Submit Your Game - How?

2009 IGF Mobile Competition

The Independent Games Festival is proud to present the second annual IGF Mobile competition, a contest set up to promote innovation in portable games, from cellphone games on handsets including the iPhone, through other mobile devices to PSP and DS titles.

Key IGF Mobile Dates

Here are specific submission deadlines for the 2008 event:

Frequently Asked Submission Questions

Q: How do I submit my mobile game?
A: There are two possible methods - either by providing a link to a PC emulator for the title and the game's ROM, or by sending IGF Mobile organizers a mobile device with the game running on it. The IGF organizers guarantee return of the phone as long as you provide a stamped, self-addressed envelope or courier package with your entry with postage paid.

Q: How do I submit Nintendo DS, GBA/Game Boy, or Sony PSP games?
A: We know that a large number of indie studios are now approved by Nintendo and Sony and are working on handheld prototypes, and we'd love to have these entered in IGF Mobile on development carts/memory cards as permitted - please contact us to discuss any questions you might have about submission methods. In addition, we'd definitely like to see other 'homebrew' entries submitted, providing that they are entered on media that we can play standalone on an unmodified handheld system.

Q: My game has already been published - can it still enter?
A: Absolutely - we're looking for great indie portable titles that are still in development, or have been published within the last 12 months. As long as the people making the game are resolutely indie, we don't mind how it has been distributed.

Q: The game I intend to enter is very complex and/or requires multiple devices to function - what should I do?
A: If you have any doubt that the organizers are capable of easily playing the game, due to physical constraints, or that it might be misunderstood, please upload a video of the game in action after you enter.

Q: Should I enter my game in the Next Great Mobile Game Contest, or into the Main Competition?
A: Though this sounds complex, the question is really an easy one! Entering the Next Great Mobile Game contest means you are not eligible for any of the awards in the Main Competition. In addition, if you are a finalist in the Next Great Mobile Game Contest, you will be expected to make your way to GDC Mobile to pitch your game to the audience in the hope of taking home the prize. As a result, it is very definitely not for finished games, so if you have a finished game, or a very polished prototype, please enter the main contest.

Q: But then, why enter the Next Great Mobile Game Contest at all?
A: It's simple! The Next Great Mobile Game Contest is for smaller developers and hobbyists who don't have funding or otherwise to enter for the chance to win some money to "jump start" the production of their full game. As a result, we're looking for entrants to submit a written pitch plus an in-progress prototype by the submission deadline rather than the completed prototype/finished game that we expect of the IGF Mobile Main Competition. The in-progress prototype is required as proof that the developer has the potential to deliver a finished product at some point in the future.

If you are selected as a finalist, you will be given until GDC Mobile 2009 to finish polishing your prototype to the level that you think it needs to win you the Next Great Mobile Game Contest when it comes time to pitch it!

This contest is the ideal way to introduce your game concept to the development community and have a chance of winning some money.

For all other questions, please contact the IGF Mobile organizers.