Gumboy Crazy Adventures wins Game of the Year at Game Tunnel's 5th Annual Independent Games of the Year Awards
January 1, 2007 -- Rolling ahead of the pack, Gumboy Crazy Adventures was the 2006 winner of the Independent Game of the Year award. The award, the culminating event of Game Tunnel's 5th Annual Game of the Year awards, is given each year to the most outstanding Independent Video Game.
The Independent Game of the Year awards have been established to honor ingenuity, innovation and excellence in Independent Games. This year's awards began December 9th with the Sports Game of the Year award and have continued through 3 weeks and 17 categories finishing with the Top 10 Independent Games of the Year and Gumboy Crazy Adventures taking the top spot.
Created by a group of artists, Gumboy's visual style captivated reviewers at Game Tunnel almost as much as the innovative gameplay where the character rolls, floats and bobs his way to victory through a carefully-crafted and artfully-drawn fantasy world. The unique and original play makes the game a poster child for the unconventional approach for which Independent Games are recognized.
"Independent Games are known for pushing the boundaries of gaming, providing an experience that is singular and different," said Russell Carroll, Editor-In-Chief at Game Tunnel. "We are excited every year for the opportunity to play these wonderfully original and inventive games and are happy to award winners in multiple categories to celebrate their achievements."
An article providing descriptions, links, and downloads to all the award winners can be found at: http://www.gametunnel.com/articles.php?id=569 . The list of all award categories and winners is as follows:
Independent Game of the Year - Gumboy Crazy Adventures
Technical Categories:
Game of the Year: Graphics - Steam Brigade
Game of the Year: Sound - Aveyond
Game of the Year: Innovation - The Odyssey: Winds of Athena
Game of the Year: Multiplayer - Dawnspire: Prelude
Special Awards
Kid's Game of the Year - Fizzball
Webgame of the Year - Dodge that Anvil!
Technical Excellence - Minions of Mirth
Freeware Game of the Year - The Blob
Player's Choice Award - Steam Brigade
Genres:
Action Game of the Year - Titan Attacks
Arkanoid Game of the Year - Fizzball
Casual Game of the Year - Eets: Hunger. It's Emotional
Quest/Adventure/Platform Game of the Year - Gumboy Crazy Adventures
RPG Game of the Year - FastCrawl
Sim Game of the Year - Virtual Villagers
Sports Game of the Year - Motorama
Strategy Game of the Year - Master of Defense
About Game Tunnel
Game Tunnel was created in 2002 with the goal of providing news and reviews on the Independent Gaming scene. Since its launch Game Tunnel has published nearly 700 reviews of Independent Games. It's most popular articles include the monthly round-up, which features a panel of well-known industry veterans who review the majority of independent games released each month, and the end of the year awards, which awards innovation and excellence in Independent Games each year. In addition Game Tunnel has a regular schedule of independent game-related features including previews, developer Q&As, multiple column offerings and news stories to along with a large download section.
About Independent Games
Many independent games have found their way into the everyday lifestyle of gamers around the world without them even realizing what they are playing. While the moniker of a developer creating games out of their parent's garage still has validity, new computer tools have made the costs associated with creating games much lower and have made it possible for independent game developers to bring their own game ideas to the public like never before through both online channels and through new distribution channels such as the Xbox 360's Live Arcade.
These developers have created many of the most innovative games available over the last few years, doing so on very limited budgets and releasing the titles on their own without the help of major publishers.
Though most Independent developers pride themselves on creating new and innovative titles Independent games are not limited to the 'mainstream' market, but also cross-over into the rapidly growing 'casual' marketplace. Nearly all of the games available through sites such as Reflexive ( http://www.reflexive.com), Real Arcade ( http://www.realarcade.com/), and MSN Games ( http://zone.msn.com) are Independent Games. However the casual games created by independent developers only highlight a portion of the independent gaming world.
CONTACT:
Russell Carroll
Game Tunnel
rcarroll@gametunnel.com