Double Fine's Broken Age, Grand Cru's Supernauts added to 'GDC Next 10'

With the first-500 pass deadline almost due, 'future of games' conference, GDC Next organizers have revealed Double Fine's crowdfunded adventure game Broken Age and Grand Cru's 'Minecraft vs. Clash Of Clans'-esque Supernauts as the latest in the 'GDC Next 10' lecture series. As part of the Los Angeles event's cutting-edge content, each game’s creator will be invited to give a world-exclusive talk about the concepting, inspiration, and design behind the title. Each 'GDC Next 10' game has been picked by GDC's organizers as a game to watch for the future -- one that is doing something decidedly different in today’s increasingly crowded game market. This week's first inductee to the Next 10 is Double Fine's crowdfunded point-and-click adventure game revival Broken Age [trailer]. Their GDC Next session will explore their research and design for rethinking the classic adventure genre for the modern era. With a compelling speaker line-up yet to be revealed, the studio will examine what classic adventure games did well, what fans of the genre liked about them, and how they can take advantage of all the advancements in dev technology and technique since the genre's heyday. The second inductee to the GDC Next 10 this week is Supernauts [preview video], the upcoming debut title from Finnish studio Grand Cru, which recently raised $11 million to fund its creation. The free-to-play mobile MMO is being acclaimed for its Minecraft meets Clash Of Clans gameplay mechanics, and 148Apps notes that it's "creative, compelling, and social" in its early preview versions. Speaking in 'Graphics Technology Challenges and Innovations for iOS in Supernauts,' lead graphics programmer Harri H will bring his experience from titles such as Tiki Towers, Bad Air Day, and Trials Evolution to help build the tech behind Supernauts' user-generated content. Attendees will learn how his team designed, implemented, and optimized algorithms to generate its procedural graphics. These two build on the announcement of the first GDC Next 10 lecture, on Doki-Doki Universe by HumaNature Studios, and last week's announcement of adding featured talks for honorees Super TIME Force by Capy Games and Project Spark by Team Dakota/Microsoft. GDC Next is the spiritual successor to GDC Online, and will take place alongside the App Developers Conference on November 5th-7th, 2013 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. This new event aims to highlight the future of video game development, with tracks including 'Next Generation Game Platforms', 'Free To Play & New Business Models', and 'Smartphone & Tablet Games', as well as cloud and indie game tracks. Check out the GDC Next Session Scheduler to see the all the selected talks so far and begin your planning. Recently announced sessions include Sega's move to free-to-play with Sonic and veteran Tom Hall (DOOM, Rise Of The Triad) on Diner Dash's mobile efforts. Registration is in full swing for GDC Next and the co-located ADC. Less than 100 discounted passes remain, which offer up to 30% savings on ADC, GDC Next, or a combined VIP All-Access Pass. For all the latest news on GDC Next, subscribe for updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech