The Chilean game The Deadly Tower of Monsters, by developer ACE Team, grabbed the highest number of nominations within four categories, including Best Game. The winners will be announced on June 29th at the award ceremony at Centro Cultural São Paulo, Brazil.
This year, BIG received 617 submissions from 54 different countries, and more than half (321) were developed in Brazil. A board of professionals, specialized in the video games and digital entertainment industry, has chosen the nominees. PC games have dominated the submissions, with 57,7% of them, followed by mobile games, representing 31,6%.
The finalists will compete in 11 categories: Best Game, Best Brazilian Game, Best Latin American Game, Best Sound, Best Art, Best Narrative, Best Gameplay, Innovation, Best Educational Game, Best Virtual Reality Game and People’s Choice; 14 Brazilian games are among the finalists.
In total, a prize of circa US$ 15.000 (R$ 45.000) will be distributed, divided amongst categories as follows: Best Game (US$ 3.300/R$ 10.000), Best Brazilian Game (US$ 3.300 / R$ 10.000), Best Latin American Game (US$ 3.300 / R$ 10.000l), Best Educational Game (US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000), Best VR Game (US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000). The remaining US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000 will be awarded to the public award winner; last year, BIG Festival received more than 18 thousand visitors. Admittance is free and each finalist title will be playable during the festival by the public.
Besides competing for the Best Game award, The Deadly Tower of Monsters is also running for Best Art, Best Sound and Best Latin American Game. Necrosphere, by Brazilian developer Cat Nigiri, is the Brazilian title with the highest number of nominations: Innovation, Best Gameplay and Best Brazilian Game, in which the company also competes with another game, Keen.
Best Brazilian Game award winner will receive, in addition to the cash prize, a sponsorship to participate as an exhibitor in Casual Connect USA 2018, taking place at Disneyland Resort, California, and a paid advertising campaign on IGN Brasil worth US$ 16.000 / R$ 50.000. Last year, the Best Brazilian Game award medalist was Starlit Adventures, by Rockhead Games.
In 2016, Horizon Chase, mobile racing game developed by Aquiris Game Studio, won the Best Game Award category, and has since received recognition from video game critics and gamers across the world.
Check out below the complete list of the BIG Festival finalists:
Best Game
Prize US$ 3.300 / R$ 10 mil
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chile
– Death Squared (SMG Studio), Australia
– Figment (Bedtime Digital Games), Denmark
– Overcooked (Ghost Town Games), Great Britain
– Wuppo (Knuist & Perzik), Netherlands
Best Brazilian Game
Prize US$ 3.300 / R$ 10 mil
– Esquadrão 51 (Márcio Rosa)
– Necrosphere (Cat Nigiri)
– Starlit Archery Club (Rockhead Games)
– NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics (Post Mortem Pixels)
– Warlock's Tower (Midipixel)
– Distortions (Among Giants)
– In Extremis (LNDFRR)
– Keen (Cat Nigiri)
– Sword Legacy: Omen (Fableware Narrative Design and Firecast Studio)
– Legend of the Skyfish (Mgaia Studio)
Best Latin American Game
Prize US$ 3.300 / R$ 10 mil
– 64.0 (Rebel Rabbit), Perú
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chile
– ETHEREAL (Nonsense Arts), Argentina
– Sweet Meat (OneEyeAnt), Argentina
– UnderHero (Paper Castle Games), Venezuela
Best Educational Game
Prize US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000 – Sponsored by Dow Chemicals
– Ishmael (Necessary Games), United States
– Jump, Step, Step (Thang Phung Dinh & Dzung Phung Dinh), Vietnam
– Leis para Todos (Supernova Games), Brazil
– Lucro S/A (Universidade Feevale – Laboratório de Objetos de Aprendizagem), Brazil
– Orwell (Osmotic Studios), Germany
Best Virtual Reality Game
Prize US$ 1.600 / R$ 5.000
– SUPERHOT VR (SUPERHOT Team), Poland
– A Lost Room (Cruel Byte), Brazil
– Redout (34BigThings), Italy
– The Price of Freedom (Construct Studio), United States
Best Art
– Figment (Bedtime Digital Games), Denmark
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chie
– Esquadrão 51 (Márcio Rosa), Brazil
– Beat the Game (Worm Animation), United States
– Four Last Things (Joe Richardson), Great Britain
– Vignettes (Skeleton Business), France
– Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules), Austria
Best Narrative
– Detention (Red Candle Games), Taiwan
– Beholder (Alawar Entertainment), Russia
– A Place for the Unwilling (AlPixel Games), Spain
– An Afternoon Rippling (Mars Lizard), United States
– Milkmaid of the Milky Way (Machineboy), Norway
– Wuppo (Knuist & Perzik), Netherlands
– Figment (Bedtime Digital Games), Denmark
Innovation
– Orwell (Osmotic Studios), Germany
– Old Man's Journey (Broken Rules), Austria
– Necrosphere (Cat Nigiri), Brazil
– Vignettes (Skeleton Business), France
– YANKAI'S PEAK (Kenny Sun), United States
Best Sound
– Aaero (Mad Fellows), Great Britain
– Beat the Game (Worm Animation), United States
– The Deadly Tower of Monsters (ACE Team), Chile
– ETHEREAL (Nonsense Arts), Argentina
– Future Unfolding (Spaces of Play UG), Germany
– Guns of Icarus Alliance (Muse Games), United States
– She Remembered Caterpillars (Jumpsuit Entertainment), Germany
Best Gameplay
– Death Squared (SMG Studio), Australia
– Overcooked (Ghost Town Games), Great Britain
– Celeste (Matt Makes Games Inc.), Brazil
– Nidhogg 2 (Messhof), United States
– Ultimate Chicken Horse (Clever Endeavor Games), Canada
– Necrosphere (Cat Nigiri), Brazil
– Starlit Archery Club (Rockhead Games), Brazil
More information about the upcoming BIG Festival can be found on the official website.