Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 10, 2026

Indie Game Developer Network

The Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) is a trade association for developers of indie role-playing games, board games, card games, and LARPs. They present the annual Indie Groundbreaker Awards at Gen Con. Their other programs include a scholarship to attend the game designer convention Metatopia, a mentorship program, and a peer coaching program.

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The Indie Game Developer Network (IGDN) is a trade association for developers of indie role-playing games, board games, card games, and LARPs.1 They present the annual Indie Groundbreaker Awards at Gen Con.234 Their other programs include a scholarship to attend the game designer convention Metatopia, a mentorship program, and a peer coaching program.56

Indie Groundbreaker Awards

The Indie Groundbreaker Awards began in 2016 and are offered in 5 categories: Game of the Year, Best Art, Best Setting, Best Rules, and Most Innovative. They are judged by a rotating panel of game designers. After the Indie RPG Awards gave their final set of awards in 2017,7 IGDN's Indie Groundbreaker Awards took on their function in the tabletop role-playing game community of evaluating and recognizing achievements in independent game design.

Award Winners by Year

2016

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year A Real Game8 Aura Belle
Best Art Fall of Magic9 Ross Cowman (Heart of the Deernicorn)
Best Setting Downfall10 Caroline Hobbs (Less Than Three Games)
Best Rules Death of Legends11 Imaginary Empire
Most Innovative 183 Days12 Tiny Knives

2017

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Seven Wonders13 Pelgrane Press
Best Art Fellowship14 Liberi Gothica Games
Best Setting War Birds
Best Rules Masks: A New Generation15 Magpie Games
Most Innovative The Beast

2018

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Bluebeard's Bride16 Whitney "Strix" Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, Sarah Doombringer (Magpie Games)
Best Art Bluebeard's Bride17 Whitney "Strix" Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, Sarah Doombringer (Magpie Games)
Best Setting Arecibo18 Evil Hat Productions
Best Rules Damn the Man, Save the Music19 Hannah Shaffer
Most Innovative Feast20 Sharang Biswas
Groundbreaking Supplement Harlem Unbound21 Chris Spivey

2019

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Dialect: A Game About Language and How It Dies22 Kathryn Hymes and Hakan Seyalıoğlu (Thorny Games)
Best Art Bluebeard's Bride: Book of Rooms23 Whitney "Strix" Beltrán, Marissa Kelly, Sarah Doombringer (Magpie Games)
Best Setting The Way of Pukona24 Evil Hat Productions
Best Rules Good Society (game)25 Storybrewers Roleplaying (Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon)
Most Innovative Verdure26 Sharang Biswas

2020

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Companions' Tale27 Laura Simpson
Best Art Humblewood28 Hit Point Press
Best Setting Afterlife: Wandering Souls29 Angry Hamster Publishing
Best Rules Mazes30 9th Level Games
Most Innovative If I Were a Lich, Man31 Lucian Kahn

2021

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Crescendo Giocoso Ritornello32 The Italian Chamber Orchestra
Best Art Lutong Banwa33 Diwata ng Manila
Best Setting Karanduun - Make God Bleed34 Joaquin Kyle Saavedra
Best Rules Slayers35 Spencer Campbell
Most Innovative This Discord Has Ghosts In It36 Will Jobst and Adam Vass (World Champ Game Co.)

2022

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Brave Zenith37 Giuliano Roverato and Rodrigo Melchior
Best Art A Fantastic Longing for Adventure38 Tim Hutchings
Best Setting Arcon: City of Neon Daylight39 Kienna Shaw and Jason Cutrone
Best Rules GUN&SLINGER40 Nevyn Holmes
Most Innovative My Body is a Cage41 Batts

2023

Award Game Credits
Game of the Year Slugblaster: Kickflip Over a Quantum Centipede4243 Mikey Hamm
Best Art Dinocar4244 Julie-Anne Muñoz
Best Graphic Design Butter Princess42 Brian Sago, graphic design by Mike Martens
Best Setting Gubat Banwa42 Joaquin Kyle Saavedra
Best Rules Saltfish and Almanacs42 Storybrewers Roleplaying (Vee Hendro and Hayley Gordon)
Most Innovative The Sticker Game4245 Cassi Mothwin and Joshua Peters
References

References

  1. "The Gaming Shelf Celebrates the Indie Groundbreaker Awards". Gizmodo. 2022-08-02. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  2. "Indie Game Developer Network". Indie Game Developer Network. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  3. "Indie Game Developer Network". Dicebreaker. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  4. Wieland, Rob (August 2, 2018). "THESE 5 INCREDIBLE INDIE RPGS ARE GROUNDBREAKING (AND AWARD-WINNING)". Nerdist.
  5. Girdwood, Andrew (2022-09-11). "2022 IGDN Diversity Sponsorship opens applications and funding". Geek Native. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  6. "Serena and the Power of Collaborative Indie Game Development". the-artifice.com. 26 July 2015. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  7. "Indie RPG Awards". www.indie-rpg-awards.com. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  8. https://auramakesgames.itch.io/
  9. "Fall of Magic – Heart of the Deernicorn".
  10. "Downfall: Less Than Three Games".
  11. "DriveThruRPG".
  12. https://www.drivethrucards.com/product/144510/183-Days
  13. "Seven Wonders – A Story Games Anthology". 18 November 2015.
  14. "DriveThruRPG".
  15. "Masks".
  16. "Bluebeard".
  17. "Bluebeard".
  18. "DriveThruRPG".
  19. "Damn the Man, Save the Music! By Turtlebun".
  20. "Feast by astrolingus".
  21. "Harlem Unbound - 2nd Edition - PDF".
  22. "Dialect: A Game about Language and How it Dies".
  23. "Book of Rooms".
  24. "DriveThruRPG".
  25. "Good Society: A Jane Austen Roleplaying Game".
  26. "Verdure by astrolingus".
  27. "Companions' Tale [Print+PDF] :: Print+PDF Bundles :: IPR".
  28. "Humblewood".
  29. "Afterlife: Wandering Souls [Book & PDF] | Angry Hamster Publishing". 11 September 2019.
  30. "Mazes | 9th Level Games". Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  31. http://ifiwerealichman.com
  32. "Crescendo Giocoso Ritornello by NessunDove".
  33. https://diwatamnl.itch.io/lutong-banwa
  34. "Karanduun - Make God Bleed Edition by makapatag".
  35. "Slayers by Gila RPGS".
  36. "This Discord Has Ghosts in It by will jobst, World Champ Game Co".
  37. "Brave Zenith by Roll 4 Tarrasque".
  38. "A Fantastic Longing for Adventure by timhutchings".
  39. "Arcon by KiennaS, JustJasonPls".
  40. "GUN&SLINGER by Nevyn Holmes".
  41. "My Body is a Cage by Batts".
  42. Carter, Chase (2023-08-01). "IGDN's 2023 Groundbreaker winners include a 90-pound butter heist, reality-spanning stickers and dinos in cars". Dicebreaker. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  43. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/slugblaster/news/slugblaster-tabletop-rpg-kickstarter
  44. https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/best-games/zine-month-2023-rpgs
  45. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/the-sticker-game/news/sticker-game-rpg