IGF 2010 Finalists bring more games to the Mac
Today the Independent Games Festival announced the finalists for this year’s awards. The event, held on March 11, 2010 during the GDC in San Francisco, will award nearly $50,000 in prizes in six categories, including the coveted Seamus McNally Grand Prize. Over 300 entries were made this year to the IGF, representing a 35% increase and breaking last year’s record of 226.
Twenty games have been nominated for at least one award, with some receiving multiple nominations. Multiple nominations include three nominations for puzzle platformer Closure (which I got to play for a short bit at PAX 09), and two nominations for Monaco, Pocketwatch Games’ co-op heist game, and Hello Games’ stunt motorbike title Joe Danger (which has no more than a couple of screenshots to titillate you).
So, I was curious to see which of these games were playable on the Mac or iPhone/iPod Touch. Many don’t have decisions on platforms yet, so that will be hard to determine until we get closer. However, even with that caveat, and not including Flash games (which do play on the Mac), 40% of the games below are going to be available for the Mac (based on announcements made, or past history of the game developer). The games listed below are the finalists…I’ve listed the ones appearing on the Mac or iPhone/iPod Touch.
- A Slow Year: Coming out for the Mac. Developed by Ian Bogost, who I interviewed through the DigiPen PodClass.
- AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! — A Reckless Disregard For Gravity
- Closure: Coming out for the Mac. I looked at this game during PAX 09. You can play the Flash version to get an idea of the game.
- Cogs: Coming out for the iPhone (currently out for PC). You can see a trailer of it now. Oh, and their FAQ does say that they want to bring the game to the Mac, as well!
- Enviro-Bear 2000
- Heroes of Newerth: Now here’s a game that has been well known in the Mac community. Nice to see it is getting some IGF love. Currently in beta.
- Joe Danger
- Limbo
- Owlboy
- Miegakure
- Monaco: though there is nothing specified for the platform for this game, Pocketwatch Games puts out games for both PC and Mac, so I expect this game to continue that trend. Further, this is a rather unusual game for Andy Schatz, a real departure from his regular style. Finally, I would be very surprised to NOT find this showing up with an iPhone client.
- Rocketbirds: Revolution!: A flash-based game with a downloadable launcher. Has both a PC and Mac launcher. There’s a free demo with locked levels, and the full version available for $9.95.
- Shank
- Shatter
- Star Guard: Mac version to be released. There’s even a demo!
- Super Meat Boy!: Though there is no mention of what final platform the game will appear in, I know that McMillan did say that his intention was to bring the game to the Mac. Of course, we know all about good intentions. Heh.
- Today I Die: Flash game that you can play on a Mac. No launcher necessary. However, note that this is a very esoteric art game. More art than game.
- Trauma: Another flash game, presumably playable on the Mac, but not yet available.
- Tuning
- Vessel
I’ll be keeping this list updated as more information is forthcoming. And I will be gaming the IGF as I did last year, so keep checking back!
Comments
4 Responses to “IGF 2010 Finalists bring more games to the Mac”
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Today i die is the game for me! loved it… so artistic!
I tried to play that game, and couldn’t figure it out. Granted, I only spent a couple of minutes on it, but most gamers will only spend a couple of minutes on it, then get bored if they can’t figure out what they are supposed to do, and/or what the goal is.
hey! you forgot the student games, dude! i wonder how many students develop games with mac clients.
There are 192 student games, and unfortunately they don’t list platform on the IGF site for each game. In a quick perusal on the first page I saw at least one iPhone game, tho.