The results are in, they’ve been counted, lists have been checked twice etc.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who submitted a game, design or piece of art – we had an astonishing number of entries, representing an enormous amount of work put in by indie developers, writers and artists from all over the world.

So… we are very pleased to announce the finalists for the Inaugural Freeplay Awards!

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Best Australian Game

• Sword Lady & The Viking – Up Down Ready
• Brawsome – Jolly Rover
• Finn Morgan – Colourbind

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Best International Game

• Mahdi Bahrami (Iran) – Bo
• Anders Højsted (Denmark)  - TryFail
• Yellow Jam (Brazil) – Last Hope

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Best Design in a Game

• Sword Lady & The Viking – Up Down Ready
• Alexander Bruce  -  Hazard: The Journey Of Life
• The Voxel Agents –  Train Conductor

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Best On-Paper Design

• Tobye Ryan – Epic Adventure
• Timothy Ryan – iCrazy Man
• Katie Murphy – Galaqua

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Best Art in a Game

• Farbs – Captain Forever (series)
• Alexander Bruce – Hazard: The Journey Of Life
• KlickTock – Doodle Find

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Best Concept Art

• Fiasco Studios – Exodus
• Evan Raynor – City Ruins
• CatBus Interactive – Speed Demon

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Best Technical Innovation

• Farbs – Captain Forever (series)
• Finn Morgan – Colourbind
• Sword Lady & The Viking – Up Down Ready

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Best Game Writing

• Farbs – Captain Forever (series)
• Alexander Bruce – Hazard: The Journey Of Life
• PVI Collective – Transumer

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Best Audio

• The Voxel Agents – Train Conductor
• Tin Man Games – Gamebook Adventures 1: An Assassin in Orlandes
• Brawsome – Jolly Rover

Submissions are closed and judging week is just about over. We had over 50 entries for these awards, from Australia and overseas, and it’s been a very tough job for the judges to pick a winner! (In fact, they’re still going…)

While we all wait for the finalists to be announced, please take some time out, hum “Girl from Ipanema”, and get to know the judges here.

One thing that has been decided though, is to split the Best Game award into two – Best International Game and Best Australian Game. With so many entries from so many different countries, we thought that this would be more fitting, and allows us to celebrate the work of two teams/developers, rather than one. Stay tuned – we’ll announce the finalists soon!

We’re excited to announce that this year, we’ll be holding the inaugural Freeplay Awards!

There’s been some really amazing things happening in the indie games scene and we want to celebrate that. Not only will be be looking at completed games, but we’ll also have categories for best concept art and best on-paper design, which opens the awards up to those creative people who aren’t currently working on a game project, or those people who are at the prototyping stage.

There are up to eight categories – Best Game, Best Design in a Game, Best On-Paper Design, Best Art in a Game, Best Concept Art, Best Technical Innovation, Best Game Writing and Best Audio.

To apply, read through the submission guidelines and rules, and enter using our online application form. Files and links can be emailed to us, and CDs or DVDs can be posted.

You have until 19th July 2010 to enter, and the winners will be announced at the Freeplay Independent Games Festival on the 15th August.

We’re looking forward to seeing all your entries – good luck!

Every week, we fling five fast questions at an unsuspecting game person. Eve is going first so she can lead by example!

What are you working on right now?
Currently, we’re getting all the stuff ready for the Freeplay Independent Games Festival. It’s coming together really well and we’re hoping to make some very interesting announcements soon!
What game do you wish you’d worked on, and why?
Abe’s Oddysee. It wasn’t just an environment, it was a fully designed world, and I love that sense of completeness. I was already working in games when it was released, and I think that was the first time I realised there were other people out there who liked their game universes as well rounded as I did.
If you weren’t involved in games how would you be paying the rent?
I’ve been watching spooks at the moment, so I’ve got to say a spy. I applied to MI5 when they first started accepting applications.
What do you think will be the next big thing?
Ooh. I know what I’d like to be the next big thing. I’ve been getting into geo-caching, and I’d like to see more pervasive games and transmedia, or alternate reality games.
What’s getting you all giddy about games at the moment?
Freeplay!
Eve Penford-Dennis is co-director of Freeplay Inc, bakes a mean lemon tart, and is stuck on Intermediate Level 507 526 571 of Unblock Me.

If you have quick-draw question answering skills, and would like to take part, or if you want to drop a beady-eyed friend in it and nominate them for Fast Five, drop us a line.

Hi everyone, we’re really pleased to announce that tickets for the Freeplay Independent Games Festival are now on sale! You can purchase them online through Moshtix here or by calling Moshtix on 1300 GET TIX (438 849).

Tickets are $20 + booking fee, and are valid for both days of the festival. There are a limited number of tickets so get in quick!

We look forward to seeing you there!

Freeplay has, over the years, become something of a fixture in Melbourne’s game development calendar. When, earlier this year, we spoke to people about running Freeplay, the response was overwhelmingly positive…. which was nice.

Festivals, however, don’t fund themselves, and having taken on the commitment to do Freeplay, we set about making sure that ours would have a roof over its head, and that we could afford to print programs, publicise it, and generally make Freeplay the event we wanted it to be.

Luckily, we’ve found brilliant partners in Next Wave, who previously ran Freeplay and have been excellent and generous mentors, in the Victorian Government, who are very focused on growing the Victorian game industry, and last but by no means least, the State Library of Victoria, who have really embraced game culture, and are keen to explore video games as an artistic and cultural medium.  (And gave Freeplay a roof over its head.)

We’ll keep saying this, but our thanks go out to our partners for helping Freeplay play on. You can check them on our Partners page.