, the first Debut Game. The nominees are as follows:

• Arranger
• Lil’ Guardsman
• Little Kitty, Big City
• Loddlenaut
• Mullet Madjack
• Worldless

And the winner is: Little Kitty, Big City. A great start to this awards ceremony.

Matt Wood, developer of Little Kitty, Big City, is now live with plenty of additional friends. This is the first game that he’s debuted and is happy to show off all of his kitty friends. He seems incredibly thrilled to be picked as the winner, and all of his pals are happy to be there, too.

Leaders in Accessibility

Now, we’ve moved on to the award for Accessibility. The Nominees are:

• Another Crabs Treasure
• Elsie
• Periphery Synthetic
• Pine Hearts
• Steamworld Heist II
• Surmount: A Mountain Climbing Adventure

And the winner is: Another Crab’s Treasure! Any game where a crab gets a gun is good with me.

Nick, the studio head at Aggro Crab, is now speaking about the Souls-likes genre and how it’s one of the least accessible genres for Accessibility. He also makes a joke about giving Kril a gun, which is the best feature in any recent game. It’s a goofy feature, but it genuinely makes the game easy enough to approach for everyone. Accessibility should be fun, as he says.

‘Able To Play’ Founder Comes in to speak

The founder of the website Able To Play is sharing his story about creating the site. Jumping onto the site and inputting specific details, disabilities, and more, you can get a curated list of games that will allow you to enjoy a game without needing to worry about running into roadblocks that can make it more difficult.

Visual Design Award Is Live Now

Designer of Beastieball is now live ready to present the Visual Design award. The nominees for this category are:

• Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus
• Crow Country
• Harold Halibut
• Hauntii
• The Plucky Squire
• Ultros

And the winner is: Harold Haibut! Well deserved, the style of Harold Halibut is beautiful.

Onat Hekimoglu is now speaking about Harold Halibut and all of the effort that went into creating the beautiful handmade details. 13 years later and finally having a shipped game is incredible. Great job.

Okimura Is here to present the Music Award

Both members of Okimura are here to present the award for Music. The nominees are:

• Core Keeper
• Flock
• Pacific Drive
• The Cub
• Thrasher
• Wild Bastards

The winner is: Pacific Drive. Absolutely deserved.

The composer for Pacific Drive is now live, chatting about his inspirations and what made the music of Pacific Drive so good.

Industry Impact Is now Live

Ian Ramsay & Jessica Antenorcruz are here to chat with Strange Scaffold about the impact that they’ve had in the industry. Alongside El Paso Nowhere, a few other projects have been

Bite-Sized Game Awards live with Team Lazerbeam

And now it’s time for the short and sweet. The nominees are:

• Buckshot Roulette
• Clickolding
• Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
• Minami Lane
• Please, Touch The Artwork 2
• Thank Goodness You’re Here

And the winner is: Thank Goodness You’re Here. Adorable and looks like a horrifying Adult Swim comedy. I need it now.

Working on a game is daunting. Doing it by yourself is even more terrifying. Seeing these folks release a game, and have them be some of the best around is inspiring. Here are the nominees:

• Animal Well
• Children of the Sun
• Crypt Custodian
• Knuckle Sandwich
• Magical Delicacy

And the winner is: Animal Well. Well deserved, Animal Well is incredible.

The Animal Well single developer is now speaking about the trials and tribulations that come with creating a game. Animal Well was being developed for 7 years on his own, and it’s so good to see how amazing this game turned out.

A Beautiful Tribute to Daniel Wilkins

A beautiful soul gone too soon.

Innovation Awards Are Up Next

Innovation is one of the most important parts of the gaming world. Keeping things looking and feeling different is what makes Indie games as beautiful as they are. The nominees are:

• Cryptmaster
• Karmazoo
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Oddada
• Rusty’s Retirement
• UFO 50

And the winner is: Cryptmaster. I’ve never played this one, but I know what I’m doing after this show.

Emotional Impact Awards Are Next

Richard Beare is here to chat about the emotional impact of games, and how they can completely rip us apart.

• In Stars and Time
• Kind Words 2
• Neva
• Selfloss
• Thirsty Suitors
• Until Then

And the winner is: Neva. I just finished this game, and it completely gutted me, so I completely understand. Until Then is also a great option.

Gameplay Design Awards

Yacht Club Games are here to present that Gameplay Design award. Indies that excel in this area. The nominees are:

• Balatro
• Grunn
• Minishoot’ Adventures
• Nine Sols
• Tiny Glade
• Victory Heat Rally

And the winner is: Balatro. Is tonight going to be another Balatro sweep? Keep tuned!

Community management Award

Innersloth is here to present the Community Management Award. There are plenty of amazing options this year. But, at this point, no matter who wins, we still have some amazing support. The nominees are:

• Aggro Crab
• Black Tabby Games
• Localthunk
• Massive Monster
• NPC Studio
• Pounce Light

And the winner is: Aggro Crab for Another Crab’s Treasure!

Aggro Crab Community Manager Is Here!

Aggro Crab’s community director details that they’ve raised over $70,000 for Ocean Preservation attempts. Awesome news for an awesome team.

Women-Led Games Take The Lead

Women have been leading the charge on Indies for a while, and these nominees are making more of an impact than ever. The nominees are:

• Gourdlets
• Keylocker
• Love, Ghostie
• Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber.
• Nightmare Kart
• The Crimson Diamond

And the winner is: Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber. This looks like an incredible experience, and something I need to check this one out.

Narrative Award Is Live

Narrative is one of the most important parts of a game. There have been some amazing indies with great stories this year, so this is going to be a difficult one. Here are the nominees:

• 1000xResist
• Arco
• Caravan Sandwitch
• Fear the Spotlight
• Last Time I Saw You
• Mouthwashing

And the winner is: 1000xResist. Good thing I just picked this one up earlier today.

A touching Tribute to Mohammad Fahmi

Speaking with family and friends of Mohammad, a beautiful tribute was given to him. RIP to another beautiful soul.

10 Games Enter, Only One Leaves

2024 has been a wild year for Indies, with some of the greatest games ever conceived. There are some amazing choices here, so without further ado, here are your nominees:

• 1000xResist
• Animal Well
• NEVA
• Balatro
• ARCO
• Crypt Custodian
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Mouthwashing
• Nine Sols
• UFO 50

And the winner is: Balatro. The Balatro sweep is real.

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Now, with all of the excitement wrapped up, what games are we the most excited to finally jump into?

Matt Vatankhah – Contributor

Leave it to The Indie Game Awards to introduce me to tons of new games I hadn’t heard of (and subsequently add to my backlog). While I’ve now got way too many more games to play, the game that stuck out the most for me was Cryptmaster. Its hyper-stylized visuals immediately hooked me in, but its gameplay premise intrigues me even more.

Winning the Indie Game Award for Innovation, Cryptmaster has you typing your way through dungeons, puzzles, and RPG-style battles. It’s giving me that Typing of the Dead vibe, except rather than simply typing what’s on screen, you acquire various words into your skill set and use them for battling and solving riddles. Hey, any reason to crack my knuckles and flex my words-per-minute typing skills (it’s not very good).

SHaun Cichacki – COntributor

Ever since it’s release, I’ve been tempted to dive into Crypt Custodian. As a lover of all things cats, it seems like it’s right up my alley. My fear of Metroidvanias has led me to disregard this one for far too long, and I need to change that. Guess I have no other excuse other than jumping right in.

Anthony Franklin II – contributor

Harold Halibut has been on my must-buy list ever since I saw the first trailer. So to see it win at the Indie Game Awards makes me feel great. I love Wallace and Gromit and other stop-motion animated shows/movies. So to see the art style represented so well in gaming. With my backlog growing exponentially, I haven’t had a chance to get into it. But I will be making this happen very soon.