GDC '08: Crayon Physics Deluxe crowned IGF winner

  • By Emma Boyes, Tor Thorsen, GameSpot UK
  • Posted Feb 21, 2008 4:14 am GMT

Kloonigames walks away with grand prize from record number of entrants at the 2007 Independent Games Festival Awards.

SAN FRANCISCO--Though the Game Developers Choice Awards draws the most attention for its big-name nominees, such as Portal and BioShock this year, its ceremony also honors the winners of the Independent Games Festival. This year, the 10th Annual IGF Awards received a record-breaking 173 entries from across the globe. Its ceremony was hosted by Andy Schatz of Pocketwatch Games, maker of indie eco-education titles.

As was the case last year, the IGF/GDCA ceremony incorporated a series of parody videos from Mega64. Throughout the ceremony, there were more videos from the game-comedy troupe, including one where three guys tried to one-up each other on how indie they were and one where they were practicing acceptance speeches in inappropriate public places.

The running joke of the evening was for IGF winners to make acceptance speeches whilst wearing a monocle. One lens-wearer was Kloonigames' Petri Purho, who accepted the $20,000 grand prize for Crayon Physics Deluxe, a 2D physics title that transforms drawings into physical objects. The Helsinki native wrote his initial acceptance speech (a vulgar exclamation consisting of just two words) in crayon for the audience to see and then verbally thanked his parents for letting him play with crayons.

Physics-based puzzler World of Goo, created by 2D Boy, won both Design Innovation and Technical Excellence categories. The Audience Award was won by Invisible Handlebar's Audiosurf, which grabbed the lion's share of the 3,500 votes cast online.

Best Web Browser Game went to One Ton Ghost for the comedic adventure Iron Dukes, and Excellence in Audio went to Handlebar's Audiosurf, which plays visual representations of songs in 3D.

Kokoromi's Fez nabbed the prize for Excellence in Visual Art for its 2D character in a 3D world, and Best Student Game went to Synaesthete, an arcade-style shooter that had been created by students at the DigiPen Institute of Technology.

In the Gleemie Awards, first place and $5,000 went to Handdrawngames' Desktop Tower Defense, second place and $3,000 to Skyrates by Team Skyrates, and third place and $2,000 to Quadradius by Quadradius.

A full list of IGF winners is below.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize
Crayon Physics Deluxe by Kloonigames

Best Web Browser Game
Iron Dukes by One Ton Ghost

Design Innovation Award
World Of Goo by 2D Boy

Excellence in Visual Art
Fez by Kokoromi

Excellence in Audio
Audiosurf by Invisible Handlebar

Technical Excellence
World Of Goo by 2D Boy

Best Student Game
Synaesthete by DigiPen Institute of Technology

Audience Award
Audiosurf by Invisible Handlebar

Gleemie Awards
First Place--Desktop Tower Defense by Handdrawngames
Second Place--Skyrates by Team Skyrates
Third Place--Quadradius by Quadradius

9 Comments

  • gzader

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 6:45 pm GMT

    The original crayon physics is great, this game EARNED it.

  • runstalker

    Posted Feb 21, 2008 9:12 am GMT

    Of note: your DRM-protected tracks from iTunes or Zune are locked and won't run in Audiosurf. You can get around DRM with a popular new app called DoubleTwist. Some CNET info here:
    http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9873241-7.html
    Download and homepage: www.doubletwist.com

    After all, you bought that music. You should be able to play it anywhere - including in Audiosurf.

  • Trashcan_Man

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 11:16 pm GMT

    Thanks for the input, Runstalker. I'ma pick that one up. Anyone else use/see any of this other stuff?

  • lamprey263

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 10:51 pm GMT

    I saw Crayon Physics on YouTube a while back, I thought it looked pretty cool.

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 10:36 pm GMT

    This reminds me... I haven't played with Crayons in a while.

  • runstalker

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 10:22 pm GMT

    I picked up Audiosurf on Steam the other day. Recommended. Seriously, it's 10 bucks I don't regret spending. Cost of going to see a movie. Easily got my money's worth after just a few hours. The game is simply a fun way to enjoy your MP3s. And it makes a great excuse to re-discover your music collection and find tunes you enjoy playing.

  • jmangafan

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 9:45 pm GMT

    I've yet to play Deluxe, but the original short of Crayon Physics was amazing, I'm very happy to see it win a top prize in anything.

  • bunyipbrown

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 9:07 pm GMT

    Did anyone see Microsoft's new program they're bringing to the 360? Pretty much like wii ware, cept it has a subscription cost of 99$ a year :S wtf. Is Microsoft ever NOT going to charge us for supporting their company?

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Feb 20, 2008 9:06 pm GMT

    Hey Whatever! Dunno any of these guys or their games.

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