The DIGY (Dope Indie Games of the Year) Awards is a new annual awards event that focuses on indies, celebrating the games and the talented people behind the craft of game development.

No, there is no fee to submit nominations.

The call for award nomination submissions ended November 25, 2024.

• Best Action: Will be awarded to the best game that allowed for the most enjoyable explosions and ferocious combat after a long work week.

• Most Challenging: Will be awarded to the game providing overwhelming challenges that broke many keyboards or controllers.

• Most Innovative: Will be awarded to the game that shattered the status quo and brought players completely new and fresh experiences

• Best Character: Will be awarded to the most memorable character that stayed with gamers through the year and likely into the future. 

• Most Replayable: Will be awarded to the game that kept you saying "one more time", causing you to be late for everything.

• Best Early Access: Will be awarded to the game that provided an amazing quality experience through Early Access prior to full release. Eligible for games that entered Early Access within the calendar year and have not had full release within the calendar year.

• Best First Timer: Will be awarded to the individual or team that stepped up to the challenge of creating their first game and bringing it to market. Team or individual can still qualify if people on the team have been involved with a previously released game from a different group of developers, studio or publisher and this game is the first from a new team or via solo development.

• Best Hidden Gem: Will be awarded to the best game that came out of nowhere and blew your face off with its awesomeness.

• Best Tactical: Will be awarded to the game that forces you to think about every move carefully and strategically to beat it.

• Most Cozy: Will be awarded to the game that provides uplifting experiences for players to sit back, smile, chill, and relax.

• Best Horror: Will be awarded to the game with the most scary or suspenseful gameplay experience that left a mark.

• Best M-Rated Game: Will be awarded to the best game that targets a mature audience.

• Best Retro: Will be awarded to the game that stirs nostalgia for days gone by with its pixel-rich world.

• Best Game with a Message: Will be awarded to the game that truly hits home in players every day lives and makes a powerful statement.

• Most Emotional: Will be awarded to the game that had players sobbing from heartbreaking moments, or stirs up other kinds of emotions.

• Best Laughs: Will be awarded to the game that brought uncontrollable moments of laughter to your gaming experience.

• Visual Excellence: Will be awarded to the game where players can't look away from the art, world, and overall game visuals. 

• Best Soundtrack: Will be awarded to the game with the best soundtrack, which you can put on your Spotify playlist. 

• Most Anticipated: Will be awarded to highly anticipated game expected to release within the upcoming calendar year 2025. 

• Visibility Boost: Will be awarded to individual or team that's part of a community which has had relatively low level of visibility within the industry.

• Best Tiny Team: Will be awarded to the individual or team, no bigger than 5, that used their resources to deliver a quality experience. Core team includes design, production, audio, programming, doesn't including QA, porting. 

• Indie Hero: Will be awarded to individual or team that's helped raise visibility for indie games and teams this year.

• Marketing Breakout Award. Will be awarded to individual or team with breakout marketing that helped build visibility for the game in interesting ways. Teams can submit trailers, influencer campaigns, creative guerrilla ideas or other kinds of campaigns that helped the game make an impact. 

1) Game has full release (or will release) by December 31 this year.  Note that there are also Early Access and Most Anticipated (for games releasing after this year) categories that teams can submit for.

2) Game developed by team independent of resources / control / ownership of large corporation.   

3) Teams can submit for as many categories as relevant for their games.

4) Nominations can be submitted by game dev teams, publishers, and/or others not directly connected with the team.

The first DIGY Award show will air online on Twitch, YouTube, IGN, GameSpot and Steam, planning for early 2025, with the air date to be announced soon.

A panel of selected streamers, influencers and industry folks will select DIGY Award winners.

The DIGYS are organized by a team of seasoned game industry and event production veterans, with expertise from The MIX (Media Indie Exchange), South by Southwest, DreamHack, Devolver, Good Shepherd, Saber Interactive, 3D Realms, DICE Summit, Black Voices in Gaming, LucasArts, and Telltale Games.

Email info@digyawards.com to learn more, including sponsorship opportunities.