On October 13th, developer 2D Boy launched a birthday sale for World of Goo for the PC, Linux, and Mac, allowing customers to pay whatever amount they felt the game was worth, from $.01 on up. On the 20th they extended the sale through October 25th after delivering a set of sales statistics that delivered an important message: they were watching.

Once customers knew 2D Boy was keeping track of sales numbers, the average price-per-purchase jumped a small yet significant amount. 2D Boy attributes this leap to the fact that they let folks know that they received no money from purchases under $.30. I'd like to attribute it to the fact that people were suddenly more aware of how cheap they were being, adjusting their purchases accordingly.

The chart at the top of this post shows the average price paid for World of Goo per platform over the course of the sale, and as you can plainly see, PC gamers took full advantage of the developer's generosity. One could argue that there are a lot more of them, but that could also mean PC gamers had more of a chance to shine. The results don't surprise me though, as Mac users are so hip that people just hand them cash on the street, and Linux users passed along the money they saved on buying an operating system.

2D Boy's website also features a chart showing the average donation by country, which they calculated into the per-capita gross domestic product of each country to determine each country's generosity. While Switzerland paid the highest on average, their generosity was only a 3.23 compared to Brazil's 5.62.

And what of the United States, the country with the second highest GDP behind Norway? Our generosity is a 1.0, paying a measly $1.83 a copy. Way to represent, America!

Pay-What-You-Want Birthday Sale Wrap-up [2D Boy]

The good news? The World of Goo birthday sale was such a huge success that 2D Boy has extended it through October 25th. The not-so-good news? There are an awful lot of cheap bastards out there. The developers made my wish come true, tracking the prices that purchasers chose to pay, along with some of the reasons behind the amount chosen. As you can see from the graph, the vast majority of purchasers opted to pay between $.01 and $2 for the game, which normally sells for $19.99. It is certainly heartening to see that 400 or so folks opted to pay more than the game was worth, but things are definitely weighed more towards the cheapskates.

2D Boy also conducted a survey towards the latter end of the sale's first week, asking customers how much they spent and the reasoning behind their decision. Why a small percentage felt they were simply paying what the game was worth, the majority indicated that they paid what they could afford, leading us to draw the conclusion that the only people more destitute than struggling indie game developers are indie game fans. Poor guys.

You can read the full results of the sale so far over at 2D Boy's blog.

If you're having difficult answering the question "What are you playing this weekend?" here's a list of what you could be playing for mere pennies on the dime. Steam's "Weekend Deal" features no less than ten of the top indie games from the past year, including Audiosurf, Blueberry Garden, Braid, Crayon Physics Deluxe, Darwinia, Everyday Shooter, Gish, Mr. Robot, The Path and World of Goo all for just $29.99 USD. Insane! I paid fifteen bucks for Braid alone!

If that's simply too much game for too much value for you to handle, Direct2Drive is similarly blowing out indie games, with the Best of Indie bundle. That features Zeno Clash, Defense Grid: The Awakening, Democracy 2, The Path and Cogs for just $17.75 USD. Bonkers, really.

Don't less these offers pass you by. Web servers are standing by to take your credit card information then send you data packets bursting with fun. Act now!

Best of Indie Bundle [D2D]
Indie Sale [Steam]

So, yeah, you can now buy your digital Wii games from someone other than Nintendo. If that's something that's been really tearing you up inside.

Since a move like this was rumoured at the time of the original XBLA announcement - indeed, we said at the time a move like this was inevitable - it's surely only a matter of time until we see the mega-retailer selling Virtual Console and PlayStation Network titles as well. PSN games in your Amazon.com anyone?

World of Goo [Amazon, via NeoGAF]

You know you want World of Goo. Everybody loved it, including us. And you don't want to be one of those video game pirating so and so's responsible for sending a nice indie developer like 2D Boy into the poorhouse. Plus, the soundtrack is free!

The system requirements are low, the game is cheap, and you'll impress your friends with your varied gameplay tastes. What more could you want? A link? Here you go!

World of Goo [Steam]

Nintendo of America's senior director of project development Tom Prata, who spoke today at DICE, disclosed the Japanese release.

The game has already been released via WiiWare in North America in October 2008 and in Europe in December 2008. World of Goo has also been released on Steam as well as via traditional retail release.

The game is $20, DRM-free and supports 64-bit systems. A demo version featuring the game's first chapter is available if you want to try before you buy.

Linux blogger Ken Starks talked to 2D Boy's Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, and wrote a detailed post about the development difficulties, technical and otherwise, posed by porting Goo over to Linux. Gabler says:

"There were a few small technical hurdles, but Maks is either a genius, or the port was not much trouble at all! One technical hurdle was with Pulse Audio, which apparently comes standard on major distros like Ubuntu. It introduces quite a bit of audio lag. This would be fine for most applications, but it's not good for games, where the goal is to build an extremely responsive system that feels snappy. We were able to work with it, and get the game feeling right, but it took a bit of effort. I realize I'll get shot for saying this, but in Windows, it just worked right away!"

"Also, and I've mentioned this before - Linux is created by too many smart opinionated people! There are a lot of very good ideas, but it can become difficult for developers to support all the different distro formats, bundles, audio/video systems. For linux to REALLY take over, it has to be easy for developers to make stuff, and easy for users to get stuff. It's one of those things where too many options can be suffocating, and ultimately hurt the cause."

World of Good Linux Version is Ready! [2D Boy via LinuxGames]

The move would allow the company to retain control over its operations while it reorganizes to pay its creditors.

We searched the filings for U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Ohio but could find nothing under Brighter Minds Media or the attorney said to represent them. But if it was filed late Friday it may not show up in the system until Monday or later.

World of Goo was the big hit out of Brighter Minds' family friendly catalog of titles last year. It took top indie game honors at the 2008 Video Game Awards, and also won the prize for design innovation and technical excellence at the 2008 Independent Games Festival. It was our runner up for best indie game.

It was also popular among pirates; released DRM-free, developer 2D Boy estimated that it suffered from a nearly 90 percent piracy rate.

World of Goo Publisher Brighter Minds Media Goes Bankrupt [GameDaily BIZ via Joystiq

The game's 27 tracks add up to an 85MB zip file. The mirrors are crashing fast, so if you're interested in getting the music, I'd hop over there pronto.

Here are the track notes to wet your appetite:

1. World of Goo Beginning
This is the main theme of World of Goo, and the first chunk of music I wrote for the game, specifically for our first trailer. I wanted the theme of the game to somehow reflect the song Libertango by Astor Piazzolla, which was the track I used in the original Tower of Goo prototype back in school. Listen for a similar chord progression once the melody kicks in.

2. The Goo Filled Hills

3. Brave Adventurers
A livelier version of Ode to the Bridge Builder.

4. Another Mysterious Pipe Appeared

5. World of Goo Corporation

6. Regurgitation Pumping Station
From a soundtrack I wrote for a friend's short film about going on a date with the devil.

7. Threadcutter
From one of my small games, Blow.

8. Rain Rain Windy Windy
From a soundtrack I wrote for a short kid's movie. Writing kid's music was difficult.

9. Jelly
Music I wrote for a virtual reality world. You are in a subway. And you are a giant banana.

10. Tumbler

11. Screamer
Almost didn't include this one in the game, but a friend convinced me a few days before we finished. I'm glad he did!

12. Burning Man
Theme I wrote for a friend's drama/mystery series. I recorded two friends singing single notes, and then I was able to play them back with my keyboard to get a "choir". This became the theme for "progress" in the game. A variation is used for MOM's theme.

13. Cog in the Machine
You can hear a clip from this track in one of my other small games Robot and the Cities Who Built Him

14. Happy New Year (tm) Brought to You by Product Z
Recorded some great singers from Carnegie Mellon. This is the first time the "what's up there anyway" theme can be heard. You can hear the same theme in the tracks Years of Work and The Last of the Goo Balls.

15. Welcome to the Information Superhighway
I wrote this one back in high school, which makes me feel old. You can hear a nod to phantom of the opera in a section of the organ part. I had forgotten this song existed, and was glad to find it burned onto an old rotting cd-rom. I think this was the first time I ever recorded someone singing. Only the second half of this clip is used in the game.

16. Graphic Processing Unit

17. Years of Work

18. My Virtual World of Goo Corporation
Originally written for a friend's NES game Dikki Painguin.

19. Hello, MOM

20. Inside the Big Computer

21. Are You Coming Home, Love MOM

22. Ode to the Bridge Builder
This was the second track I wrote for the game. The goal was to make a variation on Amazing Grace, in the style of those old western soundtracks by Ennio Morricone.

23. The Last of the Goo Balls and the Telescope Operator

24. Best of Times
This has become the unofficial second theme to World of Goo, after we used it in our second trailer. I originally wrote this for an animated short film I made with some friends. I recorded a bunch of performers all huddled around a single microphone in my bedroom to get the layers used in this track. Drums were made by banging on chairs and cardboard boxes.

25. Red Carpet Extend-o-matic
I wrote this in 2001 as a joke for a music class in undergrad. Only the beginning of this song is used in the game, and for only one level, but it has become one of the most requested pieces of music. So, here's the "full song", but it comes with a warning - this song is designed to sound like every cheap 90's dance song ever made. The singer is great though, an astrophysicist named Jessica. I gave a her a chainsaw for her wedding and we never spoke again. The end.

26. World of Goo Corporation's Valued Customers

27. World of Goo Ending
Main theme to World of Goo, and used in our third and final trailer.

World of Goo Soundtrack

"World of Goo? I'm sure it's fun," Moore then blogged, "and the reviewers certainly loved it, but surprised to see up so high."

Well, the exec has finally played the game, writing, "While I do have a day job, I had to at least download the demo and have a hand at the game before I moved on... By every admission, I am more of a sports guy and this isn't my default cup of tea, but there's a ton to admire in something so simple, yet full of impressive physics that make for an elegant and somewhat addictive experience (even in the demo!)."

Moore then goes on to say World of Goo is a lesson: "There's a lot to learn from the EA alumni who started 2D Boy and built something as creative and unique as World of Goo, with such a small team and little money. It's that type of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that can really drive innovation, and I'd like to think we're setting the right priorities and taking the right steps to deliver more experiences in this vein from EA SPORTS."

Wait, there's something to learn from two guys who used to work at EA but then quit and went off and made a creative indie game that all the game critics love?

Learning From World of Goo [Peter Moore Blog via WiiWare World] [Pic]

Singled out for praise in a feature titled "If Jackson Pollock Were a Gamer" are De Blob, World of Goo, Echochrome and Flower, coming out soon on PSN.

"Independent, low-budget movies changed Hollywood. Niche cable shows revolutionized television. Digital music toppled record labels. But for decades, console video games have remained overwhelmingly corporate," New York mag writes. The drop in development costs and the opportunities presented by digital distribution have given rise to art houses "unshackled from the blockbuster-or-bust mentality of the big corporations," and free to deliver "a new golden age of smart, beautiful, and really weird games."

High praise indeed. Chalk down another one for the serious discussion of video games as an art form.

The New Art Form: If Jackson Pollock Were a Gamer [New York Magazine]

"Last we checked the piracy rate was about 90%" said 2D Boy's Ron Carmel, his faith in humanity clearly a little dinted. Carmel dropped this stat bomb into the Rock Paper Shotgun forums and went on to confirm to Joystiq that he had seen "500 seeders and 300 leechers" torrenting the game.

It is hard to say exactly what this means - surely many of the downloads would not have planned to buy the game anyway and Carmel does admit to receiving mail from " a very small percentage" of pirates who DID buy the game - but all the same... very poor indeed.

World of Goo has 90% piracy rate [Joystiq]

The concept is simple: stack a series of 99 tetriminos to build the highest possible tower, taking into account the physics of building such a structure from Tetris blocks. Fortunately for your quest for height, a completed line does not delete it, as it would in Alexey Pajitnov's classic puzzle game.

It may be more of a challenge than you'd think. It definitely requires some patience to burn through nearly a hundred blocks, but it's so well designed, it's worth the Flash time.

99 Bricks [Kongregate via Waxy]

And yet, here I am, having just finished World of Goo, 2D Boy's physics based goo building game, and I’m writing a review about it. Was it because I did something wrong, and was, yes, being punished? Or did I, somehow, find a puzzle game enjoyable?

Loved
A Gentle Curve – You’ll never “hit the wall” in World of Goo. The puzzles ramp up in difficulty quite gently, and even if you do hit a point where you can’t get your head around a problem, you can just skip that level and come back to it later. Which is a neat feature.

Metagame – The entire game is based around clearing stages by getting a certain number of “goos” from one end of the map to the other. Pretty simple. But any surplus goo you acquire gets stored at the World of Goo Corporation, a sideshow/sandbox stage. In it, you can build a tower, and as you build, the game pings the servers so you can see how high your tower is in relation to everyone else’s. This quickly flips the script, as what was at first a diversion quickly becomes the driving force behind your progression throughout the game.

Presentation – Two guys made World of Goo. You’d never have guessed. Quirky, smart writing, clean graphics and a soundtrack that’s equal parts jolly and haunting – depending on the tone of the level – make it one of the most polished indie games we’ve ever seen.

Hated
Wha?– Of course, being made by two guys means other areas of the game are a little rough. Some things – like explaining the full range of what certain goos, and certain objects and obstacles, can and can’t do – is left a little too ambiguous, resulting in needless trial-and-error.

World of Goo is one hell of a puzzle game because, as someone normally lacking in the patience for such things, I enjoyed every second I spent with it. And that doesn’t happen very often. It’s forgiving, it’s addictive, it’s gorgeous, it’s smart. Well worth a look, particularly if your Wii is getting a little dusty.

World of Goo was developed by 2D Boy, released on Oct. 13 for Nintendo Wii (WiiWare) and PC. Retails for USD$19.99 on PC, 1500 Wii Points on WiiWare. Played single player mode to completion and built a really, really big tower on PC.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

He knew the capabilities were there. The early iterations of Spore in the EA Advanced Weapons Labs had showed the way. But the cost... they’d had to nuke an escaped Brian Crecente on the corner of 4th Avenue and Broadway. Only a clumsy Gawker clone and a Sims expansion pack which wiped the knowledge of that intersection from the public mind had ensured the cover up. His favourite noodle house had been on that corner. Really great noodles ....

He wondered if he should arrange another attempt on Stephen Totilo – the wounds from the Desktop Tower Defense debacle were still fresh. But it was the little guys who were causing the real problems: penetration attacks from TIGSource were getting more common every day and Stallman still lived, protected by the Dckx mafia, despite that outrageous price on his head. He could feel the sand slipping through his fingers like goo through a pipe. How could he identify the next big thing if he couldn’t even see the potential in his own staff?

As Doull says in a comment below the 'review,' "Despite what I wrote, this isn't a specific dig at EA or the game industry. It was more a 'isn't it a great opportunity to be an independent developer, because the tools are now out there to not have to worry about the low level stuff anymore'." It's worth a read just for the mental image of a clone Crecente and a destroyed corner in New York City. Long live the indie game.

Review: World of Goo [Ascii Dreams via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Over on the Virtual Console we have Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition, the first version of the classic fighting franchise for the Sega Genesis (800 points), along with a real treat - Secret of Mana for the Super Nintendo (800 points), the second game in Square's Mana series following Final Fantasy Adventure on the Gameboy. So much goodness to choose from, and me a three-hour plane ride from home. Curse you Nintendo!

WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO WIIWARE GAMES AND TWO VIRTUAL CONSOLE GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL
Oct. 13, 2008

Armchair physicists rejoice! The hotly anticipated award-winning World of Goo™ makes its WiiWare™ debut this week, inviting players to build infinitely fascinating structures out of Goo and uncover the mystery behind the World of Goo Corporation. Other cool additions to the Wii Shop Channel™ this week include Art Style™: CUBELLO™, the second installment in Nintendo's Art Style series, and a pair of classics for the Virtual Console™: SECRET OF MANA™ and STREET FIGHTER™ II': SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION. Fun offerings like these are sure to heat up your October, no matter how low the autumn temperatures may go.

Nintendo adds new and classic games to the Wii Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week's new games are:

WiiWare

World of Goo (2D Boy, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,500 Wii Points): World of Goo is an award-winning, physics-based puzzle/construction game made entirely by two guys. Grab living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins and giant tongues. The millions of Goo Balls that live in the beautiful World of Goo are curious to explore—but they don't know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious. World of Goo Corporation is contractually obligated to state that everyone is a winner, and is enthusiastic to celebrate everyone's Goo building opportunities equally.

Art Style: CUBELLO (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Art Style: CUBELLO mixes the strategy and feel of a traditional puzzle game with the precision and reflexes required in a shooter. As each stage begins, various colored cubes form into one large object called a Cubello, which floats and rotates as you play. Launch additional cubes from your magazine and try to connect four or more of the same color, removing them from the Cubello and eventually leaving only its core. Take on the challenge of either Stage or Endless mode and watch what happens when Bonus Time is activated. The straightforward controls and goal ensure that anyone can play, while offering enough depth that even advanced players will find themselves quickly addicted to the unique world of Art Style: CUBELLO.

Virtual Console

SECRET OF MANA (Super NES™, 1-3 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older—Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 800 Wii Points): Good and evil battle for a young warrior's heart. There is one force in the universe that keeps good and evil in perfect balance. It is called the tree of Mana. But a magic sword has tricked a young warrior into upsetting this balance, spreading evil throughout the land. Thus, the warrior must undertake a dangerous journey to find the seeds of the Mana tree, which have been hidden for centuries. Only then can perfect harmony be restored. In this incredible adventure, things are not as they seem. Magic swords release evil as well as fight it. Treasure chests hold booby traps. Monsters are friends and friends are enemies. Potions give power, black magic takes it away. Dragons fly, weapons change. It's a world turned upside down that you must help the warrior make right. And the only way to succeed is to solve the Secret of Mana.

STREET FIGHTER II': SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Violence, 800 Wii Points): STREET FIGHTER II': SPECIAL CHAMPION EDITION was the first STREET FIGHTER game released for the Sega Genesis console. The STREET FIGHTER series can be considered one of the first fighting games to popularize competitive video game fighting. This version of the game contains both the CHAMPION and HYPER rule sets, from the two editions released in the arcades. It also introduced an exclusive Group Battle mode that is now a general feature in most fighting games. Play as one of 12 different characters, each with their own distinctive fighting style. Try single-player mode or challenge a friend in this legendary, classic fighting game.

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

Tetris Party will include a cooperative mode, a competitive mode as well as traditional modes. You can also use the balance board to play the game. Leaning left to right on the board moves the piece, squatting turns the piece and tilting backwards and forwards speeds the drop. The game's shadow mode offers puzzles, and a climber mode that has you working to build to the roof. Finally stage racer has you controlling a single piece as you try to move it down through a rising wall of pieces. It's like a maze, it's pretty cool. The Hudson Soft game will hit the Wii "very soon" for 1,200 Wii points.

In Boingz you play as stretchy little jelly dudes in a 2D adventure. Gamers use the Wii remote to grab and stretch the characters to flick them across the stage. The physics based game offers players multiple solutions to the game's many puzzles which typically involve saving other boinks. It's meant to be "casual friendly" though there is also a time challenge for more hardcore gamers. The game is being developed by Ninja Bee, but no price or date were announced.

They wrapped things up by saing that the much anticipated 2008 Independent Games Festival winner World of Goo is hitting oct 13 on the WiiWare channel.

AJ Glasser

There is also a WiiWare version of the game, which has just been submitted to Nintendo for approval and is expected to hit shortly before the PC retail release, along with a downloadable version for PC gamers who could do without the box. We congratulate Kyle and Ron and wish them the best of luck with what looks to be an extremely unique game!

Pretty big news… [2D Boy Blog]

"This year was kind of a perfect storm for the IGF," says Wired Magazine editor Chris Baker. "For one thing, we're well-ensconced in the current generation of game consoles, so there were no big surprises."

Independent games, however, are a breath of fresh air. And with digital distribution coming into its own, something that just continues to grow.

"I think this year further reinforced that indie game creators are getting better and better at conceptualizing ideas that likely aren't 'mainstream' enough to thrive in a $60 AAA Xbox 360 game," says IGF judge and Gamasutra editor Simon Carless, "and making them into totally fun, extremely playable titles."

Year after year, indie games are looking more and more polished. Slick, even.

"Tools are only getting easier to use, and digital distribution is increasing in scope and popularity every day," points out Andrew Maneri, character designer and AI developer for Synaesthete. "These were the two big barriers to entry for many developers."

But what about the winners of this year's IGF? Did anyone get any deals? Advance their career? We chatted up some of the winners, and got a glimpse of why deals don't really matter and how IGF changed their lives. Or didn't.

Oh, and we totally forgot to ask about indie gaming groupies. Sorry.

• Crayon Physics Deluxe Seumas McNally Grand Prize
When asked what memories of IGF stick out, Crayon Physics creator Petri Purho replied, "English isn't my first language so I had to google out what "stick out" means. And this is the only definition I found: stick out with my dick out." Purho, a student at Helsinki Polytechnic in Finland, continues, "It might be early Alzheimer symptoms, but I don't remember anything like that happening during the IGF. Or then my mind just wants to shut it down. Or then I was just too drunk to remember my penis hanging out while trying to be important during the IGF. The last sounds like the most probable scenario."

Since he was eight, Purho has been making his own QBasic games. He started up his kloonigames blog in late 2006 to focus more game design. "Idea was (and still is)," he says, "that I'd do one prototype of a game every month to learn and experiment with game design." Leading up to this year's IGF, Purho says getting his Crayon Physics Deluxe ready was a crunch. "I had to grind my way through the dungeon of C++ and fight level 5 bugs there," he recalls. "The end boss, called Change-physics-engines-one-week-before-the-IGF-deadline was particularly nasty. Especially with the lacking a proper save game system and the time limit." Lessons learned? "To spend a little bit more time working on the game, before the last week of the deadline."

While Purho only submitted Crayon Physics Deluxe to get a free GDC pass, his delightful virtual crayon physics title charmed the IGF judges, winning the grand prize. "There have been some emails and contacts from various publishers," he says. But he hasn't gotten any deals out of his IGF win. In the mean time, while the rest of us wait patiently for the long overdue DS version of Crayon Physics, Purho's keeping busy churning out games for his blog and with other things. "I'm planning on growing enough hair to beat John Romero in the hair length contest."

Good luck, Petri. That Romero was a Rapunzel.

• Synaesthete Best Student Game
Is game school the new film school?

"I wouldn't say it's the new film school," says Will Towns, Synaesthete technical director. "Maybe it's film school's illegitimate sibling. The film industry and the gaming industry share a lot of the same aspects: both contain a corporate piece and an independent piece, both fostering the same advantages and disadvantages."

What are these corporate disadvantages you speak of?

"I don't want to work on the next 20 million dollar EA genre game," says Synaesthete's designer Joseph Tkach. "Someday, I would like to have my own dev studio, where I and my team can have complete creative freedom."

Meet the new generation. Armed with gaming degrees and a fierce sense of independence. Knowing that it's possible for small teams to deliver satisfying game experiences, these guys aren't happy to be "fortunate" enough to crunch code on some bland $20 million sequel. No way.

Tkach and Town, along with Zach Aikman and Andy Maneri, are the team behind Rez inspired, music driven arcade-style shooter Synaesthete. Since the team snagged Best Student Game at IGF, it's safe to assume that they are, well, students. All four study at DigiPen Institute of Technology, where they were pulling late night after late night, preparing their game for IGF. After their win, the team says they've been in talks.

"There's exciting news on the horizon," says Zach Aikman.

Game deals or not, the Synaesthete guys are sitting pretty for college kids.

"Getting recognized by such a large industry is the best thing that can happen to us, being soon-to-be graduates," says Towns. "Anything else is just icing on the cake."

Like paying off those student loans, for instance.

• Fez Excellence In Visual Art
When Montreal-based Fez designer and artist Phil Fish took the stage at IGF to accept the Excellence in Visual Art award, he wore, well, a fez. The 2D-meets-3D game stars a fez-wearing character named Gomez. Fish had been kicking around the idea for Fez for ages. He wanted to make an inviting game, built on childhood gaming cliches, but turning them on their ear.

"Having no time or money," says producer and the game's soundtrack composer Jason De Groot. "It was made in our free time." What did they learn from that? "That we'd like to have more time and money."

De Groot first came on board last year. The Japan-based De Groot was in Kyoto on business and on his laptop watched the Fez clip Fish had put together of the prototype.

"It was a "Woah...." kind of moment," recalls De Groot. "Until then, I had only seen concept art and a couple questionable cell phone videos. Right then I knew that I had to be more involved in things."

Post IGF, Fez garnered considerable interest. Not just for an indie title, but for a game — a still very much in development game.

"No moneyhats yet," says De Groot. "But we've been getting a lot of interest."

We're sure of that.

• Iron Dukes Best Web Browser Game
"The IGF seemed very professional this year, both in terms of the competition and production of the festival," says Iron Dukes programmer Darren Koepp. "I was expecting a kiosk next to the sandwich tables."

He and the game's writer and designer Tynan Wales submitted the game to give themselves a deadline. You know, just to finish the damn thing.

Iron Dukes is about 19th century fictionalized treasure hunting made by two guys who ran out of money.

"I ran out of money," says Koepp. "Yes," confirms Wales,"we had money trouble."

Both Koepp and Wales, industry vets, haven't seen big profits from their win yet, but are in talks.

"The Sundance comparison was bandied about a fair amount this year," says Wales. "There was an air of indie camaraderie, but I'm not sure if the IGF is as much of a golden ticket as Sundance is now. I saw no one leaving with bags of money."

Still, the pure acting of winning is in itself satisfying.

Recalls Koepp: "During the IGF, the awards night was really a surprise. I remember one of the volunteers ushering me down to the "VIP" area. He called me sir. That was hilarious. Winning was nice too. I couldn't feel my knees."

Winning is always nice.

• World of Goo Design Innovation, Technical Excellence
Two former Electronic Arts employees make good.

"The first commercial game I worked on was an urban Sims game at EA, and we learned that putting 3D versions of the Black Eyed Peas into a game might not necessarily increase the funk," says World of Goo creator Kyle Gabler. "On the other hand, it has recently been discovered that putting dinosaurs into a game will increase the funk every time."

Blobs of goo work well, too. Gabler and co-designer Ron Carmel created gooey gaming goodness with World of Goo. The puzzle game has players overcome gravity and build goo ball structures that reach the in-game exit. A simple, yet brilliant mechanic.

"World of Goo is one big physics lab, so things move and interact exactly like you would expect," says Gabler. "It's fun just to fling things around."

"We spent most of September in a tizzy, working from the minute we woke up until the minute we fell asleep in order to meet the IGF submission deadline," recalls Carmel. "We didn't touch a computer for two weeks after the submission date."

Crunch time paid off in spades. The game charmed the IGF judges, and World of Goo won not one, but two awards: Design Innovation and Technical Excellence. Two awards? They're on easy street! For like, forever!!

Uh, no.

"I was a little surprised that actually winning an award didn't help us much on the business end of things," says Carmel. "But overall, the IGF really helped us get the word out. In my opinion there's nothing else out there that is doing as much good for the indie game scene as the IGF."

True, true. So instead of waiting for some plum deal, Gabler and Carmel are selling the game through digital distribution on their 2D Boy site.

"I think people are realizing that a game doesn't need to be complex or contain two zillion polys or 193 hours of gameplay in order to be worthwhile, it just needs to be fun," says Carmel. "This allows micro-studios like ours to actually make a living doing this... If I thought we'd need to find a publisher for World of Goo in order to get it out into the world I might not have left my job to work on it."

Gabler and Carmel are developing a Wii version of World of Goo on a profit sharing basis.

"If a team of three people make a game that brings in a million dollars in profits, they should each see a third of that amount, not get a $5k bonus and a round of applause."

Spoken like a true industry vet.