Fifth Annual BIG Festival International Awards Competition Finalists revealed

The largest independent games event in Latin America, BIG Festival, has announced today the finalists for the fifth annual Brazilian Independent Games Festival international awards competition, revealing a list of 45 nominated titles. The Chilean game The Deadly Tower of Monsters, by developer ACE Team, grabbed the highest number of nominations within four categories, including Best Game. The winners will be announced on June 29th at the award ceremony at Centro Cultural São Paulo, Brazil.
 
This year, BIG received 617 submissions from 54 different countries, and more than half (321) were developed in Brazil. A board of professionals, specialized in the video games and digital entertainment industry, has chosen the nominees. PC games have dominated the submissions, with 57,7% of them, followed by mobile games, representing 31,6%.

The finalists will compete in 11 categories: Best Game, Best Brazilian Game, Best Latin American Game, Best Sound, Best Art, Best Narrative, Best Gameplay, Innovation, Best Educational Game, Best Virtual Reality Game and People’s Choice; 14 Brazilian games are among the finalists.

In total, a prize of circa US$ 15.000 (R$ 45.000) will be distributed, divided amongst categories as follows: Best Game (US$ 3.300/R$ 10.000), Best Brazilian Game (US$ 3.300 / R$ 10.000), Best Latin American Game (US$ 3.300 / R$ 10.000l), Best Educational Game (US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000), Best VR Game (US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000). The remaining US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000 will be awarded to the public award winner; last year, BIG Festival received more than 18 thousand visitors. Admittance is free and each finalist title will be playable during the festival by the public.

Besides competing for the Best Game award, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is also running for Best Art, Best Sound and Best Latin American Game. Necrosphere, by Brazilian developer Cat Nigiri, is the Brazilian title with the highest number of nominations: Innovation, Best Gameplay and Best Brazilian Game, in which the company also competes with another game, Keen.

Best Brazilian Game award winner will receive, in addition to the cash prize, a sponsorship to participate as an exhibitor in Casual Connect USA 2018, taking place at Disneyland Resort, California, and a paid  advertising campaign on IGN Brasil worth US$ 16.000 / R$ 50.000. Last year, the Best Brazilian Game award medalist was Starlit Adventures, by Rockhead Games.

In 2016, Horizon Chase, mobile racing game developed by Aquiris Game Studio, won the Best Game Award category, and has since received recognition from video game critics and gamers across the world.

More about BIG Festival
Apart from disputing the main competition, Brazilian games that are still in development will also compete on the BIG Starter, which will announce its finalists later this month. National games can also be highlighted on the BIG Booth, which will gather the 20 best Brazilian games that did not make it to the finals and will showcase them to the public on the exhibition floor. BIG will have other side events, such as the BIG Business Forum, more than 80 sessions and MatchMaking with the presence of global investors and buyers, BIG Impact, initiative dedicated to projects which promote positive impacts on society; BIG Virtual Reality, offering a lineup of presentations about the trends and new technologies that are inspiring the creative industry; BIG Venture, dedicated to entrepreneurship, with startups and investors, to unite the creative industry with technology and investments; BIG Careers, dedicated to the training and employment of professionals; and BIG Play the City, a special lecture about a more interactive city through videogames, transforming urban spaces into ludic spaces and the new BIG Anima Business Meetings, the solidification of a partnership with the world renowned Anima Mundi for the generation of business, aiming to strengthen the industries of videogames and animation in Brazil.

Check out below the complete list of the BIG Festival finalists:

Best Game
Prize US$ 3.300 / R$ 10 mil
 
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chile
– Death Squared (SMG Studio), Australia
– Figment (Bedtime Digital Games), Denmark
– Overcooked (Ghost Town Games), Great Britain
– Wuppo (Knuist & Perzik), Netherlands
 
Best Brazilian Game
Prize US$ 3.300 / R$ 10 mil
 
– Esquadrão 51 (Márcio Rosa)
– Necrosphere (Cat Nigiri)
– Starlit Archery Club (Rockhead Games)
– NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics (Post Mortem Pixels)
– Warlock's Tower (Midipixel)
– Distortions (Among Giants)
– In Extremis (LNDFRR)
– Keen (Cat Nigiri)
– Sword Legacy: Omen (Fableware Narrative Design and Firecast Studio)
– Legend of the Skyfish (Mgaia Studio)
 
Best Latin American Game
Prize US$ 3.300 / R$ 10 mil
 
– 64.0 (Rebel Rabbit), Perú
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chile
– ETHEREAL (Nonsense Arts), Argentina
– Sweet Meat (OneEyeAnt), Argentina
– UnderHero (Paper Castle Games), Venezuela
 
Best Educational Game
Prize US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000 – Sponsored by Dow Chemicals
 
– Ishmael (Necessary Games), United States
– Jump, Step, Step (Thang Phung Dinh & Dzung Phung Dinh), Vietnam
– Leis para Todos (Supernova Games), Brazil
– Lucro S/A (Universidade Feevale – Laboratório de Objetos de Aprendizagem), Brazil
– Orwell (Osmotic Studios), Germany
 
Best Virtual Reality Game
Prize US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000
 
– SUPERHOT VR (SUPERHOT Team), Poland
– A Lost Room (Cruel Byte), Brazil
– Redout (34BigThings), Italy
– The Price of Freedom (Construct Studio), United States
 
Best Art
– Figment (Bedtime Digital Games), Denmark
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chie
– Esquadrão 51 (Márcio Rosa), Brazil
– Beat the Game (Worm Animation), United States
– Four Last Things (Joe Richardson), Great Britain
– Vignettes (Skeleton Business), France
– Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules), Austria
 
Best Narrative
– Detention (Red Candle Games), Taiwan
– Beholder (Alawar Entertainment), Russia
– A Place for the Unwilling (AlPixel Games), Spain
– An Afternoon Rippling (Mars Lizard), United States
– Milkmaid of the Milky Way (Machineboy), Norway
– Wuppo (Knuist & Perzik), Netherlands
– Figment (Bedtime Digital Games), Denmark
 
Innovation
– Orwell (Osmotic Studios), Germany
– Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules), Austria
– Necrosphere (Cat Nigiri), Brazil
– Vignettes (Skeleton Business), France
– YANKAI'S PEAK (Kenny Sun), United States
 
Best Sound
– Aaero (Mad Fellows), Great Britain
– Beat the Game (Worm Animation), United States
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chile
– ETHEREAL (Nonsense Arts), Argentina
– Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play UG), Germany
– Guns of Icarus Alliance (Muse Games), United States
– She Remembered Caterpillars (Jumpsuit Entertainment), Germany
 
Best Gameplay
– Death Squared (SMG Studio), Australia
– Overcooked (Ghost Town Games), Great Britain
– Celeste (Matt Makes Games Inc.), Brazil
– Nidhogg 2 (Messhof), United States
– Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavor Games), Canada
– Necrosphere (Cat Nigiri), Brazil
– Starlit Archery Club (Rockhead Games), Brazil
 
Service
5th BIG Festival (Brazil's Independent Games Festival)
From June 24 to July 2nd (Monday, 26, is closed)
From Tuesday to Friday: 10am to 10pm / Saturday and Sunday: 2pm to 10pm
Centro Cultural São Paulo – 1000 Vergueiro Street – São Paulo, Brazil
Free Admittance

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