The Independent competition celebrates the most innovative indie games, and includes several different categories, but the big prize is the Main Competition. Entrants this year include Quadrilateral Cowboy, The Banner Saga, and the puzzle-platformer InFlux. 656 entries make this the biggest ever, up from last year’s 589.

This year, the six finalists of the Main Competition award will be announced in January and then at the San Francisco GDC show floor in March, the games will be playable. The winners will be honored on stage during the IGF award ceremony, which itself takes place during the Game Developer’s Conference. 

GDC runs from March 17-21st 2014 in San Francisco. 

What do you think? Excited to see indie games receive recognition? Let us know in the comments below.