Papers Please, Lucas Pope’s puzzle game about censorship in a dystopian dictatorship, was a huge hit when it was released for the PC all the way back in 2013. And thanks to today’s announcement of the finalists for the Independent Games Festival Awards, it looks like his latest project, Return of the Obra Dinn, will reach similar heights.
Return of the Obra Dinn is an “innovative and uniquely stylized murder mystery” set aboard an abandoned ship in the early 1800s. Using “1-Bit” graphics reminiscent of early Macintosh games, players had to explore the ship and discover what happened to the crew. These elements helped Obra Dinn receive nominations for the “Seumas McNally Grand Prize,” as well as “Excellence In Audio,” “Excellence In Design,” “Excellence In Visual Art,” and “Excellence In Narrative.”
Return of the Obra Dinn will be competing against five other games for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, including Zachtronics’s Opus Magnum, Nolla Games’s Noita, Fictiorama Studios’s Do Not Feed the Monkeys, Hypnospace Outlaw (developed by Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., and Corey Cochran), and Minit (developed by Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio, and Dominik Johann).
A complete list of the nominees and honorable mentions from the 2019 Independent Games Festival Awards can be found after the break.
Seumas McNally Grand Prize
- Minit (Kitty Calis, Jan Willem Nijman, Jukio Kallio & Dominik Johann)
- Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
- Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
Honorable Mentions
Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit), Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment), Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley), Moss (Polyarc), Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games), Iconoclasts (Joakim Sandberg), Virtual Virtual Reality (Tender Claws), Beat Saber (Beat Games)Excellence In Visual Art
- Forgotton Anne (ThroughLine Games)
- Alto’s Odyssey (Team Alto)
- Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Just Shapes & Beats (Berzerk Studio)
- Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Honorable Mentions
Beat Saber (Beat Games), Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit), Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment), Moss (Polyarc), Iconoclasts (Joakim Sandberg), Guildlings (Sirvo Studios), Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)Excellence In Narrative
- Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit)
- Genital Jousting (Free Lives)
- Unavowed (Wadjet Eye Games)
- Seers Isle (Nova-box)
- Watch Me Jump (Jeremy Gable)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
Honorable Mentions
Do Not Feed The Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios), The Hex (Daniel Mullins Games), Speed Dating for Ghosts (Copychaser Games), After HOURS (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel), Fortune-499 (AP Thomson), Marie’s Room (like Charlie), Tango: The Adventure Game (Gualicho Games)Excellence In Design
- What the Golf? (Triband)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
- Dicey Dungeons (Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, and Marlowe Dobbe)
- Opus Magnum (Zachtronics)
Honorable Mentions
Subnautica (Unknown Worlds Entertainment), Carto (Sunhead Games), Black Room (Cassie McQuater), Jumpgrid (Ian MacLarty), Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley), Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran), Beat Saber (Beat Games)Excellence In Audio
- Ethereal (Nonsense Arts – Nicolás Recabarren and Tomás Batista)
- Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran)
- Moss (Polyarc)
- Return of the Obra Dinn (Lucas Pope)
- Alto’s Odyssey (Team Alto)
- Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
Honorable Mentions
Creaks (Amanita Design), Holedown (grapefrukt games), Pikuniku (Sectordub), The Messenger (Sabotage), Distance (Refract Studios), Wandersong (Greg Lobanov & A Shell in the Pit), Wattam (Funomena)Nuovo Award
- Circle0 (yesyes)
- eCheese Zone (Seemingly Pointless)
- Noita (Nolla Games)
- Mirror Drop (Ian Lilley)
- Black Room (Cassie McQuater)
- Paratopic (Arbitrary Metric)
- Do Not Feed the Monkeys (Fictiorama Studios)
- Nth Dimension[al] Hiking (Zachariah Chandler)
Honorable Mentions
All Our Asias (Sean Han Tani), Hypnospace Outlaw (Jay Tholen, Mike Lasch, Xalavier Nelson Jr., Corey Cochran), Cyberpet Graveyard (Alienmelon), Levedad (Solimporta), Subserial Network (Aether Interactive), Macdows 95 (Gamebra.in), The Norwood Suite (Cosmo D), Nerve Damage (Dennis Carr)Best Student Game
- It’s Paper Guy! (Paper Team)
- Grace Bruxner Presents: The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game (Grace Bruxner)
- After HOURS (Bahiyya Khan, Claire Meekel, Tim Flusk, Abi Meekel)
- En Garde! (En Garde! Team)
- Levedad (Solimporta)
- Sole (Gossamer Games)
Honorable Mentions
We Should Talk (HeartBeetStudio), Coffin Rot Brewing Co. (Rosser-McGraw Studio), Fling to the Finish (SplitSide Games), Indecision. (Bilge Kaan), Seasons (David Su and Dominique Star), supertype (Philipp Stollenmayer), Atlas’ Fate: Between Light and Darkness (Baby Robot Games), Marbloid (Supyrb)
