The finalists for the 2009 Independent Games Festival were announced this morning.  While I don’t have an organizational role, I’ve been heavily involved in the IGF for the past 4 years as either a finalist or the host of the awards.  This year I’m one of the 40 or so judges in the competition.

Being a judge probably precludes me from handicapping the race this year, as I traditionally do.  However, it’s interesting to see some trends emerge.

Trend #1: Short-form games dominate the Innovation category.  Games like Coil, You Have to Burn the Rope, The Graveyard are all experiences that last under an hour with a focused artistic or narrative purpose.

Trend #2: Console games are accepted as equally “indie” to their PC counterparts.  Examples: Carneyvale Showtime, The Maw.

Trend #3: INNOVATION INNOVATION INNOVATION: While on their face the individual games may not be more innovative than stuff we’ve seen in the past, almost ALL the games are innovative, even downright WEIRD.  It will be interesting to see if the press about this year’s IGF matches up to last year’s killer lineup seeing as how the games this year may be slightly less approachable than years past.

This is also a sad day for those games that weren’t nominated.  A few that I would have liked to have seen get recognition:

• Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaidan
• DROD RPG Tendry’s Tale
• Project Aftermath

Anyways, congratulations and good luck to all the finalists!  See you in March!

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