2021 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards

Indie games are games developed by small teams or on a low budget. Usually not backed by a large publisher, or if they are they are still a small team. Indie games have been the backbone of the game industry for the last decade and a half ever since AAA games stopped taking the risks indie usually do these days. There are more great indie games every year than I can count, and it’s one of the hardest categories to pick.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits

Kena stood out thanks to the characters, voice acting, and gameplay, but also the striking visuals. The game is colorful, charming, has great animations, and it just a joy to play. This feels like a large budget game you would play in the PS2 era due to its linear level design and combat. This isn’t a bad thing though and feels like a breathe of fresh air amongst the 8-bit platformer clones and boring open worlds we have to trudge through.