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Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed

Chilean game The Deadly Tower of Monsters, developed by ACE Team, leads with 4 nominations; event has received 617 game submissions

São Paulo – The largest independent games event in Latin America, BIG Festival, has announced 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%.

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed

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.

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed
Death Squared

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)

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed
The Deadly Tower of Monsters

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

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed
Necrosphere

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

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed
Figment

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

Fifth Annual Brazilian Independent Games (BIG) Festival International Awards Competition Finalists Revealed
Overcooked

About BIG Festival
BIG Festival (Brazil’s Independent Games Festival), the first festival and market focused in the independent production of videogames in Brazil and pioneer in Latin America, aims to strengthen the independent production of games in Brazil through professional training and exchange of experiences, establishing itself as a business hub in Latin America for national and international game developers, and now also for animation with the introduction of BIG Anima Business Meetings, a partnership between BIG and Anima Mundi. The event’s program include activities for game professionals and others open to the general public, including BIG Business Forum, BIG Impact, initiative dedicated to games with a positive impact, BIG VR, BIG Ventures, BIG Anima Business Meetings, BIG Careers and BIG Play the City.

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