The artisan insanity of the 2015 Independent Games Festival Pavilion (gallery)

Gavin Greene @gavsgreene March 10, 2015 9:00 AM

The main display at this year's Independent Games Festival Pavilion on the GDC 2015 show floor.

Image Credit: Gavin Greene/GamesBeat

The Indie Games Festival has been the esoteric, artisan cousin to the Game Developers Conference for 17 years. Hundreds of submissions are pared down to just a small handful of finalists, and this year’s batch bellowed “indie” from every pair of digital lungs. The 2015 IGF Pavilion housed complex storybooks that stretch the meaning of the term “visual novel,” and feats of electronic hipsterdom so impossible to categorize it sets most of Gamergate’s teeth grinding.

You can check out some of the games on display on the GDC show floor below.

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An attendee explores the third-person narrative adventures of Student Showcase finalist game a.part.ment.

A smooth, groovy session of Student Showcase Finalist game Gemini.

Close Your told an involving story full of block people to passersby.

The phone dance-rhythm game (and Nuovo Award nominee) Bounden had demos outside of its booth using developer and attendee cell phones

Nuovo award nominee Elegy for a Dead World lets players write their own story through in-game prompts.

An attendee makes a low-gravity shot in Nuovo nominee sports simulator Desert Golfing.

Nuovo nominee BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN JUST 10 SECONDS defied categorization and description.

Developer Nicky Case shows off his Excellence in Narrative nominated narrative Coming Out Simulator 2014.

Multiple nominee (and Excellence in Narrative winner) 80 Days reimagined Jules Verne’s classic adventure novel in a more dynamic visual format.

The Student Showcase finalist puzzle game Interloper added a much-needed splash of color to the IGF Pavilion.

Metamorphabet’s picture-book aesthetics earned it the Excellence in Visual Arts prize at the IGF awards.

An attendee indulges in Visual Arts nominee Donut County in the most comfortable-looking armrest ever.

The open-world(s) adventure Outer Wilds took home multiple IGF awards, including the night’s Grand Prize.

The visual novel — and Excellence in Design nominee — FRAMED let players control the story flow through moving storyboards.

Hectic multiplayer sessions of the Excellence in Design nominated fighter Killer Queen were common throughout GDC week.

Hundreds of independently produced games are submitted each year for IGF consideration.

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