Arguably one of the biggest awards in video gaming, the 25th anniversary of the DICE Awards promises a huge deal. While AAA titles dominate the main stage, there’s evidence of some indie titles fighting back and holding their own, with 3 Devolver Digital games featuring heavily in the nominations.
Here, we deep dive into the five nominees for the prestigious Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game Award in 2022. Stay tuned for the final results and winner to be announced on February 24th, 2022.
Death’s Door
The first of the indie game nominations published by Devolver Digital, this top-down 3D action-adventure sets players in a mysterious world of souls, death, and crows. Players must use their wits and weapons to venture beyond the Doors and defeat the evil tyrants that lurk beyond. With an Overwhelmingly Positive rating on Steam and a Metacritic score of 85%, Death’s Door is a top contender for DICE’s 2022 indie game award.
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Sable
It’s no surprise to find Sable in the list of great indie games from the past year – check out our thoughts on Sable from our full game review. Developed by Shedworks and published by Raw Fury, the highly-stylized open world exploration game contains beautiful graphics, neat controls, and great sci-fi vibes. Rated Very Positive on Steam and with a 76% Metacritic score, the game is no stranger to previous awards, and would be a fine contender for another at 2022’s DICE Awards.
Loop Hero
The second Devolver Digital game to be featured in the indie game nominee list, Loop Hero offers tactical retro-inspired roguelike gameplay set in an endless, randomly generated world. Players must choose cards to build their deck and change the world around the hero, directing them either to new equipment and resources, or to their doom. With over 24,000 Positive reviews on Steam alone, this popular indie title developed by Russian studio Four Quarters could well be up for a win.
Inscryption
The third and final indie game entry from Devolver Digital, Inscryption brings a fresh take to the indie horror game genre, and again, unsurprising to find on the list of nominees. Created by Canadian solo game developer Daniel Mullins, Inscryption combines elements of deckbuilding card games, escape rooms, and psychological horror to defeat their mysterious, spooky-eyed foe and escape Leshy’s cabin. The disturbingly haunting game also seems to be the most popular with players, with an Overwhelmingly Positive rating and over 54,000 Positive reviews on Steam alone.
Unpacking
This beautiful storytelling game is a chill puzzling game which tasks players with – you guessed it – unpacking the main character’s possessions out of boxes and finding space for them in their new home. Learning about the character’s backstory through context clues, we progress through the game and vicariously live through the character as they move from place to place. Developed by Witch Beam and published by Humble Games, the award-winning indie game is the newest of the nominees, releasing in November 2021 with an 84% Metacritic score.
