D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game explained

D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
Country:	United States
Presenter:	Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
Year:	2004
Holder:	Cocoon

The D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This is "awarded to a game that embodies the independent spirit of game creation, representing a higher degree of risk tolerance and advances our media with innovative gameplay and experiences". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category.^[1]

The award's most recent winner is Cocoon, developed by Geometric Interactive and published by Annapurna Interactive.

Past Variations

The Academy introduced the computer genre award of Downloadable Game of the Year for the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.^[2] "Downloadable games are those games in which the user must download a copy to their hard drive of their computer to play. These games sometimes feature a username and password to play, but are not a requirement for entry".^[3] 2006 was the first year that did not offer separate console and PC genre categories, so console and PC games were eligible.^[4] The nomination packet for the 2007 awards listed a genre category for Casual Game of the Year. The category description matched the description for "Downloadable" and even used past finalists as examples.^[5] Finalists were still listed for "Downloadable" instead of "Casual".^[6] Casual Game of the Year was officially offered for the 2009 awards.^[7] Some of the past finalists for "Downloadable" were listed as examples for "Casual". Casual games were defined as "titles that are designed to appeal to novice or experienced players; are produced with low-cost budget targets; are available through online or retail distribution; and may be played on console, computer, or mobile platforms".^[8] Downloadable Game of the Year was reintroduced for the 2012 awards as a "Game of the Year" category; recognizing the "game where the sole form of distribution is through a digital marketplace on PC or console".^[9] Both awards for "Downloadable" and "Casual" would not be offered for the 2015 awards. That same year, the Academy introduced the D.I.C.E. Sprite Award which was "awarded to a game having disproportionate resources for development and exposure (as compared to AAA titles), represent a higher degree of risk tolerance and advances our media with innovative gameplay and experiences. Examples include: The Walking Dead, Limbo, and Fez".^[10] The D.I.C.E. Sprite Award would be replaced with Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game for the 2019 awards ceremony.^[11]

• Downloadable Game of the Year (2004—2008, 2012—2014)
• Casual Game of the Year (2009—2014)
• D.I.C.E. Sprite Award (2015—2018)
• Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game (2019—present)

Winners and nominees

Table key

Indicates the winner

2000s

Year	Game	Developer(s)	Publisher(s)
2003 (7th)	Hamsterball	Raptisoft	Real.com	^[12] ^[13] ^[14] ^[15]
	Poppit! To Go	Pogo.com	Electronic Arts
	Word Whomp To Go
	Zuma Deluxe	PopCap Games	PopCap Games
2004 (8th)	The Incredibles: Escape from Nomanisan Island	Backbone Entertainment	Disney Interactive	^[16] ^[17] ^[18]
	Diner Dash	Gamelab	PlayFirst
	Mahjong Garden To Go	Pogo.com	Electronic Arts
	Shroomz - Quest for Puppy	The Planet	GameTrust, Inc.
2005 (9th)	Wik: The Fable of Souls	Reflexive Entertainment	Reflexive Entertainment	^[19] ^[20] ^[21] ^[22]
	Chuzzle	Raptisoft	PopCap Games
	Egg vs. Chicken	Gamelab	PlayFirst
	Oasis	Mind Control Software
	Tradewinds Legends	Sandlot Games	Sandlot Games
2006 (10th)	Bookworm Adventures	PopCap Games	PopCap Games	^[23] ^[24] ^[25]
		PlayFirst	PlayFirst
	Mystery Case Files: Prime Suspects	Big Fish Studios	Big Fish Games
	Plantasia	Gamelab	PlayFirst
	Virtual Villagers: A New Home	Last Day of Work	Big Fish Games
2007 (11th)		Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions	D3 Publisher	^[26] ^[27]
	Azada	Big Fish Studios	Big Fish Games
	Build-a-lot	HipSoft	HipSoft
	flOw	Thatgamecompany	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Peggle	PopCap Games	PopCap Games
2008 (12th)	Braid	Number None	Microsoft Game Studios	^[28]
	Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst	Big Fish Studios	Big Fish Games
	Patapon	Japan Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Professor Layton and the Curious Village	Level-5	Nintendo
	World of Goo	2D Boy	2D Boy, Nintendo
2009 (13th)	flower	Thatgamecompany	Sony Computer Entertainment	^[29]
		Big Fish Studios	Big Fish Games
	Flight Control	Firemint	Firemint
	Plants vs. Zombies	PopCap Games	PopCap Games
	Scribblenauts	5th Cell	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

2010s

Year	Game	Developer(s)	Publisher(s)
2010 (14th)	Angry Birds HD	Rovio Entertainment	Chillingo	^[30] ^[31]
	Bejeweled 3	PopCap Games	PopCap Games
	Kinect Sports	Rare	Microsoft Game Studios
	Pac-Man Championship Edition DX	Namco Bandai Games	Namco Bandai Games
	Plants vs. Zombies	PopCap Games	PopCap Games
2011 (15th)	Downloadable Game of the Year	^[32] ^[33]
	Bastion		Supergiant Games	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	Drawn: Trail of Shadows		Big Fish Studios	Big Fish Games
	Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet		Shadow Planet Productions	Microsoft Studios
	Ms. Splosion Man		Twisted Pixel Games
	Orcs Must Die!		Robot Entertainment
	Casual Game of the Year
	Fruit Ninja Kinect		Halfbrick Studios	Microsoft Studios
	Jetpack Joyride		Halfbrick Studios	Halfbrick Studios
	Monsters Ate My Condo		Adult Swim Games	PikPok
	Tiny Wings		Andreas Illiger	Andreas Illiger
	Where's My Water?		Disney Interactive	Disney Interactive
2012 (16th)	Downloadable Game of the Year	^[34]
	The Walking Dead		Telltale Games	Telltale Games
	Fez		Polytron Corporation	Microsoft Studios
	Journey		Thatgamecompany	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Mark of the Ninja		Klei Entertainment	Microsoft Studios
	The Unfinished Swan		Giant Sparrow, Santa Monica Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Casual Game of the Year
	Journey		Thatgamecompany	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Fairway Solitaire		Big Fish Studios	Big Fish Games
	Puzzle Craft		Ars Thanea	Electronic Arts
	Rayman Jungle Run		Ubisoft Montpellier, Pastagames	Ubisoft
	Sound Shapes		Queasy Games	Sony Computer Entertainment
2013 (17th)	Downloadable Game of the Year	^[35]
			Starbreeze Studios	505 Games
			Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Gone Home		Fullbright	Fullbright
	Papers, Please		Lucas Pope	3909
	The Stanley Parable		Galactic Cafė	Galactic Cafė
	Casual Game of the Year
	Plants vs. Zombies 2		PopCap Games	Electronic Arts
	Candy Box!		aniwey	aniwey
	Peggle 2		PopCap Games	Electronic Arts
	Rayman Fiesta Run		Ubisoft Casablanca	Ubisoft
	Ridiculous Fishing		Vlambeer	Vlambeer
2014 (18th)	Transistor	Supergiant Games	Supergiant Games	^[36] ^[37]
	Hohokum	Honeyslug	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Monument Valley	Ustwo	Ustwo
	The Banner Saga	Stoic	Versus Evil
	Threes	Sirvo	Sirvo
2015 (19th)	Rocket League	Psyonix	Psyonix	^[38] ^[39]
		17-Bit	17-Bit
	Her Story	Sam Barlow	Sam Barlow
	Kerbal Space Program	Squad	Squad
	Undertale	Toby Fox	Toby Fox
2016 (20th)	Inside	Playdead	Playdead	^[40] ^[41]
		iNK Stories	iNK Stories
	Firewatch	Campo Santo	Campo Santo
	Superhot	Superhot Team	Superhot Team
	That Dragon, Cancer	Numinous Games	Numinous Games
2017 (21st)	Snipperclips	SFB Games	Nintendo	^[42] ^[43]
	Everything	David O'Reilly	Double Fine Productions
	Gorogoa	Jason Roberts, Buried Signal	Annapurna Interactive
	Night in the Woods	Infinite Fall, Secret Lab	Finji
	Pyre	Supergiant Games	Supergiant Games
2018 (22nd)	Celeste	Matt Makes Games	Matt Makes Games	^[44] ^[45]
	Florence	Mountains	Annapurna Interactive
	Into the Breach	Subset Games	Subset Games
	Minit	Jan Willem Nijman, Kitty Calis, Jukio Kallio, Dominik Johann	Devolver Digital
	Return of the Obra Dinn	Lucas Pope	3909
2019 (23rd)	Untitled Goose Game	House House	Panic	^[46] ^[47]
	A Short Hike	Adam Robinson-Yu	Adam Robinson-Yu
	Disco Elysium	ZA/UM	ZA/UM
	Sayonara Wild Hearts	Simogo	Annapurna Interactive
	What the Golf?	Triband	Triband, The Label

2020s

Year	Game	Developer(s)	Publisher(s)
2020 (24th)	Hades	Supergiant Games	Supergiant Games	^[48] ^[49]
	Coffee Talk	Toge Productions	Toge Productions, Chorus Worldwide
	If Found...	Dreamfeel	Annapurna Interactive
	Kentucky Route Zero	Cardboard Computer
	Noita	Nolla Games	Nolla Games
2021 (25th)	Unpacking	Witch Beam	Humble Bundle	^[50] ^[51]
	Death's Door	Acid Nerve	Devolver Digital
	Inscryption	Daniel Mullins Games
	Loop Hero	Four Quarters
	Sable	Shedworks	Raw Fury
2022 (26th)	Tunic	Isometricorps Games	Finji	^[52] ^[53] ^[54]
	Immortality	Half Mermaid Productions	Half Mermaid Productions
	Neon White	Angel Matrix	Annapurna Interactive
		Tribute Games	Dotemu
	Vampire Survivors	poncle	poncle
2023 (27th)	Cocoon	Geometric Interactive	Annapurna Interactive	^[55] ^[56] ^[57] ^[58]
	Dredge	Black Salt Games	Team17
	El Paso, Elsewhere	Strange Scaffold	Strange Scaffold
	Thirsty Suitors	Outerloop Games	Annapurna Interactive
	Venba	Visai Games	Visai Games

Multiple nominations and wins

Developers and publishers

PopCap Games has developed the most nominees. PopCap Games, Supergiant Games, and Thatgamecompany are the only developers that have won more than once. Annapurna Interactive, Microsoft and Sony Interactive Entertainment are tied for publishing the most finalists. Microsoft, Sony, and Supergiant Games are the only companies that have published the winners of this category more than once. Big Fish Games has developed and published the most finalists that have not won.

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Supergiant Games	4	3
PopCap Games	8	2
Thatgamecompany	4	2
Halfbrick Studios	2	1
Raptisoft	2	1
Big Fish Studios	6	0
Gamelab	3	0
Pogo.com	3	0
Lucas Pope	2	0

Publishers

Publisher	Nominations	Wins
Microsoft Game Studios	8	2
Sony Computer Entertainment	8	2
Supergiant Games	3	2
Annapurna Interactive	8	1
PopCap Games	7	1
Electronic Arts	6	1
Nintendo	3	1
Finji	2	1
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment	2	1
Big Fish Games	7	0
PlayFirst	5	0
Devolver Digital	4	0
Ubisoft	3	0
3909	2	0
Disney Interactive	2	0

Franchises

Plants vs. Zombies is the only game that has been nominated for the same category more than once: Casual Game of the Year in 2010 for the PC release, and in 2011 for iOS devices and/or the Xbox 360. Journey is the only game that is a finalist for both Downloadable Game of the Year and Casual Game of the Year within the same year, winning for the latter.

Franchise	Nominations	Wins
Plants vs. Zombies	3	1
Journey	2	1
Diner Dash	2	0
Drawn	2	0
Mystery Case Files	2	0
Peggle	2	0
Rayman	2	0

Notes and References

1. Web site: D.I.C.E. Awards Voting Rules & Procedures . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 10 December 2023.
2. Web site: Seventh Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Nomination Form . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 27 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20031210062045/http://www.interactive.org:80/downloads/nomination%20form.pdf . December 10, 2003.
3. Web site: 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Procedures & Rules . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 25 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20050117162211/http://www.interactive.org:80/downloads/2004%20Nomination%20Packet.pdf . January 17, 2005 . dead.
4. Web site: 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Nomination Packet . DICE Summit . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 27 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060211020528/http://www.dicesummit.org/content/pdf/2006-IAA-Nomination-Packet.pdf . February 11, 2006 . dead.
5. Web site: Submission Form - 10th Annual Awards . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 18 December 2023.
6. Web site: 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Finalists . D.I.C.E. Summit . 18 December 2023.
7. Web site: 12th ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS RULES AND PROCEDURES . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 19 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081203093913/http://www.interactive.org:80/images/pdfs/12th_Annual_Rules_&_Procedures_with_Letter.pdf . December 3, 2008.
8. Web site: 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards Rules and Procedures . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 22 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120510042620/http://www.interactive.org/images/pdfs/14th_Annual_Academy_Rules_And_Procedures.pdf . May 10, 2012.
9. Web site: 15th ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS RULES AND PROCEDURES . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 21 December 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111124221840/http://www.interactive.org/images/pdfs/15th-Annual-IAA-Rules-and-Procedures.pdf . November 24, 2011.
10. Web site: 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Rules and Procedures . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 21 December 2023.
11. Web site: 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Rules & Procedures . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 28 December 2023.
12. Web site: Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Announces Finalists for the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards . Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences . 19 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061004060859/http://www.interactive.org/content/pdf/AIAS_PressRelease_021304.pdf . October 4, 2006 . dead.
13. Web site: Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) Announces Winners for the 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards . Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences . 19 January 2024 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061004061035/http://www.interactive.org/content/pdf/AIAS_PressRelease_030404.pdf . October 4, 2006.
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40. Web site: 2017 Award Category Details . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 16 December 2022.
41. Web site: Albert . Weston . Overwatch Wins Game of the Year at DICE Awards 2017 . GameRant . gamerant.com . 16 December 2022 . February 24, 2017.
42. Web site: 2018 Award Category Details . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 16 December 2022.
43. Web site: Iyer . Karthik . DICE Awards 2018: Here Are All the Games That Won . Beebom . Beebom Media Private Limited . 16 December 2022 . February 23, 2018.
44. Web site: 2019 Award Category Details . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 17 December 2022.
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46. Web site: 2020 Award Category Details . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 17 December 2022.
47. Web site: Shanley . Patrick . 2020 DICE Awards: 'Untitled Goose Game' Takes Top Honor . The Hollywood Reporter . The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. . 17 December 2022 . April 22, 2021.
48. Web site: 2021 Awards Category Details . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 17 December 2022.
49. Web site: Skrebels . Joe . D.I.C.E. Awards 2021: All the Winners . IGN . April 22, 2021 . 11 January 2023.
50. Web site: 2022 Awards Category Details . Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences . 17 December 2022.
51. Web site: Bankhurst . Adam . DICE Awards 2022 Winners: The Full List . IGN . 17 December 2022 . February 25, 2022.
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54. Web site: Bankhurst . Adam . DICE Awards 2023 Winners: The Full List . IGN . February 24, 2023 . 25 February 2023.
55. Web site: Congratulations to the 27th Annual #DICEAwards Finalist . . interactive.org . 10 January 2024.
56. Web site: DICE Awards 2024 Winners: The Full List . Bankhurst . Adam . . 15 February 2024 . 15 February 2024.
57. Web site: Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Announces Winners of 2023's Best Video Games at 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards . . interactive.org . 15 February 2024.
58. Web site: 2024 Awards Category Details Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game . . interactive.org . 16 February 2024.