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Debug Indie Game Awards 2024

INDIE GAME AWARDS

INAUGURAL
CEREMONY

An awards show dedicated to indie games and the people who make them, spotlighting the best and the brightest globally

NOMINATIONS
PROCESS

Some categories will see studios nominate themselves, while others will be nominated by the public*
Nominations are now open!
Submit a Game

AWARD CATEGORIES

Safe in our World Award for Mental Health
Everyone Can Award for Accessibility
Best Soundtrack
Best Sound Design
Best Art Direction
Best Gameplay
Best Narrative
Best VR Game
Innovation & Creativity Award
Physical Release of the Year
Free Play Award
Retro World Award
ICYMI Award*
Unsung Hero Award*
Best New Studio
Subscribers’ Choice Award
Debug Game of the Year

SUBMIT A GAME

It’s time to submit your game for consideration! Follow the instructions on the form below, and if you have any queries please reach out to us on hello@teamdebug.com

Submissions close: 5 December 2023

Final nominees for each category will be announced on 29 December 2023

    Please select the option which describes you best...

    For the avoidance of doubt, please only proceed with this submission if you are an official representative (developer, publisher, PR) of the game.

    Please select the awards category you wish to submit your game to. To submit your game to multiple categories, this form must be filled in multiple times.

    The mental health of gamers, and the people who make games, is an important cause for Debug, which is why we have teamed up with the charity Safe in our World to celebrate games from 2023 that feature positive representations of mental health, or are useful to help gamers overcome things such as stress or anxiety. The category winner will ultimately be decided by Safe in our World ambassadors.













    Making gaming accessible for all is an important cause for Debug, which is why we have teamed up with the charity Everyone Can to celebrate how indie companies and studios have made video games more accessible to more people in 2023. The category winner will ultimately be decided by Everyone Can.














    This one is pretty self explanatory! We want to find the very best soundtrack to an indie game in 2023!













    This category is all about the sound design - we have a separate category for soundtrack. Does your game (released in 2023) have fantastic sound effects, voice acting and/or atmospherics? Then we want to hear from you!













    Does your game have amazing graphics? There's much more to a great looking game than high polygon counts. If your game looks photo realistic, is cel shaded, low-poly, pixel art, or even 1-bit, so long as the art direction is great (and it was released in 2023) we want to see it!













    Does your game have a fun gameplay loop? Are you proud of the systems you put in place to engage the player? Did your game release in 2023? Then submit your game!













    Narrative can mean a lot in a game. An indie doesn't have to be story-driven to weave a good narrative, so if you think your game fits this category, submit it!













    Virtual reality is growing year on year, with the release of new headsets and the introduction of mixed reality. VR gives us brand new ways to enjoy existing games, but also a whole new language with which to create new ones. Indies, as ever, are at the forefront of writing this language, and we want to celebrate the best examples of indie VR titles here!













    What makes something innovative or creative? Have you created a new way to play games? Have you made a game that doesn't play on a mainstream device? Have you crafted a game that has cutting edge mechanics, told a story in a creative new way, or done something way out the box with its graphics? Then we want to hear from you!














    We love physical games! We want to celebrate Indies getting physical releases, so if you have committed an indie game to disc or cart in 2023, we want to hear from you! This doesn't have to be a crazy special edition featuring a working lightsaber - even standard releases are eligible!













    This category is exclusively for free-to-play games. To be more specific, no money should change hands to play any part of this game, therefore titles with in-app purchases, loot boxes, micro-transactions, cosmetics, subscriptions etc will not be eligible. If you have a game that is absolutely free to play though, on any platform and any length, we want to hear from you!













    The Retro World Award celebrates a new game that released in 2023 for an older, unsupported platform. The game could have been ported from another system, or subsequently to another modern device, but if it's playable on a legacy system we want to know about it!













    Are you a studio that has released their very first game in 2023? Then you're eligible to submit yourself for our Best New Studio award! It doesn't matter if your studio was set up prior to 2023, you just have to have released your first game in this year.












    Please select the awards category you wish to submit your choice to. To submit to multiple categories, this form must be filled in multiple times.

    We want to celebrate indie games that released prior to 2023, since there are so many amazing ones out there! You can nominate ANY indie game, so long as it was first released prior to 2023. This could be a hidden gem, or a well-regarded title, so long as you think it is worth peoples while to go and play. We don't want anyone to miss out on incredible indies!







    The Unsung Hero Award is to celebrate someone in the indie gaming space who has done something incredible with very little (if any) fanfare. This doesn't have to have taken place in 2023 - we're happy to look back to the beginning of gaming! Just make sure you have a good reason, and ideally evidence of what this person has done to make them an indie hero!





    If you're a subscriber to Debug magazine (thank you!) then this category is just for you. Here you can submit your personal indie game of the year for 2023! Following a shortlisting process, the six nominees will then be put back to you for a final vote, meaning the winner of this award is decided by YOU!

    If you're not already a subscriber, there's still time! Only entries with a valid subscriber email will qualify, so subscribe to our awesome indie gaming magazine today and then submit your 2023 indie GOTY!





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