The nominees for DevGAMM Awards 2026 have been announced. Seventy indie games from twenty-five countries will compete for over $140,000 in prizes at the ceremony in Lisbon on November 18.

What's new this year?

This is the third year of the awards, and interest has hit an all-time high. A total of 1,088 entries were submitted by 987 teams from eighty countries. Last year, that number was 652.

A jury of 191 members from forty countries evaluated the games over three rounds. More than half of the nominees were created by teams of five or fewer, making this a true indie showcase.

Ceremony details: When and where to watch?

• Date: November 18, 2026
• Time: 7:00 PM CET
• Location: DevGAMM Lisbon, Portugal
• Stream: IGN.com and IGN's YouTube channel

The event isn't just about the awards. Organizers also promise new game reveals and updates.

Prize pool

The total prize pool exceeds $140,000. Scorewarrior is providing $100,000, while the rest comes from special categories sponsored by Epic Games Store, Unreal Engine, tinyBuild, Unity, and Godot.

Standout nominees

Some games appear in multiple categories. Dead As Disco leads with the most nominations, competing in Grand Prize, audio, Epic, and Unreal categories for a total of four. Amanita Design, the studio behind Machinarium, is also a strong contender with their new game Phonopolis nominated in three categories. MOUSE: P.I. For Hire is up for both the Grand Prize and visual art. We expect the top award to go to one of these three, but surprises are always possible.

Full list of nominees

Grand Prize

• Dead As Disco (Brain Jar Games)
• Echoes of Mystralia (Borealys Games)
• Mortal Shell II (Cold Symmetry)
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire (Fumi Games)
• Phonopolis (Amanita Design)

Excellence in Game Design

• Desktop Explorer (Recurring Dream)
• Froggy Hates Snow (Crying Brick)
• IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator (Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos)
• Rewindead (Spellwork AB)
• Timberborn (Mechanistry)

Excellence in Visual Art

• Micromega (COVEN)
• Midgardr (Holy Radish)
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire (Fumi Games)
• Phonopolis (Amanita Design)
• UNBEATABLE (D-CELL GAMES)

Excellence in Narrative

• Call of the Elder Gods (Out of the Blue Games)
• Desktop Explorer (Recurring Dream)
• Ledgerbound (OmniMegaSuperCorp)
• Pieced Together (Glowfrog Games)
• Schrödinger's Call (Acrobatic Chirimenjako)

Excellence in Audio

• Band Wagon (Bippinbits)
• Dead As Disco (Brain Jar Games)
• Phonopolis (Amanita Design)
• Ratatan (Ratata Arts Inc.)
• UNBEATABLE (D-CELL GAMES)

Best Mobile Game

• Gambonanza (Blukulele, Paul Giovannini)
• Pirates Outlaws 2: Heritage (Fabled Game Limited)
• Scritchy Scratchy (Lunch Money Games)
• Servant of the Lake (Rusty Lake)
• Twin Shot Deluxe (Nitrome Limited)

Most Anticipated Game

• Cards & Cannons (Flamehead Games UG)
• Crop (Carbonara Games)
• Koshmar: The Last Reverie (Purple Ray Studio)
• PinKeep (Okomotive)
• Steel Soul Shaper (GENEPOP)

Best Game in Early Development

• BANDIT KNIGHT (Game Float)
• Bolt & Whalington (Orca Studio)
• Burdenfall (Leftovers Games)
• Code RAPID (Hitbreak Games LLC)
• Hold Your Dragons (Igor Krutov)

Best Small Team Game

• Compress(space) (B-Deshi Interactive)
• Dobbel Dungeon (Gamepie)
• MOLDRISE (Raffaele Picca)
• Omelet You Cook (Bird Gang Games)
• Worming from Home (Zach Northrop, Mason Sabharwal)

Meaningful Game

• 1998: The Toll Keeper Story (GameChanger Studio)
• Amnios (HES-SO, HEAD-Genève + HEdS)
• As Long As You're Here (Autoscopia)
• Fishbowl (imissmyfriends.studio)
• Grow Wild (SPECTRUM48)

Best Game from Portugal

• ALL LIGHT IS GONE (Octupus Embrace)
• Hanno: A Magical Tale (One Way Eleven)
• NECROMENTAL (Digitality Games)
• Shelf Heroes (Fun Punch Games)
• War Doctor (Red Pine Studios)

DevGAMM Choice

• Demon Bluff (UmiArt)
• HOMURA HIME (Crimson Dusk)
• inKONBINI: One Store. Many Stories (Nagai Industries)
• Monster Chef (Studio Pizza)
• Wax Heads (Patattie Games)

Epic Games Store Indie Spotlight

• Dead As Disco (Brain Jar Games)
• Fortune Seller (Kiwick Studios)
• Hank: Drowning On Dry Land (My Next Games)
• IRON NEST: Heavy Turret Simulator (Nick Nieuwoudt, Dominik Latos)
• Luna Abyss (Kwalee Labs)

Best Unreal Engine Game

• Call of the Elder Gods (Out of the Blue Games)
• Dead As Disco (Brain Jar Games)
• Guns of Eschaton (Eschatology Entertainment)
• Mortal Shell II (Cold Symmetry)
• The Occultist (DALOAR Studios)

Best Godot Game

• Band Wagon (Bippinbits)
• Burn With Me (Nozomu Games)
• MOLDRISE (Raffaele Picca)
• My Card Is Better Than Your Card! (Utu Studios)
• Pathogenic (Aberrant Labs)

Best Indie Game by tinyBuild

• Code RAPID (Hitbreak Games LLC)
• Hell Hold'em (Hell Hold'em)
• Meat Without Master (Neon Cocoa)
• Rewindead (Spellwork AB)
• Tattered Banners (CookieByte Entertainment)

Best Made with Unity Game

• Dimraeth (Mudtek)
• Last Moon (Sköll Studio)
• Painted Kingdoms (Hectiq)
• Seaward (THE ROOF Interactive)
• Tempus Vitae (Whiteboard Games)

For those looking to discover new games

Most of these nominees are available on Steam. Some are already released, while others are waiting to be added to your wishlist. If you want to try a few before the ceremony, you can top up your account funds with a Steam Wallet Code. Indie games are usually budget-friendly, so you can grab a few even with a small amount.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will the DevGAMM Awards 2026 winners be announced?

The winners will be revealed at the ceremony on November 18, 2026, starting at 7:00 PM CET.

How many games are nominated?

There are seventy unique games nominated across seventeen categories. Some titles appear in more than one category.

Will the ceremony be streamed live?

Yes. The ceremony will be broadcast live on IGN.com and IGN's YouTube channel.