Brazil’s Independent Games Festival, or BIG Festival, is the largest indie game event in Latin America. The 6th annual BIG Festival just wrapped up for this year, honoring a handful talented independent game studios and granting awards to those with the most remarkable games of 2018.
BIG Festival 2018 Award Winners
The post-apocalyptic survival game Frostpunk took home the title of Best Game at this year’s BIG Festival award ceremony. “Its ingenious gameplay achieves a new benchmark by combining strategy, emotional connection and fantastic art style,” said a member of the international jury. Other impressive titles including Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Dead Cells, and Haimrik all took home awards in various categories as well.
The judges at this year’s BIG Festival in São Paulo, Brazil handed out awards to winners in 18 different categories, including Best Brazilian Game, Best Game, and the People’s Choice Award. If you’d like to know which independent studios where honored at this year’s award ceremony, we’ve got the complete list of the BIG Festival winners below in all 18 categories.
- Best Game: Frostpunk, 11Bit Studios, Poland
- Nominees: Dead Cells (Motion Twin), 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), Semblance (Nyamakop), Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory), Galaxy of Pen and Paper (Behold Studios), Unsighted (Studio Pixel Punk)
- Best Brazilian Game: No Heroes Here, Mad Mimic Interactive, Brazil
- Nominees: Rock & Rails (Black River Studios), Unsighted (Studio Pixel Punk), Galaxy of Pen and Paper (Behold Studios), Hexarmonic (6 Side Studios), Alkimya: Memories of the Last Alchemist (Bad Minions), Radar Warfare (DreamRoad Productions), Roguemance (Lucas Molina), Until Dead – Think to Survive (Monomyto Game Studio), In (Epopeia Games)
- Best Latin American Game: Iron Marines, Ironhide Game Studio, Urugai
- Nominees: Ship Ahoy! (OKAM Studio), Rock of Ages 2: Bigger and Boulder (ACE Team), The Last Friend (The Stonebot Studio), Darkestville Castle (Epic Llama)
- Best Art: Chuchel, Amanita Design, Czech Republic
- Nominees: Dead Cells (Motion Twin), 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), Semblance (Nyamakop), Luna (Funomena LLC), The Gardens Between (The Voxel Agents), Haimrik (Below The Game)
- Best Narrative: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, Dim Bulb Games, USA
- Nominees: Path to Mnemosyne (Spherical Pixel S.L), 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), Tacoma (Fullbright), The Mooseman (Vladimir Beletskiy), All Walls Must Fall (Inbetweengames UG), Stay (Appnormals Team)
- Best Gameplay: Dead Cells, Motion Twins, France
- Nominees: Frostpunk (11 bit Studios), Keyboard Sports – Saving QWERTY (Triband), Semblance (Nyamakop), Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory), DYO (Team DYO), Slime Rancher (Monomi Park)
- Best Sound: Rhythm Doctor, 7th Beat Games, Peru
- Nominees: Double Kick Heroes (Headbang Club), Chuchel (Amanita Design), Luna (Funomena LLC), 39 Days to Mars (It’s Anecdotal), Hexarmonic (6 Side Studios)
- Innovation: Haimrik, Below the Game, Columbia
- Nominees: Tacoma (Fullbright), DYO (Team DYO), Cultist Simulator (Weather Factory), Motif. (Yeta Game), At Sundown (Mild Beast Games), Frost (Kunabi Brother)
- BIG Impact – Best Educational Game: Marvellous Inc, Marvelous Soft, Brazil
- Nominees: Rango Cards (Fira Soft), Alphabet (Spacefrog), Slice Fractions 2 (Ululab), Geração Água (Feevale University – LOA – Laboratório de Objetos de Aprendizagem)
- BIG Impact – Social Matters Category: Lenin The Lion, Lornyon, Brazil
- Nominees: Fofuuú (Fofuuu Soluções Tecnológicas para Saúde e Educação LTDA), The Mooseman (Vladimir Beletskiy), Florescer (PugCorn), Headliner (Unbound Creations LLC)
- Best Student Game: Motif., Yeta Game, Turkey
- Nominees: DYO (Developed by Team DYO at the HTW Berlin Institution), Muddledash (Developed by Slampunks, at the University of Edinburgh Institution), At Sundown (Developed by Mild Beast Games, at the University of Southern California Institution), Impulsion (Developed by Driving Force Games, at the Institut de Internet et du Multimedia)
- Best Multiplayer Game: Muddledash, Slampunks, United Kingdom
- Nominees: Arena Gods (Supertype), No Heroes Here (Mad Mimic Interactive), At Sundown (Mild Beast Games), Treadnauts (Topstitch Games)
- Best Game for Kids: Fofuuu, Fofuu Solucoes Tecnologicas para Saude e Educacao LTDA, Brazil
- Nominees: Chuchel (Amanita Design), Alphabet (Spacefrog), Luna (Funomena LLC), St. Ives (StoryMax)
- Best Virtual Reality Game: Luna, Funomena LLC, USA
- Nominees: Ship Ahoy! (OKAM Studio), The Invisible Hours (Tequila Works), Primordian (Stonepunk Studios, LLC), Rock & Rails (Black River Studios)
- BIG Starter – Best Educational or Social Impact Game: Mompas, Studio Nebulosa, Brazil
- Nominees: Cleaver (Equipe CLEAVER), Projeto Ticolicos (Lost DEVS), Mompas (Studio Nebulosa), AmbIA (Imersys), Legally Addicted (Nonsense Bull Games)
- BIG Starter – Entertainment: One Beat Minute, Pixjuice, Brazil
- Nominees: Little Dude The Game (Initial Tape), U.A.I (Umbu Games), Epic Golf 2D (Estúdio Vaca Roxa), Jamie’s Dream (Cartonbox Studio)
- BIG Brands – Best Game: PSG Football Freestyle, Hermit Crab Studio, Brazil
- Nominees: Steven Universe Beach City (Drifters Avix Games, for Cartoon Network), Guardiões de Terradoce (Midnight Creators, for Florestal)
- People’s Choice Award: No Heroes Here, Mad Mimic Interactive, Brazil
- Best Brazilian Student Game (Honorable Mention): Wild Glory, LAJE Studios and Manalith Studios, Brazil
While most categories were judged by a panel consisting of five core judges, the winners in several of the categories above were chosen by a specialized jury. Brazil’s BIG Festival has been held since 2012 and is considered one of the most influential indie games festivals in Latin America. For more details on the winners and nominees, visit the official BIG Festival website.
