The Institute for Internet Development (IRI) allocated 73.6 million rubles to seven indie developers—winners of the game prototype competition announced
The Institute for Internet Development (IID) has concluded a prototype game competition among indie developers. A total of 149 projects competed for the title of winner, but only seven made it to the finals.
Below are the titles of the games that won the competition.
- “N.I.I.CH.A.V.O.” — an economic strategy game inspired by Strugatsky's novel "Monday Begins on Saturday", where players will manage the institute N.I.I.CH.A.V.O.
- “Library of Interactive Fairy Tales” — an educational puzzle game featuring characters from the fairy tales of Russia's peoples.
- “Under the Clatter of Wheels” — a train conductor simulator.
- “PIO” — an action-adventure game set in a retro-futuristic version of the USSR.
- “Cradle of Winter” — a pixel 2D adventure about a young shaman's battle against dark spirits, inspired by the culture of the Far North peoples.
- “Tem” — a detective quest where the main character is an investigator from Petrograd, solving the disappearances of residents from a distant hamlet. The game is inspired by the works of Nikolai Gogol.
- “Sweater” — a fantastical 2D action game about an office worker who must save his grandmother from a Nazi occult society using an energy-generating sweater.
Recall that developers presented only game ideas at the competition. They are now expected to bring these ideas to life as a prototype—a demo version or a vertical slice—within a year.
As support, the IID allocated a total of 73.6 million rubles to the winning teams. How the sum was distributed among specific projects has not been detailed. It is only known that the creators of “N.I.I.CH.A.V.O.,” “Library of Interactive Fairy Tales,” “Under the Clatter of Wheels,” and “PIO” received no more than 15 million rubles each (they are preparing demo versions), while the creators of “Cradle of Winter,” “Tem,” and “Sweater” received no more than 7.5 million rubles each (they are preparing vertical slices).