Obra Dinn Sweeps IGF 2019 Nominations

Return of the Obra Dinn Does It Again!

The nominees for the 2019 Independent Games Festival have been announced and Lucas Pope’s nautical murder mystery Return of the Obra Dinn is included across five out of seven categories.

The indie hit has been nominated for excellence in Visual Art, Audio, Design and Narrative in addition to the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, which comes with a sweet $30,000. The IGF Awards aren’t until March 20, the same evening as the Game Developers Choice Awards, starting at 6:30pm PST. The show will be hosted by Meg Jayanth, writer of 80 Days, for which she won a UK Writer’s Guild Award for Best Writing in a Video Game in 2015.

The IGF has shared the full nominee list including honorable mentions:

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 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)

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 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)

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)

Return of the Obra Dinn is currently available for PC with no signs of a console release anytime soon. It took home the award for Best Art Direction at The Game Awards last month, as well as being nominated for Best Independant Game. Let us know what you think in the comments!

SOURCE: Independent Games Festival Blog