Brazil’s Independent Games Festival (BIG), largest indie games event in Latin America, and one of the three largest in the world, has unveiled the list with the 54 finalists of the main competition. Selected from 646 submissions, these games, from 53 different countries, will compete for a prize pool of US$ 11 thousand divided among 14 categories. This will be the sixth installment of BIG Festival, which happens annually in São Paulo, Brazil, and is part of the city’s official calendar of festivities.
This year’s highlights are 39 Days to Mars, developed by It’s Anecdotal from New Zealand, and Luna, developed by Funomena, from the United States, lead with the highest amount of nominations. They both compete in four categories. 39 Days to Mars is in for the Best Game, Best Art, Best Narrative, and Best Sound. Luna is disputing the awards of Best Art, Best Sound, Best Virtual Reality Game, and Best Kids Game.
Best Kids Game is a new category, introduced this year on BIG Festival. There are two other novelties: Best Multiplayer and Best Student Game. The latter is the perfect opportunity for aspiring game designers to showcase their projects to the world.
Winners will be announced at the event on the 28th of June. Apart from the trophy, recognition (and bragging rights), the winners of Best Game will also win US$ 3000. Another US$ 3000 will go to Best Brazilian Game, and Best Latin American Game. Two categories will pay US$ 1500 – Best Educational Game and Best VR Game. Finally, the winner of the People’s Choice Award voted during the Festival will be awarded an extra US$ 1500 as well.
Last year, BIG Festival received more than 20 thousand visitors. Admittance is free and each finalist title will be playable during the festival. For further information, visit the official website www.bigfestival.com.br.
Check out below the complete list below. Games are linked to their official pages.
Best Game
- Galaxy Of Pen And Paper (Behold Studios), Brazil
- UNSIGHTED (Studio Pixel Punk), Brazil
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin), France
- Frostpunk (11 bit Studios), Poland
- 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), New Zealand
- Semblance (Nyamakop), South Africa
- Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory), United Kingdom
Best Brazilian Game
- Rock & Rails (Black River Studios)
- UNSIGHTED (Studio Pixel Punk)
- Galaxy Of Pen And Paper (Behold Studios)
- No Heroes Here (Mad Mimic Interactive)
- Hexarmonic (6 side studios)
- Alkimya: Memories of The Last Alchemist (Bad Minions)
- Radar Warfare (DreamRoad Productions)
- Roguemance (Lucas Molina)
- Until Dead – Think to Survive (Monomyto Game Studio)
- IN (Epopeia Games)
Best Latin American Game
- Ship Ahoy! (OKAM Studio), Argentina
- Rock of Ages 2: Bigger and Boulder (ACE Team), Chile
- Iron Marines (Ironhide Game Studio), Uruguay
- The Last Friend (The Stonebot Studio), El Salvador
- Darkestville Castle (Epic LLama), Argentina
Best Art
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin), France
- 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), New Zealand
- Chuchel (Amanita Design), Czech Republic
- Semblance (Nyamakop), South Africa
- Luna (Funomena LLC), United States
- The Gardens Between (The Voxel Agents), Australia
- Haimrik (Below The Game), Colombia
Best Narrative
- Path to Mnemosyne (SPHERICAL PIXEL S.L), Spain
- 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), New Zealand
- Tacoma (Fullbright), United States
- Where The Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games), United States
- The Mooseman (Vladimir Beletskiy), Russia
- All Walls Must Fall (inbetweengames UG), Germany
- STAY (Appnormals Team), Spain
Best Gameplay
- Frostpunk (11 bit Studios), Poland
- Dead Cells (Motion Twin), France
- Keyboard Sports – Saving QWERTY (Triband), Denmark
- Semblance (Nyamakop), South Africa
- Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory), United Kingdom
- DYO (Team DYO), Germany
- Slime Rancher (Monomi Park), United States
Innovation
- Tacoma (Fullbright), United States
- DYO (Team DYO), Germany
- Haimrik (Below The Game), Colombia
- Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory), United Kingdom
- Motif. (Yeta Game), Turkey
- At Sundown (Mild Beast Games), United States
- FROST (kunabi brother), Austria
Best Sound
- Double Kick Heroes (Headbang Club), France
- Chuchel (Amanita Design), Czech Republic
- Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games), Malaysia
- Luna (Funomena LLC), United States
- 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), New Zealand
- Hexarmonic (6 side studios), Brazil
BIG Impact: Best Educational Game
- Rango Cards (Fira Soft), Brazil
- Marvellous Inc. (Marvellous Soft), Brazil
- Alfabééto (Spacefrog), Brazil
- Slice Fractions 2 (Ululab), Canada
- Geração Água (Universidade Feevale – LOA – Laboratório de Objetos de Aprendizagem), Brazil
BIG Impact: Social Matters
- Fofuuu (FOFUUU SOLUÇÕES TECNOLÓGICAS PARA SAÚDE E EDUCAÇÃO LTDA), Brazil
- The Mooseman (Vladimir Beletskiy), Russia
- Florescer (PugCorn), Brazil
- HEADLINER (Unbound Creations LLC), United States
- Lenin – The Lion (Lornyon – João Bueno), Brazil
Best Student Game
- DYO (by Team DYO, at HTW Institution, Berlin), Germany
- Muddledash (by slampunks, at the University of Edinburgh), United Kingdom
- At Sundown (by Mild Beast Games, at the University of Southern California), United States
- Motif. (by Yeta Game, at the Hacettepe University & Gazi University from Turkey), Turkey
- Impulsion (by Driving Force Games, at Institut de l’Internet et du Multimédia), Françe
Best Multiplayer
- ARENA GODS (Supertype), United States
- No Heroes Here (Mad Mimic Interactive), Brazil
- At Sundown (Mild Beast Games), United States
- Muddledash (slampunks), United Kingdom
- Treadnauts (Topstitch Games), United States
Best Kids Game
- Chuchel (Amanita Design), Czech Republic
- Alfabééto (Spacefrog), Brazil
- Luna (Funomena LLC), United States
- Fofuuu (FOFUUU SOLUÇÕES TECNOLÓGICAS PARA SAÚDE E EDUCAÇÃO LTDA), Brazil
- St. Ives (StoryMax), Brazil
Best Virtual Reality Game
- Luna (Funomena LLC), United States
- Ship Ahoy! (OKAM Studio), Argentina
- The Invisible Hours (TEQUILA WORKS), Spain
- Primordian (Stonepunk Studios, LLC), United States
- Rock & Rails (Black River Studios), Brazil
By Greg Candalez
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Who we are
An e-Sports pioneer in Brazil, FD Comunicação is a traditional and modern agency. We have been announcing the greatest games and publishers in Brazil since 1997. In 2012, when Riot Games solidified the e-Sport in Brazil, we worked on the launch of League of Legends (LoL); in 2017, we announced the Champions of the Brazilian LoL Championship. This year we will be responsible for the e-Sports curatorship of BIG Festival, and our objective is to work for the growth and development of this new type of sport, which is here to stay.