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Posted in: Conventions, Events, Games, GDC, Indie Games, Video Games | Tagged: GSC 2026, IGFA, Independent Games Festival Awards
Every Winner From The 28th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards
We have the full rundown of winners from the 28th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards that took place at GDC this evening
Article Summary
- Titanium Court claims the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the 28th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards
- Poco wins Best Student Game, while Eclipsium and Baby Steps take top honors in Visual Art and Audio
- Wednesdays secures the Audience Award; ProyectoEXO wins for innovative alt.ctrl.GDC hardware
- The IGF celebrates boundary-pushing indie games showcased live at GDC 2026's Festival Hall
The 28th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards took place this evening at GDC 2026, and we have the full rundown of winners. Titanium Court took home the top honors as the winner of the Seumas McNally Grand Prize for Best Independent Game, making it the second time AP Thomson has won the award after taking it last year with the game Consume Me with developer Jenny Jiao Hsia. We have the full list of winners, as well as some notes from organizers of the ceremony for you below, as you can watch the entire ceremony up top.
28th Annual Independent Games Festival Awards Winners
The full slate of IGF Award winners, as well as the finalists in each category, represent a diverse range of talented independent game developers across the global industry. Other winners of the evening are Poco, a 2D/3D hybrid point-and-click adventure game that was awarded the Best Student Game; Eclipsium, the first-person horror game that received the Excellence in Visual Arts award; Baby Steps is a unique physics-based traversal game that received the Excellence in Audio award; Wednesdays, which depicts a unique story framed as part game and part graphic novel, took home the fan-voted Audience Award, Proyecto Exo, a unique controller created by Todo Normal, which honors the most engaging, intriguing and well-executed game using unconventional, accessible or alternative physical controls; and 13Z: The Zodiac Trials, the roguelike hack-and-slash inspired by Eastern mythology, which is the recipient of this year's WINGS Award.
As a cornerstone of GDC Festival of Gaming, the IGF spotlights bold, boundary-pushing ideas from across the global indie community, many of which go on to influence the broader game ecosystem. In addition to the awards ceremony, finalists and award-winning titles are showcased Wednesday through Friday inside the IGF Pavilion on the Festival Hall floor, where attendees can experience the games firsthand and connect directly with their creators. The Festival Hall also features alt.ctrl.GDC, a signature IGF program, further underscoring the Festival's commitment to experimentation and creative risk.
- Best Student Game: Poco (Whalefall, Micah Boursier)
- Excellence in Design: Titanium Court (AP Thomson, Fellow Traveller)
- Excellence in Visual Art: Eclipsium (Housefire, CRITICAL REFLEX)
- Excellence in Audio: Baby Steps (Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy, Devolver Digital)
- Audience Award: Wednesdays (Pierre Corbinais, The Pixel Hunt, exaheva, Christophe Galati, ARTE France)
- alt.ctrl.GDC Award: ProyectoEXO (Todo Normal)
- WINGS Award: 13Z: The Zodiac Trials (Mixed Realms Pte Ltd)
- Excellence in Narrative: Perfect Tides: Station to Station (Three Bees)
- Nuovo Award: HORSES (Andrea Lucco Borlera, Santa Ragione)
- Seumas McNally Grand Prize: Titanium Court (AP Thomson, Fellow Traveller)
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