The Game Awards 2016: Who Deserves To Win Each Category

By Scott Tailford / November 23, 2016

15. Best Indie Game - Stardew Valley

Nominations:

Firewatch

Inside

Hyper Light Drifter

Stardew Valley

The Witness

Thankfully, like Thomas Happ's Axiom Verge from last year, one-man coding powerhouse Eric Barone turned in the wondrous Stardew Valley as a labor of love to a somewhat forgotten genre - in this case, the solution to a lack of truly brilliant Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons games.

Everything from the music to the small innovations that come with a fan-made project work in the game's favour, giving it a real heart, passion and warmth.

Barone was even on-hand during the game's launch to field any potential bugs and queries, turning around patches so fast they'd make any triple-A studio's head spin.

You can't get more independent than that.