2011 Independent Games Festival Announces Best Mobile Game Jury

Author: by Staff

Organizers of the 2011 Independent Games Festival are pleased to announce the jury panel that will determine the finalists and winner of its Best Mobile Game award, a category which seeks to highlight the innovation and quality of games for the new wave of mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, PSP, DS, and Android. Prior finalists and winners of the IGF Best Mobile Game Award -- previously celebrated in the IGF Mobile sister competition but now part of the IGF Main Competition itself -- include Capy's original puzzler Critter Crunch, Hassey Enterprises' abstract strategy game Galcon, and Tiger Style's insect-snaring adventure Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor. This year, the jury will receive recommendations from the wider body of over 150 IGF Main Competition judges (itself including notable former IGF winners, finalists and indie game notables including Damien Di Fede, Amanda Williams, Thomas Bedenk and Scott Anderson) as they consider the merits of each of the five finalists and eventual award winner. The jury consists of the following: - Colin Anderson (co-founder of Denki, creators of Quarrel, Denki Blocks, Juggle.) - Eddy Boxerman (founder of Hemisphere Games, creators of the IGF award winning Osmos.) - Kevin Cancienne (game designer & developer at Area/Code, creators of Drop7.) - Ramiro Corbetta (game designer at Powerhead Games, creators of the IGF award winning Glow Artisan.) - Omar Cornut (programmer at Q-Games, co-designer and programmer on Mekensleep's Soul Bubbles.) - Phil Hassey (creator of the IGF award winning Galcon) - David Kalina (Former AI programmer behind Splinter Cell, Deus Ex: Invisible War & Thief: Deadly Shadows; owner & engineer of Tiger Style, behind IGF award winning Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor.) - Olivier Lejade (founder of Mekensleep, creative director of Soul Bubbles.) - Adam Saltsman (co-founder of Semi Secret Software, creators of Wurdle, Gravity Hook HD & Canabalt.) - Nathan Vella (co-founder & president of Capy, creators of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes and IGF award winners Critter Crunch & Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP.) "The past few years have seen radical shifts in the mobile gaming landscape, to the point where handheld games are not only able to contend with the best on more traditional platforms, but serve as one of the major paths to indie success," said festival chairman Brandon Boyer. "The debut of the Best Mobile Game category with in the IGF's Main Competition is a direct reflection of that shift, and we all look forward to seeing which finalists are leading the way to that game-anywhere future." The announcement is the fifth in a series revealing specific juries for each IGF Award, following the debut of the Nuovo Award jury, the Excellence in Audio jury, the Technical Excellence jury and, most recently, the Visual Art jury, made up of independent artists like Craig Adams, Phil Fish, Jakub Dvorsky, Patrick Smith and Paul Robertson. All entries in the 2011 Independent Games Festival are currently browsable at the IGF's official site, where you can also find more complete biographical information on the Best Mobile Game jury. All five Mobile finalists will be announced -- along with a jury statement detailing the thought process behind selecting its lineup -- in early January 2011. All finalists will be playable at the IGF Pavilion on the show floor during Game Developers Conference 2011, with the winner announced on the evening of March 2, 2011, at the IGF Awards, during the Game Developers Conference 2011.