Frostpunk wins Best Game at Brazil’s Independent Games Festival’s award show | Tech News

11 Bit Studios’ grim survival sim Frostpunk received top honors at Brazil’s Independent Games (BIG) Festival’s award ceremony tonight, taking home the title of Best Game. BIG is one of Latin America’s biggest gaming events, celebrating Brazilian and international developers for the sixth year in a row.

Frostpunk launched in April and sold over 250,000 copies in 72 hours. It tosses players into a freezing world where they must battle against the elements while managing resources and creating a society where sometimes the right law isn’t always the most humane. Like 11 Bit’s previous title, This War of Mine, it’s full of tough decisions. The developer released a roadmap earlier this month detailing new story campaigns and modes to come.

This year, BIG included four new categories: Best Multiplayer Game, Best Student Game, Best Game for Kids, and BIG Brands. It also released the names of the folks who sat on its panels to select the nominees and ultimately choose the winners in each category. More transparency into the judging process was something that local developers had been asking when they released an open letter in April.

The committee who selected the games include: Antonio Teoli (sound specialist), Ricardo Troula (arts specialist), Carlos Eduardo Nogueira (narrative specialist​), and Marcos Venturelli (gameplay consultant).

The international jury that chose the winners was comprised of: Lauren Freeman (senior manager of external development, Electronic Arts); Reginaldo Valadares (head of studio, Rovio); John Comes (CTO, TinyBuild); Luis Wong (overseas operations manager, IndieNova); and David Wood (business development, Bandai Namco Entertainment America).

BIG festival received 456 submissions from 53 countries this year, and along with its main award categories, it also recognized a People’s Choice award and handed out prizes to games who pitched in its BIG Starter competition.

Here are all the winners (in bold) and nominees for the 2018 Brazil’s Independent Games festival:

Best Game

• 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, U.K.)
• Galaxy of Pen and Paper (Behold Studios, Brazil)
• Unsighted (Studio Pixel Punk, Brazil)

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, U.S.)
• 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, U.S.)
• Where The Water Tastes Like Wine (Dim Bulb Games, U.S.)
• 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, U.K.)
• DYO (Team DYO, Germany)
• Slime Rancher (Monomi Park, U.S.)

Best Sound

• Double Kick Heroes (Headbang Club, France)
• Chuchel (Amanita Design, Czech Republic)
• Rhythm Doctor (7th Beat Games, Malaysia)
• Luna (Funomena LLC, U.S.)
• 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal, New Zealand)
• Hexarmonic (6 Side Studios, Brazil)

Innovation

• ​Tacoma (Fullbright, U.S.)
• DYO (Team DYO, Germany)
• Haimrik (Below The Game, Colombia)
• Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory, U.K.)
• Motif. (Yeta Game, Turkey)
• At Sundown (Mild Beast Games, U.S.)
• Frost (Kunabi Brother, Austria)

BIG Impact: Educational Category

• Rango Cards (Fira Soft, Brazil)
• Marvellous Inc. (Marvelous Soft, Brazil)
• Alphabet (Spacefrog, Brazil)
• Slice Fractions 2 (Ululab, Canada)
• Geração Água (Feevale University – LOA – Laboratório de Objetos de Aprendizagem, Brazil)

BIG Impact: Social Matters Category

• Fofuuú (Fofuuu Soluções Tecnológicas para Saúde e Educação LTDA, Brazil)
• The Mooseman (Vladimir Beletskiy, Russia)
• Florescer (PugCorn, Brazil)
• Headliner (Unbound Creations LLC, U.S.)
• Lenin – The Lion (Lornyon – João Bueno, Brazil)

Best Student Game

• DYO (Developed by Team DYO at the HTW Berlin Institution, Germany)
• Muddledash (Developed by Slampunks, at the University of Edinburgh Institution, U.K.)
• At Sundown (Developed by Mild Beast Games, at the University of Southern California Institution, U.S.)
• Motif. (Developed by Yeta Game at Hacettepe University & Gazi University, Turkey)
• Impulsion (Developed by Driving Force Games, at the Institut de Internet et du Multimedia, France)

Honorable mention for Best Brazilian Student Game

• Wild Glory (LAJE Studios / Manalith Studios)

Best Multiplayer

• Arena Gods (Supertype, U.S.)
• No Heroes Here (Mad Mimic Interactive, Brazil)
• At Sundown (Mild Beast Games, U.S.)
• Muddledash (Slampunks, U.K.)
• Treadnauts (Topstitch Games, U.S.)

Best Game for Kids

• Chuchel (Amanita Design, Czech Republic)
• Alphabet (Spacefrog, Brazil)
• Luna (Funomena LLC, U.S.)
• Fofuuú (Fofuuu Soluções Tecnológicas para Saúde e Educação LTDA, Brazil)
• St. Ives (StoryMax, Brazil)

Best Virtual Reality Game

• Luna (Funomena LLC, U.S.)
• Ship Ahoy! (OKAM Studio, Argentina)
• The Invisible Hours (Tequila Works, Spain)
• Primordian (Stonepunk Studios, LLC, U.S.)
• Rock & Rails (Black River Studios, Brazil)

BIG Starter: Best Entertainment Game Project

• One Beat Min (PixJuice)
• Little Dude The Game (Initial Tape)
• U.A.I (Umbu Games)
• Epic Golf 2D (Estúdio Vaca Roxa)
• Jamie’s Dream (Cartonbox Studio)

BIG Starter: Best Educational or Social Impact Game Project

• Cleaver (Equipe CLEAVER)
• Projeto Ticolicos (Lost DEVS)
• Mompas (Studio Nebulosa)
• AmbIA (Imersys)
• Legally Addicted (Nonsense Bull Games)

BIG Brands

• Steven Universe Beach City (Drifters Avix Games, for Cartoon Network)
• PSG Football Freestyle (Hermit Crab Game Studio, for Paris Saint-Germain)
• Guardiões de Terradoce (Midnight Creators, for Florestal)

People’s Choice Award for Best Game

• No Heroes Here (Mad Mimic Interactive)

Disclaimer: The BIG Festival organizers covered the travel costs for GamesBeat. Our coverage remains objective.