August 16, 2023 – Kyiv, Ukraine – Indie Cup Germany’23, an online festival of upcoming German indie games, has revealed the best submissions of the season, as selected by the festival jury.
The Darkest Files, a sleek, nearly colorless thriller about a prosecutor investigating Nazi cold cases, is triumphant at this year’s event, with the game taking home both Most Anticipated Game and Most Promising Game awards. The Darkest Files developer, Paintbucket Games, describes it as the love child of Ace Attorney and Obra Dinn “doused in a chilling historical intrigue”.
The complete winners list features four titles, selected out of 76 total submissions. Meet the best upcoming independent games made in Germany:
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Most Anticipated Game Award for the best overall entry: The Darkest Files (Paintbucket Games)
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Most Promising Game Award for the best game in the early stages of development: The Darkest Files (Paintbucket Games)
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Rising Star Award for emerging developers: Tiny Bookshop (neoludic games)
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Critics’ Choice Award, selected by a panel of game journalists and influencers: It’s a Wrap! (Chanko Studios)
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G.Round's Special Playtest Prize: For An (Ajjir)
The Indie Cup Germany’23 festival jury featured experts from Crytek, All in! Games, Deck13, Bohemia Interactive, Ubisoft, Blizzard Entertainment, and many other leading industry companies.
A total of 20 submissions made it into the final round of Indie Cup Germany’23. Here’s the complete nominee list:
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Most Anticipated Game Award Nominees for the best overall entry:
The Darkest Files, Harold Halibut, REKA, Tiny Bookshop, Between Horizons, Closer the Distance, REVEIL, Sons of Valhalla, Pioneers of Pagonia
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Most Promising Game Award Nominees for the best game in the early stages of development:
The Darkest Files, Tiny Bookshop, For An, Insect Worlds, Light of Atlantis
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Rising Star Award Nominees for emerging developers:
Soulitaire, Tiny Bookshop, Insect Worlds, The Fermi Paradox, The Settlings, Rogue Voltage, Venice after Dark, Light of Atlantis
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Critics’ Choice Award Nominees, selected by a panel of game journalists and influencers:
Tiny Bookshop, REKA, Sons of Valhalla, Paws and Leaves, Closer the Distance, Harold Halibut, It’s a Wrap!, REVEIL, I am OK, Venice after Dark,
Indie Cup Germany’23 showcases 76 in-development games from German indie developers. Publishers, scouts, and other industry businesses can now purchase this season’s Showcase Pass for $499.
Learn more: indiecup.net/pass
Indie Cup website: indiecup.net
Indie Cup Germany’23 ran in partnership with GTR, Houdini, and other partners.
Stay tuned for the Indie Cup news on Twitter or sign up for our newsletter. Submissions for Indie Cup Canada’23 open on August 29.
About Indie Cup
Since 2016, Indie Cup has been hosting an online festival of unreleased indie games, becoming one of Europe’s leading online events for independent developers. To date, Indie Cup has featured more than 2,200 projects, including dozens of titles that went on to achieve critical and popular acclaim.
In 2022 Indie Cup went global with events hosted in Germany, Canada, and Ukraine. This year features 5 Indie Cup events: Central & Eastern Europe'23, UK’23, Germany’23, Canada’23 and Ukraine’23.
Indie Cup also organizes pop-up sales on Steam, featuring games made by independent developers. The latest sales include the Indie Cup Celebration 2023 and the upcoming Ukrainian Games Festival, which will run from August 18 to August 24.
Indie Cup website: indiecup.net
Twitter: twitter.com/IndieCupHQ
Newsletter: indiecup.net/newsletter