Mutazione, the "mutant soap opera" adventure game set in a gossipy small town 100 years after a meteor strike, leads this year's selection of Independent Games Festival awards nominees with four nominations including for the Seumas McNally Grand Prize. 

Other games with multiple nominations this year include Knights and Bikes (Excellence in Visual Art and Audio), Elsinore (Excellence in Design and Narrative), Slay the Spire (Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Design), A Short Hike (Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Design), Eliza (Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Narrative), and Untitled Goose Game (Seumas McNally Grand Prize and Excellence in Audio, because of course it is). 

Nominees for the 2020 IGF awards were drawn from a selection of more than 550 games, which were submitted to "a diverse set of expert jurors from across the industry for final consideration." The winners will be announced during a ceremony that will take place on March 18 during the Game Developers Conference. For those who can't attend in person, the whole thing will be livestreamed on Twitch.

Behold the full slate of nominees:

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

• Eliza (Zachtronics)
• A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
• Untitled Goose Game (House House)
• Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
• Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)
• Anodyne 2: Return to Dust (Sean Han Tani & Marina Kittaka)

Excellence in Visual Art

• Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
• Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword)
• Void Bastards (Blue Manchu)
• Creature in the Well (Flight School Studio)
• Eastward (Pixpil)
• Stone Story RPG (Martian Rex / standardcombo)

Excellence in Audio

• Observation (No Code)
• Vectronom (Ludopium)
• Astrologaster (Nyamyam)
• Knights and Bikes (Foam Sword)
• Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
• Untitled Goose Game (House House)

Excellence in Design

• Katana ZERO (Askiisoft)
• Lonely Mountains: Downhill (Megagon Industries)
• Slay the Spire (Mega Crit Games)
• A Short Hike (Adam Robinson-Yu)
• Elsinore (Golden Glitch)
• Patrick's Parabox (Patrick Traynor)

Excellence in Narrative

• Mutazione (Die Gute Fabrik)
• Heaven's Vault (inkle)
• Elsinore (Golden Glitch)
• Wide Ocean, Big Jacket (Turnfollow)
• Eliza (Zachtronics)
• LIONKILLER (Sisi Jiang)

Nuovo Award 

• Tales From Off-Peak City Vol. 1 (Cosmo D) 
• Infini (Barnaque) 
• The Space Between (Christoph Frey) 
• Life Tastes Like Cardboard (Demensa)
• Promesa (Julián Palacios)
• Song of Bloom (Philipp Stollenmayer)
• The Longing (Studio Seufz)
• PAGAN: Autogeny (Oleander Garden)

Best Student Game

• Orbital Bullet (SmokeStab)
• A Juggler's Tale (kaleidoscube)
• Forgotten (Mutiny Games)
• Neon Beats (OKYO Games)
• BORE DOME (Goblin rage)
• Nothing In Sight (Nothing In Sight Team)

The winner of the alt.ctrl.GDC award, given to "the most engaging, intriguing, and well-executed game using unconventional, accessible or alternative physical controls," will also be handed out during the ceremony. More than 20 games are in the running for the trophy and $2000 prize this year—the full list of contenders, with trailers, is available at gdconf.com.

Small towns are all full of drama and despite being hit by a meteor 100 years ago, it seems that Mutazione, the town that used to be a resort, is no different. You'll play as 15-year-old Kai who's moved to town to take care of her sick grandfather. While tending to him and his garden, Kai engages in other small-town activities like BBQs and band nights where she deals with all the local gossip.

From its trailer, Mutazione appears to play a bit like an adventure game: walking around talking to different characters while collecting things for your musical garden. But there's more to Mutazione than that. Mysteries are afoot. 

"Things aren’t as simple as they seem... Nonno has other plans for Kai," its Steam page says. "Secrets and betrayals simmer under the friendly community’s surface." On top of that, a creepy bird with a face like a plague doctor's mask seems to be following Kai. 

As with all story-heavy games, to reveal too much would be to spoil it. You can find out for yourself what Mutazione is all about on Steam, itch, and GOG.

Indie studio Die Gute Fabrik are the developers of Sportsfriends, but their next game is something a little bit different. Mutazione is apparently a "mutant soap opera" where you play a 15-year-old girl named Kai who travels to an isolated community called Mutazione that is full of unusual characters—a cat-lady who plays guitar, an angry bug, a mischievous bean thing, some kind of radish person, and plenty more I can barely describe.

Kai has to look after her grandfather by taking over his garden, and the planting minigame seems to provide an admirable amount of freedom in placing your plants. We'll also get to "Make new friends, discover scenic hangouts, uncover long-hidden secrets, and help restore balance to the community by planting a series of magical musical gardens."

It all looks pretty chill but there are a couple of moments in the trailer hinting at a spooky undercurrent. Apparently as well as gardening and watching bands we'll have to "embark on a final spiritual journey to save everyone from the strange darkness at the heart of it all."

Mutazione is due out on Steam on September 19.