IndieCade’s 2016 festival of experimental and independent games is less than a month away. As organizers head into the final phase of prep before the event, IndieCade has released the first wave of this year’s official nominees (as in, up for awards) and selections.
This initial list — and like I said, initial, there are many more yet to be announced — boasts a staggering 57 entries. IndieCade organizers are already calling it “our biggest festival ever.”
The IndieCade Festival will be held from October 14th through the 16th. Unlike previous years, this year’s event will be hosted at the University of Southern California in downtown Los Angeles.
The first 57 announced nominees and selections follow below!
2016 Official Nominees
- 1979 Revolution: Black Friday by iNK Stories (our coverage)
- Antariksha Sanchar: Episode Zero by Quicksand GamesLab
- ARMAGAD (also Tetrageddon Games) by alienmelon
- Bad News by Expressive Intelligence Studio
- Beautiful Corner by Martzi Campos
- Beglitched by Hexecutable
- Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor by Sundae Month
- Elsinore by Golden Glitch Studios
- #Feminism by #Feminism Collective
- Fracture | AutomataTiles by Jonathan Bobrow
- FRKN WKND by Aquma
- Hamlet-Mobile by Capital W
- Infinit-O by Corazon Del Sol
- Keeping the Candles Lit by Shoshana Kessock
- Killbox by Biome Collective
- Killing Time at Lightspeed by Gritfish
- Lieve Oma by Florian Veltman
- OCTOBO by Thinker-Tinker
- Open Sorcery by Abigail Corfman
- Reigns by Nerial
- Replica by Somi (our coverage)
- RIOT – Civil Unrest by IV Productions/Leonard Menchiari
- Seance by Twocan Consortium
- Shackle by Shackle Dev
- SoundStage by Logan Olson
- Stone Story by Gabriel Santos
- The Order of the Oven Mitt by Inquisiment
- This is My Memory of First Heartbreak, Which I Can’t Quite Piece Back Together by Jenny Goldstick, Owen Roberts, and Stephen Betts
- Threadsteading by Disney Research Pittsburgh (our coverage)
- ULTRAWORLD EXODUS by James Beech
- VR Spa by Portland Immersive Media Group
- Wheels of Aurelia by Santa Ragione
- You Must Be 18 or Older to Enter by Seemingly Pointless (probably NSFW!)
2016 Official Selections: Digital Selects
- Anamorphine by Artifact 5
- TBA
2016 Official Selections: VR Selects
- Cosmic Trip by Funktronic Labs
- Giant Cop: Justice Above All by Other Ocean Interactive
- SUPERHYPERCUBE by kokoromi
- TBA
2016 Official Selections: eSports
- TBA
2016 Official Selections: Night Games
- C(ade) by Annie Lesser
- Club House (Wise Guys)
- Is – Was – Will Be by Diana Wyenn/Beyond the Usual
- Kismet by Psyop
- Magic Dance Mirror by Kinetic Magic
- Mindshow by Visionary VR
- Sherlock Holmes and the Internet of Things by Columbia Digital Storytelling Lab
- Six Ghosts and a Pie by Two Bit Circus
- SPACE-SHIPPED by Wayward Games
- The Key by The Speakeasy Society
- The Rope by Screenshot Productions
- TBA
2016 Official Selections: Big Games
- Dance Together by Tobiah Zarlez
- Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment by Ariel Rubin and Juliana Patel
- Fire Tag by Mindful Mammoth
- Ghost Court by Jason Morningstar
- Group Date by Sara Williamson
- Still Life by Wendy Gorman, David Hertz, and Heather Silsbee
- Ten Games You Can Play With Business Cards by Physical Games
- The Forger by Michelle Calabro and Jaehyun Kim
- The Locker by The Locker Team
- TBA
Disclosure: I have served as an IndieCade juror for past years’ festivals and summer showcases. I was not involved in any capacity this year and have no part in this year’s selection process.