A couple of Kotakuites have written to underline what I'd already noticed — the lists of the 2009 Independent Games Festival entrants are finally up.
This year was apparently a record year, with entries up across the board for a total of 226 entries in the main competition (up 30% from last year) and 145 for the student showcase (up 15%). On the entires, there was this to say for both parts of the competition:
Examples of the entries span already announced indie titles, including Jason Rohrer's Between, alternate reality RPG Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden, visually lush point and click adventure Machinarium, and art-game I Wish I Were The Moon, through previously little-discussed titles such as Pieces Interactive's "first walk'em up" Walkie Tonky, new Nifflas-designed title Night Game, and Lexaloffle's "ecological action game" Conflux.
... a great diversity of student-made games with original concepts are showcased, with examples including GumBeat, in which you "...blow bubble gum and gather enough supporters to your cause to topple the anti-gum government", High Moon, a "abstract post-apocalyptic zombie western robot romance in 3 acts", and It's MimeTime, in which "you are a female mime artist in Paris, who must earn as much as possible, by miming your way through an invisible maze."
Both the '09 main competition entries and the student showcase entrants are available for viewing; I'll be looking forward to the final results.
2009 IGF Announces Record Entries For Main, Student Competitions [GameSetWatch]