The Indie Game Awards has once again celebrated the hard work and dedication small studios put into their games. The 15 categories in this list contain the works of talented people who practically put their blood, sweat, and tears into what they do. They’ve earned their way to the top when it comes to indie games. Some of them even went head-to-head against AAA titles in previous award shows, including The Game Awards. Without further delay, here is the full list of winners and nominees for the Indie Game Awards.
All the Indie Game Awards Nominees
Debut Game
- Arranger | Furniture & Mattress LLC
- Lil’ Guardsman | Hilltop Games
- Little Kitty, Big City | Double Dagger Studio (WINNER)
- Loddlenaut | Moon Lagoon
- Mullet Madjack | Hammer95
- Worldless | Noname Studios
Notable Achievement in Accessibility
- Another Crab’s Treasure | Aggro Crab (WINNER)
- Elsie | Knight Shift Games
- Periphery Synthetic | shiftBacktick
- Pine Hearts | Hyper Luminal Games
- SteamWorld Heist II | Thunderful Development
- Surmount: A Mountain Climbing Adventure | Jasper Oprel and Indiana-Jonas
Music
- Core Keeper | Pugstorm
- Flock | Hollow Ponds
- Pacific Drive | Ironwood Studios (WINNER)
- The Cub | Demagog Studio
- Thrasher | Puddle Studio
- Wild Bastards | Blue Manchu
Visual Design
- Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus | Squid Shock Studios
- Crow Country | SFB Games
- Harold Halibut | Slow Bros. (WINNER)
- Hauntii | All Possible Futures
- The Plucky Squire | All Possible Futures
- Ultros | Hadoque
Bite-Sized Game
- Buckshot Roulette | Mike Klubnika
- Clickolding | Strange Scaffold
- Duck Detective: The Secret Salami | Happy Broccoli Games
- Minami Lane | Doot & Blipbloop
- Please, Touch the Artwork 2 | Thomas Waterzooi
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! | Coal Supper (WINNER)
Innovation
- Cryptmaster | Paul Hart, Lee Williams, & Akupara Games (WINNER)
- KarmaZoo | Pastagames
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes | Simogo
- Oddada | Sven Ahlgrimm, Mathilde Hoffman, & Bastian Clausdorff
- Rusty’s Retirement | Mister Morris Games
- UFO 50 | Mossmouth
Emotional Impact
- In Stars and Time | insertdisc5
- Kind Words 2 | Popcannibal
- Neva | Nomada Studio (WINNER)
- Selfloss | Goodwin Games
- Thirsty Suitors | Outerloop Games
- Until Then | Polychroma Games
Gameplay Design
- Balatro | LocalThunk (WINNER)
- Grunn | Sokpop Collective
- Minishoot’ Adventures | SoulGame Studio
- Nine Sols | RedCandleGames
- Tiny Glade | Pounce Light
- Victory Heat Rally | Skydevilpalm
Community Management
- Aggro Crab (WINNER)
- Black Tabby Games
- LocalThunk
- Massive Monster
- NPC Studio
- Pounce Light
Narrative
- 1000xResist | Sunset Visitor 斜陽過客 (WINNER)
- Arco | Arco Team
- Caravan SandWitch | Studio Plane Toast
- Fear the Spotlight | Cozy Game Pals
- Last Time I Saw You | Maboroshi Artworks
- Mouthwashing | Wrong Organ
Storyteller
- Mohammad Fahmi | Toge Productions
Women-Led Games
- Gourdlets | AuntyGames
- Keylocker | Moonana
- Love, Ghostie | Janbeh Games
- Mexico, 1921. A Deep Slumber. | Mácula Interactive (WINNER)
- Nightmare Kart | LWMedia
- The Crimson Diamond | Julia Minamata
Solo Development
- Animal Well | Billy Basso (WINNER)
- Children of the Sun | René Rother
- Crypt Custodian | Kyle Thompson
- Knuckle Sandwich | Andy Brophy
- Magical Delicacy | Skaule
Industry Impact (All Four Are Winners)
- Strange Scaffold
- New Blood Interactive
- Outersloth
- Day of the Devs
Game of the Year
- 1000xResist | Sunset Visitor 斜陽過客
- Animal Well | Billy Basso
- Arco | Arco Team
- Balatro | LocalThunk (WINNER)
- Crypt Custodian | Kyle Thompson
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes | Simogo
- Mouthwashing | Wrong Organ
- Neva | Nomada Studio
- Nine Sols | RedCandleGames
- UFO 50 | Mossmouth
Impactful Indies
This year’s Indie Game Awards once again showed just how impactful indie games continue to be within the entire gaming world. This is especially seen with the new Storyteller Award this year. Mohammad Fahmi, the award recipient, passed away in 2022 because of an asthma attack. He was known for crafting incredible stories for games with Toge Productions. His work with games like Coffee Talk and What Comes After. His dedication and his pure talent are the reasons that the Storyteller Award will now be called the Mohammad Fahmi Storyteller Award.
Fahmi’s work is just one example of how skilled indie developers can be. This includes solo developers, just like the developer of Balatro, LocalThunk. These days, it’s not an uncommon sight to witness indie games stand up against giant titles during award ceremonies. Balatro was even a nominee for Game of the Year (GOTY) during The Game Awards on December 12. This just proves the power that indie games have, and that sentiment will be no different in 2025. Now, we get to look forward to the next Indie Game Awards.