The 'Most Anticipated' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Adventures of a Cat in Space, Modulus: Factory Automation, My Familiar, Sleepytime Village, Something Meaningful, Stretchmancer

Spot a future classic? The shortlisted nominees for 'Most Anticipated' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Adventures of a Cat in Space
Modulus: Factory Automation
My Familiar
Sleepytime Village
Something Meaningful
Stretchmancer

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making the 2026 IGAs possible!

The 'Best New Studio' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; AdHoc Studio, D-CELL GAMES, Evil Trout, Inc., Little Sewing Machine, Space Colony Studios, and Space Lion Studios

The shortlisted nominees for 'Best New Studio' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

AdHoc Studio
D-CELL GAMES
Evil Trout, Inc.
Little Sewing Machine
Space Colony Studios
Space Lion Studios

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

The 'Retro World Award' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Buck and the Cursed Cartridge, D*Fuzed, Earthion, Gas Station Story, Mavericks Baghdad Extraction, Self Simulated

New stuff to play on your old stuff! The nominees for 'Retro World Award' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Buck and the Cursed Cartridge
D*Fuzed
Earthion
Gas Station Story
Mavericks Baghdad Extraction
Self Simulated

Once again, a huge thank you to @gamemaker.io for supporting the IGAs

The 'Free Play Award' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; an unplayable game?!, Old Timer Transport, Pin-Up Solitaire, Poco, Tablecraft, and Type Help

Free, but certainly not lacking in value! The shortlisted nominees for 'Free Play Award' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

an unplayable game?!
Old Timer Transport
Pin-Up Solitaire
Poco
Tablecraft
Type Help

The Debug IGAs are made possible thanks to the support of @gamemaker.io

The 'Physical Release of the Year' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Absolum: Special Edition, D*Fuzed, Foolish Mortals: Big Box Edition, Make Way, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - Special Edition, Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

Let's get physical! The shortlisted nominees for 'Physical Release of the Year' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Absolum: Special Edition
D*Fuzed
Foolish Mortals: Big Box Edition
Make Way
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound - Special Edition
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

- Sponsored by @gamemaker.io

The 'Innovation & Creativity' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Banquet for Fools, CYCLIA JOURNEY, DEAD LETTER DEPT., Deck of Haunts, Into the Restless Ruins, Ruffy and the Riverside

Looking for something different? The shortlisted nominees for 'Innovation & Creativity' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Banquet for Fools
CYCLIA JOURNEY
DEAD LETTER DEPT.
Deck of Haunts
Into the Restless Ruins
Ruffy and the Riverside

Debug's IGAs are proudly sponsored by @gamemaker.io

The 'Best UK Indie' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Cabernet, Citizen Sleeper 2, Into the Restless Ruins, ROUTINE, Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter

The shortlisted nominees for 'Best UK Indie' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Cabernet
Citizen Sleeper 2
Into the Restless Ruins
ROUTINE
Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter

Made possible thanks to @gamemaker.io - Join us for the IRL ceremony on 25 April 2026!

The 'Best VR Game' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Arken Age, Banners & Bastions, Ghost Town, Laser Dance, My Monsters, and The Midnight Walk

Get those headsets ready! The shortlisted nominees for 'Best VR Game' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Arken Age
Banners & Bastions
Ghost Town
Laser Dance
My Monsters
The Midnight Walk

Big up our friends at @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there?

Our voting panel really liked the game! 😊

The 'Best Narrative' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Citizen Sleeper 2, Dispatch, Old Skies, The Drifter, The Roottrees are Dead, Wednesdays

Congratulations! The shortlisted nominees for 'Best Narrative' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Citizen Sleeper 2
Dispatch
Old Skies
The Drifter
The Roottrees are Dead
Wednesdays

A massive thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

Having a really lovely week so far! On Saturday, Heir of the Dog won the “Judges Choice” award at the @gamedevlocal.bsky.social Indie Game Awards, and last night @debugawards.com announced that “Adventures of a Cat in Space” has been nominated for their “Most Anticipated” award too! 🤩
#indiegamedev

The 'Best Gameplay' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Axyz, GlitchSPANKR, Into the Restless Ruins, Katanaut, Spooky Express, The Knightling

The shortlisted nominees for 'Best Gameplay' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Axyz
GlitchSPANKR
Into the Restless Ruins
Katanaut
Spooky Express
The Knightling

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

The 'Best Art Direction' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Bye Sweet Carole, Dreams of Another, Gloomy Eyes, ROUTINE, The Séance of Blake Manor, UNBEATABLE

The shortlisted nominees for 'Best Art Direction' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Bye Sweet Carole
Dreams of Another
Gloomy Eyes
ROUTINE
The Séance of Blake Manor
UNBEATABLE

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

YES WAY

Congratulations. It's well deserved 😊

The 'Best Voice Acting' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Arctic Awakening, Dispatch, Rosewater, The Drifter, The Haunting of Joni Evers, and UNBEATABLE

The shortlisted nominees for 'Best Voice Acting' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Arctic Awakening
Dispatch
Rosewater
The Drifter
The Haunting of Joni Evers
UNBEATABLE

Our live ceremony is made possible thanks to @gamemaker.io - Will we see you there IRL on 25 April 2026?

The 'Best Sound Design' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Arctic Awakening, Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson, ROUTINE, Skate Story, The Knightling, and UNBEATABLE

The shortlisted nominees for 'Best Sound Design' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Arctic Awakening
Fretless: The Wrath of Riffson
ROUTINE
Skate Story
The Knightling
UNBEATABLE

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

The 'Best Soundtrack' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Cabernet, Dispatch, Knights in Tight Spaces, OFF, The Knightling, and UNBEATABLE

Next up: Best Soundtrack!

Cabernet
Dispatch
Knights in Tight Spaces
OFF
The Knightling
UNBEATABLE

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

The 'Award for Accessibility' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring; Adventure to Fate: Dungeons, an unplayable game?!, Laser Dance, Squeakross: Home Squeak Home, Trash Goblin, and Wednesdays

The shortlisted nominees for 'Award for Accessibility' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

Adventure to Fate: Dungeons
an unplayable game?!
Laser Dance
Squeakross: Home Squeak Home
Trash Goblin
Wednesdays

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our ceremony possible. See you there 25 Apr 2026!

Indie Game Awards 2026 | Debug Celebrate independent games at Debug's Indie Game Awards. Discover standout titles recognised for innovation, storytelling, and lasting impact

Tickets to attend the ceremony (for free) are available here: www.debugawards.com

The 'Award for Mental Health' nominees for Debug's Indie Game Awards 2026, featuring: and Roger, Citizen Sleeper 2, Constance, Wanderstop, Wednesdays, and Without a Dawn

The shortlisted nominees for 'Award for Mental Health' at Debug's 2026 Indie Game Awards are...

and Roger
Citizen Sleeper 2
Constance
Wanderstop
Wednesdays
Without a Dawn

Thank you to @gamemaker.io for making our 2026 ceremony possible. See you there IRL on 25 April 2026!

Indie Game Awards 2026 | Debug Celebrate independent games at Debug's Indie Game Awards. Discover standout titles recognised for innovation, storytelling, and lasting impact

P.S. Tickets to the IRL ceremony are free! Go straight to debugawards.com and click the “Free Tickets” button

Massive thanks to everyone who submitted their game to our Indie Game Awards this year!

We’re now going to spend the next month going through the lengthy judging process

In the meantime, be sure to grab your tickets to the IRL ceremony (sponsored by @gamemaker.io) directly from gamesfestival.co.uk

Just so you and anyone else reading this knows, that wasn’t us. We predate “The Indie Game Awards” by around a year.

We’re not big fans of genAI either, but taking an award back is not something we’ve ever done.

The trophy for the Debug Indie Game Awards

We’re adding a category to our IRL awards ceremony… The Bluesky’s Choice Award!

And all you have to do is reply here with the game you believe deserves to win. You don’t even have to follow us 😉

*one nomination per account*
*game must have released in 2025*
*nominations close 31 Jan 2026*

At their core, our awards exist to celebrate the people behind the games, their craft, creativity, and the human effort that brings these projects to life.

Whilst we understand that the tools used to make games evolve over time, we choose to celebrate those made without the use of generative AI.

Rest assured the criteria for our nominations process prohibits the use of generative AI

It is indeed! Josh hosted our awards in February this year :)

Josh Strife Hayes hosting Debug’s Indie Game Awards 2025

Submissions for our 2026 Indie Game Awards are now open!

Once again made possible thanks to the generous support of @gamemaker.io

Submissions are open until February 1st, 2026 - debugawards.com

Indie Game Awards | Debug

New awards category added!

The Long Term Support (LTS) Award recognises indie games which have been supported through years of updates.

If you think this applies to your (or your favourite) game, be sure to submit now - debugawards.com

A trophy for Debug’s 2024 Indie Game Awards

Our physical trophies are also provided without cost, thanks to the sponsorship of GameMaker.

If you can’t make it to the in-person ceremony, we will gladly ship your trophy anywhere in the world.