Do you dream of developing your own game? Well, gamers, submissions are now open for the 13th Annual Independent Games Festival, to be held February 28 to March 4, 2011, in San Francisco, California. The Main and Student Showcase Competitions are part of the Game Developers Conference, the largest, longest-running and highest-profile independent video game festival, summit and showcase in the world.

There are eight major award categories in the Main Competition, with a variety of monetary prizes: Audience Award ($2,500 prize), Best Mobile Game ($2,500), Nuovo Award ($2,500), Technical Excellence ($2,500), Excellence in Design ($2,500), Excellence in Audio ($2,500), Excellence in Visual Art ($2,500) and the Seumas McNally Grand Prize, which comes with a $20,000 prize. (As in years past, the Audience Award is selected from the finalists in all other main categories, provided the winner submits a playable demo of his title.) There will be five specifically named finalists for each award. All finalists will receive free show passes and they also will be invited to showcase their games on the IGF Pavilion in addition to being included in the IGF award ceremony at the Game Developers Conference. The always-popular awards ceremony will be held on March 2, 2011, at the Moscone Center.

Running concurrently with the Main Competition is the Student Showcase Competition, which is open to all student game developers, including student mod makers. There will be eight Student Showcase winners for top game (each receiving a $500 travel stipend) and an overall Best Student Game, which comes with a $2,500 cash prize.

Judging for both competitions will be by a panel comprised of representatives from the mainstream game industry, notable previous IGF winners and finalists, independent game developers and indie-friendly game journalists. In fact, the judging system this year is an expansion from last year's experiment on judging the Nuovo Award. This year, entrants will be recommended for consideration in individual categories by the larger IGF judging body of over 170 notable industry participants. Then, smaller juries with specific knowledge of the award category will discuss and select the finalists and winners in each individual category.

Both competitions are open to applicants worldwide and all platforms are supported. In fact, this is the inaugural year for the Best Mobile Game Award, which will honor innovation, achievement and artistry in handheld gaming. This award was created in response to feedback from developers of games for systems such as the Apple iPhone, Android, Nintendo DS/DSi, Playstation Portable and other handheld devices. In addition, the Nuovo Award, which honors abstract, shortform and esoteric "art games" will have eight finalists as opposed to five as in previous years.

Submissions opened on June 28, 2010. The submission deadline for the Main Competition is October 18, 2010 and comes with a $95 entry fee; the Student Showcase Competition deadline is November 1, 2010; there is no entry fee for the student competition. Finalists will be announced on January 3, 2011 (Main Competition) and January 10, 2011 (Student Showcase).

This upcoming Independent Game Festival expects to be the largest yet, as it continues to prove its global importance as "the largest and most all-encompassing showcase of independent game talent across the wide spectrum of artistically and commercially-aimed development." Former winners of the IGF Competition include World of Goo, Braid, Castle Crashers, Everyday Shooter, Darwinia and Audiosurf. Last year's prize winner, Limbo, was a key game in Xbox Live Arcade's "Summer of Arcade" lineup while a runner-up, Joe Danger, was recently released on the PS3's PlayStation Network to critical acclaim.

In addition to the Independent Games Festival, the Game Developers Conference will include the popular IGF Pavilion and the industry favorite Indie Games Summit, a forum where the state of independent games is discussed, or as IGF describes it: "two days of inspiration and practical lectures and rants from the top minds in the independent games world." Last year's summit, also held in San Francisco, presented lectures, postmortems and roundtables from the industry's most notable independent game creators, including many former and current IGF finalists and winners. Last year's summit boasted capacity crowds of 1,000, and featured speakers such as Ron Carmel from 2D Boy, Hello Games' Sean Murray, thatgamecompany's Kellee Santiago and Robin Hunicke, and Tiger Style's Randy Smith. Topics of discussion ranged from financing independent games to the importance of extended exploratory and prototyping phases, to diversity in the workplace to Apple's App Store.

In speaking about this year's competition, IGF Chairman Brandon Boyer said, "Expanding the IGF to include mobile and more artistic experiences is our way of recognizing the constantly evolving landscape of indie game development, and the advancement of the expression possible in the medium itself. I'm more excited than ever to see what the indie community creates for this year's festival, and wish all the entrants the best of luck!"

Game developers, warm up your joysticks and start creating!