Here are the nominees for the 11th annual International Mobile Gaming Awards

Disclosure: The organizers of IMGA paid my way to Marseille. Our coverage remains objective. 

The nominees have been released for the 11th annual International Mobile Gaming Awards. The jury for the awards screened more than 1,000 entrants from around the world.

I was part of a 48-hour judging session in Marseille, France, and helped select the finalists among the nominees in a variety of categories. In doing so, I rubbed elbows with game creators ranging from Tommy Palm, the former “games guru” at King and one of the creators for the mobile version of Candy Crush Saga, to Brianna Wu, the head of development for startup studio Giant Spacekat.

We reduced the entrants by looking at YouTube gameplay trailers and playing a lot of games. We trimmed down the categories mercilessly and then argued about who belonged in the final list. One of the controversies: Should Threes! stand alone as a nominee, or should the copycat 2048 be nominated as well? We decided to allow both games and let the final judging and public voting take its course.

In the end, we reduced the nominees to 93 across 10 categories such as excellence in storytelling, technology, and design. The final ceremony for the winners will be held on March 3 in San Francisco. The People’s Choice Award 2014 will be open for public voting on the IMGA site.

Last year’s winners included Badland and The Walking Dead.

The nominees for 2014 are:

Excellence in Innovation

Soccer Physics

Strung Along

Sometimes You Die

Threes!

Notespace Beat

Monument Valley

Framed

Bounden

Watchdogs Companion

Best Quickplay Game

Pako

UsiDorobo

Alone …

Zoi

Crossy Road

Threes!

Retry

Dumb Ways to Die 2

Timberman

Guilty Pleasure

Pair Solitaire

Zombie Highway 2

Tap Titans

Candy Crush Soda Saga

Goat Simulator

LINE: Disney Tsum Tsum

Desert Golfing

Kitty Powers’ Matchmaker

FootLOL: Crazy Soccer

Flappy Bird

2048

Best Meaningful Play

Scrap Squad

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Papers, Please

Twelve

Counting Kingdom

First Strike

Dumb Ways to Die 2

Excellence in Storytelling

Thomas Was Alone

The Banner Saga

Valiant Hearts: The Great War

50 Days

Framed

Games of Thrones

The Wolf Among Us

Out There

Kim Kardashian: Hollywood

Excellence in Gameplay

Leo’s Fortune

Hearthstone

Wayward Souls

Papers, Please

Faster Than Light

Table Tennis Touch

Mujo

Royal Revolt 2

Motor Sports Manager

Smash Hit!

Best Technical Achievement

Aerena: Clash of Champions

Snowboard Party

Ace Fishing: Wild Catch

XCOM: Enemy Within

Bounden

World of Tanks

Galcon 2

Vainglory

Skylanders Trap Team

Excellence in Audio Visual Art & Design

Godfire

Notespace Beat

Haunt the House: Terrortown

Monument Valley

Tengami

Leo’s Fortune

Rival Knights

Framed

Alone…

Chronology

Best Multiplayer Game

Fates Forever

Brain Wars

Hearthstone

Vainglory

Bounden

Mucho Party

Trivia Crack

Soccer Physics

World of Tanks

Boom Beach

Best Upcoming Game

Tropical Wars

Prune

Prismatica

Space Noon

Koi

Wings of Fire

Towerslash

Swapquest

Mikma

Hoardmaster