Freeplay finished up yesterday, sounding off another successful independent games festival with over 1800 people making it along for the week long event this year for an excellent showcase of local indie games, talks, panels, workshop sessions, and much more.
The finalists and winners for the 2011 Freeplay Awards have also been announced. Director of Freeplay, Paul Callaghan, has had this to say about the Freeplay awards this year...
(Paul Callaghan) The awards reflect both the values of the festival and the wide range of projects being created locally and overseas. We were incredibly impressed with the diversity, experimentation, vision, and creativity of all the entries, and look forward to seeing that continue in 2012.
Congratulations to all involved. The winners and finalists in each category were:
Best Australian Game
Solar 2 – Jay Watts
Antichamber – Alexander Bruce
Rocket Bunnies – Defiant Development
Winner: Antichamber – Alexander Bruce
Best International Game
Kromaia – Kraken Empire
Gemini Rue - Joshua Nuernberger
The Swapper – Facepalm Games
Winner: The Swapper – Facepalm Games
Best Design
Warco – Defiant Development
Antichamber – Alexander Bruce
Solar 2 – Jay Watts
Winner: Antichamber – Alexander Bruce
Best on paper design
The Adventures of MonkeyGuy - Josip Ivancic
The Factory – Ariel Magnes
Dead Eye – Kristian David Terry
Winner: Dead Eye - Kristian David Terry
Best Art
Kingspray – Michael Sharpe
Rocket Bunnies – Defiant Development
Warco – Defiant Development
Winner: Warco – Defiant Development
Best Concept Art
The Adventures of MonkeyGuy – Josip Ivancic
The Factory – Ariel Magnes
Firo – Daniela Hammer
Winner: Firo – Daniela Hammer
Best Technical Innovation
Beat Booster – Current Circus
Kingspray – Michael Sharpe
Antichamber – Alexander Bruce
Winner: Kingspray – Michael Sharpe
Best Game Writing
Warco – Defiant Development
Solar 2 – Jay Watts
MacGuffin’s Curse - Brawsome
Winner: MacGuffin’s Curse - Brawsome
Best Audio
Solar 2 – Jay Watts
Warco – Defiant Development
Battle Group – Bane Games
Winner: Solar 2 – Jay Watts
I'm alarmed that the number
I'm alarmed that the number of women winning these awards isn't higher.
That would be because there
That would be because there is a much lower participation rate of women in game development.
It's a bit like saying that I'm alarmed that there aren't more male nurses.
Not about female award winners...
He's making a satirical comment regarding the 'Words we use' panel at Freeplay that has caused a bit of commotion. Andrew McMillen has made available the audio from that session here if you're curious...