Results of the 2024 IFDB Awards

mathbrush · February 17, 2025, 5:31am

The results of the 2024 IFDB awards are in! Thanks to the numerous people who voted and participated. Some of these polls are in the most-voted polls in all of IFDB history!

If any winners of any category want to make a speech or acceptance below, feel free.

Congratulations to all those who won! Thanks to everyone who participated.

Several wonderful games placed highly in multiple polls without receiving any individual awards. Some great games received only a small number of votes, and some games were not recognized at all. Thanks to everyone who was made an effort to make a game in 2024, and to those who are making games in 2025!

These results were posted late at night on a weekend, so I may have made errors. My deepest apologies if that is the case! Feel free to note any errors below.

Results

General Categories

Outstanding Game of the Year 2024

Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen

Author’s Choice for Best Game of 2024

Tie: The Bat, by Chandler Groover

Tie: Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen

Outstanding Retro Game of 2024

Hildy, by J. Michael

Outstanding Game for Beginners of 2024

An Account of Your Visit to the Enchanted House & What You Found There, by Mandy Benanav

Outstanding Multimedia Experience of 2024

The Den, by Ben Jackson

Outstanding technical implementation of 2024

Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen

Outstanding NPC design of 2024

The Bat, by Chandler Groover

Outstanding Puzzle design of 2024

Familiar Problems, by Daniel Stelzer, Ada Stelzer, Sarah Stelzer

Outstanding Plot of 2024

The Den, by Ben Jackson

Outstanding Writing of 2024

Verses, by Kit Riemer

Language Categories

Outstanding German Game of 2024

Staub, by IkeC

Outstanding Spanish Game of 2024

Helikoj, by Comely

Outstanding French Game of 2024

Les lettres du Docteur Jeangille, by manonamora

Genre Categories

Outstanding Fantasy Game of 2024

Hildy, by J. Michael

Outstanding Educational Game of 2024

Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen

Outstanding Travel Game of 2024

Bureau of Strange Happenings, by Phil Riley

Outstanding Historical Game of 2024

Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen

Outstanding Horror Game of 2024

Sundown, by Charm Cochran

Outstanding Humor Game of 2024

The Bat, by Chandler Groover

Outstanding Mystery Game of 2024

Winter-Over, by Emery Joyce and N. Cormier

Outstanding Romance Game of 2024

Rescue at Quickenheath, by Mo Farr

Outstanding Science Fiction Game of 2024

Forsaken Denizen, by C.E.J. Pacian

Outstanding Slice of Life Game of 2024

te/ra/to/ma, by Naarel

Outstanding Surreal Game of 2024

Tie: You, by Carter X Gwertzman

Tie: Provizora Parko, by Dawn Sueoka

System Categories

Outstanding Inform 7 Game of 2024

The Bat, by Chandler Groover

Outstanding Twine Game of 2024

The Den, by Ben Jackson

Outstanding Ink Game of 2024

Tie: The Maze Gallery, by Cryptic Conservatory, Paxton, Rachel Aubertin, Chrys Pine, Ed Lu, Toni Owen-Blue, Christi Kerr, Sean Song, Joshua Campbell, Dawn Sueoka, Randy Hayes, Allyson Gray, Shana E. Hadi, Dominique Nelson, Orane Defiolle, An Artist’s Ode, Sisi Peng, Kazu Lupo, Robin Scott, Sarah Barker, Alex Parker, Mia Parker, J Isaac Gadient, Charm Cochran, Ghost Clown, and IFcoltransG and divineshadow777 and TavernKeep

Tie: LATEX, LEATHER, LIPSTICK, LOVE, LUST, by Stanwixbuster (as THE BODY & THE BLOOD)

Outstanding Choicescript Game of 2024

Whiskey-Four, by John Luis

Outstanding Inform 6 Game of 2024

A Train to Piccadilly, by Marco Innocenti

Outstanding PunyInform Game of 2024

A Train to Piccadilly, by Marco Innocenti

Outstanding Game in a Custom System of 2024

The Garbage of the Future, by AM Ruf

Outstanding Moiki Game of 2024

Le Bastion de la Porte, by Gavroche Games

Outstanding Ren’py Game of 2024

A House of Endless Windows, by SkyShard

Outstanding Adventuron Game of 2024

The Abandoned House Down the Lane, by Chris Hay

Outstanding Unity Game of 2024

REPEAT IT BACK TO ME, by SkyShard

Outstanding Bitsy Game of 2024

the sea god, by christine mi

Outstanding TADS Game of 2024

Under the Cognomen of Edgar Allan Poe, by Jim Nelson

Outstanding Decker Game of 2024

Eider Cake, by sweetfish

Outstanding Dialog Game of 2024

Forsaken Denizen, by C.E.J. Pacian

Outstanding Game in an Uncommon System of 2024

Social Democracy: An Alternate History, by Autumn Chen

IkeC · February 17, 2025, 5:43am

Nice to appear on this list with all these great games and authors!

Thank you mathbrush for all your time and dedication you put into this.

mathbrush · February 17, 2025, 5:43am

Thanks for your fun game! I think the win is well-deserved.

SomeOne2 · February 17, 2025, 6:15am

Thanks for making this competition! It’s great to give the games of the past year recognition.

Jade · February 17, 2025, 8:01am

I have studied the Big list and I congrats Matnbrush becouse his great and enormeous work and dedication an d all the winners or no winners: There have been a lot of games and lots of fun this Year!

Naarel · February 17, 2025, 8:11am

Possibly long and boring speech ahead.

First of all, thank you Mathbrush for running this thing, it’s an incredible task. Second, congratulations to all the winners and congratulations to everyone who didn’t quite make it this time, remember that making a game is already an achievement and being nominated is already really great. Third, special congratulations to Allyson Gray (with whom I’m sharing the Outstanding Short Game of 2024 title, I really need to play Nonverbal Communication someday soon), SkyShard (whose A House of Endless Windows won, once more, with All of Us Flames - you totally deserve it), and sweetfish (Indiepocalypse buddies! Glad that Eider Cake won after the tie situation we’ve had there).

For more boring, egotistical stuff: I was nominated 21 times across 6 games (if I did my maths right… I have problems with that) and I think I still didn’t process it properly. Seeing that I actually won something also still didn’t quite register in my head yet. I’m absolutely stunned at the outpour of love, support, and appreciation for my works, especially since not even a year passed since I got back to my IF roots. So, thank you to everyone who read what I wrote, to everyone who nominated, and to everyone who voted. Thank you for all the love you’ve given to te/ra/to/ma and do not let your left hand know in particular, it means a lot to me.

Hopefully I’ll see you all on IFDB Awards 2025.

rileypb · February 17, 2025, 4:32pm

Some complaints:

BOSH having been named “Most Sequel-Worthy”, now I have to actually write a sequel, which is really hard because I have no good ideas for it.
I find the award for “Outstanding Travel Game” to be perplexing, unless perhaps it was meant to read “Outstanding Time Travel Game”, which would be more accurate, but still misleading, because neither the game nor the time travel is really that outstanding. Simply a poor choice, voters. But voters seem to be doing that these days.
I thought BOSH would get at least some votes for Outstanding Romance Game.

Seriously, I am humbled by getting votes in any category. Thanks!

Draconis · February 17, 2025, 4:37pm

“BOSH 2: Now There’s A Fifth Dimension, Too!”

mathbrush · February 17, 2025, 4:37pm

Congrats!

Travel is really a bizarre genre. I’m not sure what the original Baf’s Guide people intended when they made it a category (which became an IFDB category). But maybe your game’s cool and varied location settings did it?

In any case, BOSH is one game I was really happy to see get a lot of attention. I think it was second in at least one other category.

rileypb · February 17, 2025, 5:20pm

Perhaps my vivid and realistic descriptions* made people think Enigma Lake and Swamp Park were real places?

*not really.

Pacian · February 17, 2025, 8:50pm

A couple of strange documents have found their way to me.

rovarsson · February 17, 2025, 9:28pm

----coughs----winks-----nudges----

----pulls sleeve----

ahum

----drops coin----

*Taps foot...*

Draconis · February 17, 2025, 9:34pm

Joking aside, all of us are incredibly honored to have won Outstanding Puzzles, and this is great encouragement for us to collaborate again next ECTOCOMP!

Akz · February 17, 2025, 9:51pm

@mathbrush

I see the announcement is only for the outright winners but if we runners-up want to mention a near-win on our game pages, is that allowed and what would be the official styling?

1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place… Winner, Runner-up, Honorable Mention, Nominated… Gold, Silver, Bronze…?

Jamespking · February 17, 2025, 10:10pm

I can’t see why you should need a permission for showing off what you achieved

I guess “2nd place” (in case this is the case) is better than “nomination”.

mathbrush · February 17, 2025, 10:12pm

Yeah, feel free to announce whatever you’d like; I agree with Marco that ‘2nd place’ for instance is good.

Jamespking · February 17, 2025, 10:46pm

"I read this article today. It’s strange, it’s printed on very white paper, smooth as an ivory statuette. Stuff you don’t see around here: everything is wrapped in that yellow, rough stuff. We wrap eggs in it, which we fought so strenuously in the squares and under the buildings to make less expensive. But we didn’t succeed. There’s so much stuff we didn’t manage to do.

The article is dated today. It talks about a world I haven’t been given to see. A world of peace. According to what’s written here, there’s a part of the Ancient World, Europe, that was at peace for so long that it made people forget about the war. Not everywhere, mind you: there are places where peace didn’t last. Right here, in Europe. But it was proto-Europe, the one that never had it easy even on this side of the veil. Berlin was divided. The Balkans were a furnace. Prague, Sarajevo, Kiev. But: if someone was born in Paris right after the fall of the Reich, well, today he would be ninety years old and would never have seen the war, except on TV.

Never. Crazy stuff.

Today we wrap eggs in paper. We don’t write anymore; we don’t print anymore. Everything goes through the net, without a filter. I would like to pick up a book, experience what it feels like to read it. Who knows if there’s a message inside.

I would love to have the power to change things. But what can someone like me, a simple little soldier, do? I don’t have the strength. And I don’t have the time. Today, for example, I spent the whole day trying to understand if this object – a mechanism all made of gold, a kind of unwearable jewel made entirely of rings and silent gears – has some use. I would like it to serve, I don’t know, to go back in time. To change things.

But it’s not a time for dreams, in American Europe. There’s work to be done. Mining DogeCoin. For the Homeland. To Make the World Great Again.

Florence, 2035. It’s February 18th.

I came in second in the Best Retro Game category of the IFDB Awards. I couldn’t be happier.

–Maxim Gromov."

rovarsson · February 17, 2025, 10:55pm

I congratulate you, and I share your concerns. And your doubtfulness if we can ever right these wrongs again…

Ally · February 18, 2025, 12:07am

I’m still in complete shock! I don’t know if I can muster up the eloquence right now to do justice to everything I feel should be said, but I at least wanted to say a huge “THANK YOU” to everyone!

The recognition alone means a lot to me (whether it’s a 1-vote placement or anything else), and actually getting high rankings in categories I deeply care about has been very humbling.

I’m ashamed of my failure to get Apothecary’s Assistant back into a playable state in time; it really warmed my heart to see that enough players remembered and appreciated it regardless. I hope to do a good job with the permanent version once I’m well enough to finish it. And it made me so, so happy to see people enjoying Nonverbal Communication too!

It’s been mentioned already but it bears repeating that so many categories were so close! There can also be a real “out of sight, out of mind” effect with these polls, which I’m sure has led to some good pieces going unacknowledged. I think everyone did an admirable job in the past year and each game I’ve personally played has been enriching in some way, regardless of any potential shortcomings. I’m grateful for every creator in our little community and I’m excited to see your future works!

slugzuki · February 18, 2025, 3:25am

thank you to MB and to all the voters for taking on the unthinkable task of not only reading text on their computers/phones for many hours, but then also taking the time to let us know you enjoyed it. i (and the other authors probably, tho i hate to assume) appreciate it very much.

thanks also for awarding my game Verses “Outstanding Writing.” the really good writing in it was merely translated by me from other authors like Agatha Bacovia and Tudor Arghezi. i’m working on a release now that’ll let readers explore the poems + my translations and notes from the process. might show up in the back garden of Spring Thing.

both projects have been enjoyable, and even though Verses never felt like the best version of itself, it’s gratifying to see people puzzling over, reviewing, and discussing it. i do everything for attention and as long as you guys keep rewarding me, i’ll keep barking.