Develop lists this year's most promising indies by country
Scores of studios across the world are vying for honours at the prestigious Independent Games Festival, to be held in March alongside GDC in San Fracisco.
Develop has collated the data of all finalists to present a global league of nominees based on their location, found below.
The first list counts all nominations, including multiples across categories. The second list omits multiples.
Honourable mentions were not counted. The full list of nominees, including country of origin, can be found beyond the tables.
United Kingdom – 12
United States - 11
Canada – 3
Czech Republic – 2
Denmark – 2
The Netherlands – 2
Argentina – 1
Australia – 1
Sweden – 1
Switzerland – 1
Other/Collaboration - 2
United Kingdom – 8
United States - 7
Canada – 2
The Netherlands – 2
Argentina – 1
Australia – 1
Czech Republic – 1
Denmark – 1
Sweden – 1
Switzerland – 1
Other/Collaboration - 2
Botanicula
Amanita Design – Czech Republic
Dear Esther
Thechineseroom – United Kingdom, Portsmouth
Lume
State Of Play Games – United Kingdom, London
Mirage
Mario von Rickenbach - Switzerland
Wonderputt
Damp Gnat – Brighton, UK
Antichamber
Demruth – Melbourne, Australia
Fez
Polytron – Canada, Montreal
Prom Week
Expressive Intelligence Studio – US, California
Realm of the Mad God
Wild Shadow Studios & Spry Fox – US
Spelunky
Mossmouth – US California
Atom Zombie Smasher
Blendo Games – Los Angeles, US
English Country Tune
Stephen Lavelle - UK
Frozen Synapse
Mode 7 Games – Oxford, UK
Gunpoint
Tom Francis, John Roberts and Fabian van Dommelen – Across Europe
Spelunky
Mossmouth – US, California
Botanicula
Amanita Design – Czech Republic
Dear Esther
Thechineseroom – Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Pugs Luv Beats
Lucky Frame – Edinburgh, United Kingdom
To The Moon
Freebird Games – Edmonton, Canada
Waking Mars
Tiger Style – US
ASYNC Corp
Powerhead Games – New York, US
Beat Sneak Bandit
Simogo – Malmö, Sweden
Faraway
Steph Thirion – California, US
Ridiculous Fishing
Vlambeer – Utrecht, the Netherlands
Waking Mars
Tiger Style - US
At a Distance
Terry Cavanagh – Cambridge, UK
Dear Esther
Thechineseroom – Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Fingle
Game Oven Studios – Utrecht, The Netherlands
GIRP
Bennett Foddy – Oxford, UK
Proteus
Ed Key and David Kanaga – Global collaboration
Johann Sebastian Joust
Die Gute Fabrik – Denmark, Copenhagen
Storyteller
Daniel Benmergui – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Way
CoCo & Co – Pittsburgh, US
Dear Esther
Thechineseroom – Portsmouth, United Kingdom
Fez
Polytron – Montreal, Canada
Frozen Synapse
Mode 7 Games – Oxford, UK
Johann Sebastian Joust
Die Gute Fabrik – Copenhagen, Denmark
Spelunky
Mossmouth – California, US
Beat Sneak Bandit / Simogo – Malmö, Sweden
Dustforce / Hitbox Team - US
Fader / Chris Makris – New York, US
Proun / Joost van Dongen – Eindhoven, the Netherlands
Toren / Swordtales - Brazil
Frozen Synapse / Mode 7 Games – Oxford, UK
Nitronic Rush / DigiPen Institute of Technology – US, Washington
Reflow / Xymatic – Germany, Berlin
Super T.I.M.E Force / Capy – Canada, Toronto
Tiny and Big; Grandpa´s Leftovers – Germany, Kassel
Faraway / Steph Thirion – US, California
FTL / Justin Ma & Matthew Davis – Shanghai, China
Johann Sebastian Joust / Die Gute Fabrik – Copenhagen, Denmark
SpaceChem / Zachtronics Industries - US
Where Is My Heart / Die Gute Fabrik – Copenhagen, Denmark
Beatbuddy / Threaks – Hamburg, Germany
Beat Sneak Bandit / Simogo – Malmö, Sweden
Fez / Polytron – Canada, Montreal
Proteus / Ed Key and David Kanaga – Global collaboration
Where Is My Heart / Die Gute Fabrik – Copenhagen, Denmark
Fingle / Game Oven Studios – Utrecht, The Netherlands
Hundreds / SemiSecret and Aeiowu – Texas and Baltimore, US
iBlast Moki 2 / Godzilab – California, US
Temple Run / Imangi Studios – Washington, US
Tentacles / Press Play Aps – Copenhagen, Denmark
Deep Sea / WRAUGHK – Texas, US
Four Letter Word / Terry Cavanagh – Cambridge, UK
GlitchHiker / Aardbever – The Netherlands
Hundreds / SemiSecret and Aeiowu – Texas and Baltimore, US
POP / Rob Lach – Chicago, US
Antichamber / Demruth – Melbourne, Australia
FTL / Justin Ma & Matthew Davis – Shanghai, China
Proteus / Ed Key and David Kanaga – Global collaboration
SpaceChem / Zachtronics Industries - US
Where Is My Heart / Die Gute Fabrik – Copenhagen, Denmark
Just pointing out that your count is a little off - Ed Key, the lead developer on the game is UK based (though David Kanaga is US based).
Gosh darn it, everyone loves statistics. Would be great to see geographical trends for past years also. But would also be interested in other breakdowns.
There were a few crys online that single location multiplayer games suffer slightly in the selection process - not sure yet if I agree with this, but would be interesting to see more game/ developer stats and infographics on the submissions and finalists across the years to at least be aware of trends reflective of the indie community as a whole.
We've updated the list George to reflect your info :)
Glad people found this as interesting as I did. With regards to finding geographical trends from the last few years, it is something I want to do but it's pretty brutal work. Very few developers mention where they're from on their blog/Twitter/LinkedIn!
Is there an Excellence in Narrative category? I'm sure I've seen that elsewhere but it's not included in these lists...
Hi William, This is actually the previous article from last year when we did something similar, try this one (Has the narrative awards):
http://www.develop-online.net/features/1793/The-global-league-of-IGF-2013-finalists
Sorry for the confusion with the same headline!
