The second annual Indie Game Awards took place on Thursday evening (December 18), and with it came the announcement of 21 awards across a variety of categories.
The show aired at 6:30pm ET/3:30pm PT, and featured categories such as Game of the Year, Community Management, Bite-sized Game, Innovation, Gameplay Design, and more.
You can check out all of the Indie Game Awards winners for 2025 below along with the various nominees, if applicable. In addition to listing the winners, you can watch each specific segment as well. If you want to watch the full show, you can do so below or on the official Six One Indie channel.
The Indie Game Awards 2025 Winners
Below are the full list of winners and nominees. The winners of each category with be highlight fully in bold and with a (WINNER) tag. Be sure to leave your thoughts on the winners in the comments below, and join the discussion in the official Insider Gaming Discord server.
If you want to know how our own Mike Straw voted as a judge this year, here is his full ballot.
Game of the Year
- Absolum – Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks
- and Roger – TearyHand Studio
- Blue Prince – Dogubomb
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – Jump Over the Age
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive (WINNER)
- Hades II – Supergiant Games
- Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – Pocket Trap
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
- Consume Me – Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder
- Keep Diving – YCJY Games
Achievement in Accessibility
- Abiotic Factor – Deep Field Games
- Barista – YofiAsi
- Calm the Storm – Ludic Lemur
- Peak – Team PEAK (WINNER)
- Spray Paint Simulator – North Star Video Games
- Squeakross: Home Squeak Home – Alblune
ANZ Indie Game Award
- Abiotic Factor – Deep Field Games
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
- Mars First Logistics – Shape Shop
- PROXIMATE – Cain Maddox
- Tempopo – Witchbeam
- The Drifter – Powerhoof (WINNER)
The Mohammad Fahmi Storyteller Award
Industry Impact
Indie Vanguard
Bite-Sized
- CARIMARA – Beneath the Forlorn Limbs – Bastinus Rex
- FlyKnight – Wabbaboy
- Many Nights a Whisper – Deconstructeam, Selkie Harbour
- The Dark Queen of Mortholme – Mosu
- this game will end in 205 clicks – insertdisc5
- Time Flies – Playables (WINNER)
Black Voices in Gaming Award
- Advent Neon – CryoGX
- Altheia: The Wrath of Aferi – MarsLit Games (WINNER)
- Sorry We’re Closed – à la mode games
- Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To – Soft Not Weak, LLC
- Sunken Stones – Spritewrench
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown – Strange Scaffold
Community Management
- Consume Me – Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder
- Date Everything! – Sassy Chap Games
- IKEELYA – ALL DAY ALL NIGHT
- PEAK – Team PEAK (WINNER)
- Soulstone Survivors – Game Smithing Limited
- Strange Scaffold – Strange Scaffold
Debut Game
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Sandfall Interactive (WINNER)
- Discounty – Crinkle Cut Games
- Fretless – The Wrath of Riffson – Ritual Studios
- ILA: A Frosty Glide – Magic Rain Studios
- Sorry We’re Closed – a la mode Games
- Tyrant’s Realm – Team Tyrant
Emotional Impact
- Afterlove EP – Pikselnesia
- and Roger – TearyHand Studio (WINNER)
- Don’t Get Your Hopes Up – Krish Raghav
- Henry Halfhead – Lululu Entertainment
- Wanderstop – Ivy Road
- Wednesdays – Pierre Corbinais, The Pixel Hunt, exaheva
Gameplay Design
- Absolum – Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks
- BallxPit – Kenny Sun (WINNER)
- Dawnfolk – Darenn Keller
- Hades II – Supergiant Games
- Hollow Knight: Silksong – Team Cherry
- Keep Driving – YCJY Games
- Look Outside – Francis Coulombe
- Öoo – NamaTakahashi, tiny cactus studio, Tsuyomi
- Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – Pocket Trap
- The King is Watching – Hypnohead
Innovation
- Blue Prince – Dogubomb (WINNER)
- FREERIDE – Flightyfelon Games Inc., Flightyfelon Games Inc., Future Friends Games
- Gas Station Story – enzi
- PBJ The Musical – Philipp Stollenmayer
- Ruffy and the Riverside – Zockrates Laboratories UG
- Taria & Como – Poppyseed Studio Inc, JuVee Productions
Latin American Indie Award
- Adventure of Samsara – Ilex Games
- despelote – Julian Cordero, Sebastian Valbuena
- Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo – Galla
- Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo – Pocket Trap (WINNER)
- Taria & Como – Poppyseed Studio Inc, JuVee Productions
- Tormented Souls 2 – Dual Effect
Music
- Everhood 2 – Chris Nordgren, Jordi Roca
- Herdling – Okomotive
- Rift of the NecroDancer – Brace Yourself Games, Tic Toc Games (WINNER)
- SONOKUNI – DON YASA CREW
- Sword of the Sea – Giant Squid
- Wheel World – Messhof
Narrative
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector – Jump Over the Age (WINNER)
- Consume Me – Jenny Jiao Hsia, AP Thomson, Jie En Lee, Violet W-P, Ken “coda” Snyder
- Promise Mascot Agency – Kaizen Game Works
- The Drifter – Powerhoof, Dave Lloyd
- The Roottrees are Dead – Evil Trout Inc.
- The Séance of Blake Manor – Spooky Doorway
Solo Development
- Tall Trails – Brady Soglin (WINNER)
- Lushfoil Photography Sim – Matt Newell
- Megabonk – vedinad
- NAIAD – HiWarp
- Spilled! – Lente
- Vile: Exhumed – Cara Cadaver
African Indie Game Award
- Bru & Boegie Get Da Milk! – MIKDOG
- Finding Father – Studio Bo
- Flibbius McDoogle and The Mysterious Flying Machine – Unsigned Double Collective
- IKEELYA – ALL DAY ALL NIGHT
- Metavoidal – Yellow Lab Games
- Stick It To The Stickman – Free Lives (WINNER)
Southeast Asian Indie Award
- Afterlove EP – Pikselnesia
- Artis Impact – Mas (WINNER)
- Glyphica: Typing Survival – aliasBLACK
- SEDAP! A Culinary Adventure – kopiforge
- Urban Jungle – Kylyk Games
- Whisper Mountain Outbreak – Toge Productions
Visual Design
- 30 Birds – RAM RAM Games, Business Goose Studios (WINNER)
- Artis Impact – Mas
- Cat Detective Albert Wilde – beyondthosehills
- Eclipsium – Housefire
- Mashina – Talha and Jack Co, J. King Spooner, Talha Kaya
- Slime Rancher 2 – Monomi Park
Women-Led Indie Game Award
- Cabernet – Party for Introverts
- Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping – Happy Broccoli Games
- Gemporium: A Cute Mining Sim – Merge Conflict Studio
- Spilled! – Lente
- Urban Myth Dissolution Center – Hakababunko (WINNER)
- White Knuckle – Dark Machine Games
Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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