Its budget might be only a fraction of its bigger rivals, but indie game Limbo has received more nominations than any other title in the 11th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards .
The small but beautiful puzzle-platformer received seven nominations, ahead of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption (six nominations) and epic sci-fi action-RPG Mass Effect 2 (five).
While the latter two are full-price games, Playdead Studio’s Limbo can be bought for around ten bucks on the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade service. And buy it you should, because it is flippin’ ace, a dark, mysterious, beautiful little puzzler that’s also creepy as hell ( those spiders).
The full list of nominees is below, and the gongs will be handed out on March 2nd in a glittering ceremony of nerd worship in San Francisco.
Best Game Design
* Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Nintendo) * Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) * Limbo (Playdead) * Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) * God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Innovation
* Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream) * Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Good-Feel HAL Laboratory) * Minecraft (Mojang) * Limbo (Playdead) * Dance Central (Harmonix)
Best Technology
* Starcraft II (Blizzard) * Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) * Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream) * Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) * God of War III (SCE Santa Monica)
Best Handheld Game
* God of War: Ghost of Sparta (Ready At Dawn/SCE Santa Monica) * Cut the Rope (ZeptoLab) * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (Kojima Productions) * Game Dev Story (Kairosoft) * Dragon Quest IX (Level 5)
Best Audio
* Limbo (Playdead) * Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) * Halo: Reach (Bungie) * Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (DICE) * Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)
Best Downloadable Game
* Costume Quest (Double Fine) * Limbo (Playdead) * Super Meat Boy (Team Meat) * Minecraft (Mojang) * Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment)
Best Writing
* Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) * Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream) * Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) * Costume Quest (Double Fine) * Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian)
Best Debut Game
* Limbo (Playdead) * Darksiders (Vigil Games) * Minecraft (Mojang) * Monday Night Combat (Uber Entertainment) * Super Meat Boy (Team Meat)
Best Visual Arts
* God of War III (SCE Santa Monica) * Limbo (Playdead) * Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch) * Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal) * Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)
Game of the Year
* Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego) * Mass Effect 2 (BioWare) * Call of Duty: Black Ops (Treyarch) * Limbo (Playdead) * Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)
[Via press release]
