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Press release:
Malmö, Sweden – 13 November, 2020.
The Season IV Grand Finals of the Nordic Game Discovery Contest (NGDC) will take place at the upcoming Nordic Game conference on 25-27 November.

The finals mark the conclusion of the NGDC’s fourth season, with talented game developers battling in fierce but fun pitching contests at NGDC partner events all over the world since last June. On 27 November, one of the 17 finalists will claim victory as winner of the prestigious NGDC Game of the Year award.

“The talent pool of the NGDC Season IV finalists is the deepest and most diverse we’ve seen in NGDC history,” says NGDC host and organiser Jacob Riis.

“It will be very exciting to follow each of them in the final stretch during NG20+ as they battle for top honors – a lot like watching a world cup for game dev talent.”

Support your local NGDC finalist!

Here is the full list of finalists in the Nordic Game Discovery Contest (NGDC) Season IV Grand Finals with the following studio and game:

Country: Portugal
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: GameDev Camp (Lisbon)
Name of studio: Team Chronos
Name of game: Chronos
Game Description: Slow down! Solve puzzles using time and tempo. In this 2D puzzle platformer you can slow down time in an area, and you use this mechanic to solve a variety of puzzles.

Country: South Africa
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: Playtopia/Africa Games Week (Cape Town)
Name of studio: Unsigned Double Collective
Name of game: Freja and the False Prophecy
Game Description: Freja and the False Prophecy invites players to take on the role of a Viking shield-maiden who wakes from a shipwreck to find her world in turmoil. Armed with an axe and shield, players must guide Freja through the Nine Realms in search of answers, while facing challenges and foes.

Country: Romania
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: DevPlay (Bucharest)
Name of studio: FearLand Team
Name of game: FearLand
Game Description: FearLand is a stealth tactical game with a horror atmosphere in a modern sci-fi setting. Think Commandos meets Resident Evil. You cannot fight directly, so to survive, you must use stealth, hacking, sabotage and turn your enemies against each other.

Country: Norway
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: NM I Gameplay (Oslo)
Name of studio: Loeding
Name of game: SNOW
Game Description: SNOW is a narrative adventure game set in the retro-futuristic town of Barvik in 2050 Norway. You play as 12-year old Oskar as you explore atmospheric environments, hack into machines and solve puzzles to unravel the mystery of his past.

Country: Italy
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: GameRome (Rome)
Name of studio: Omnisir Team
Name of game: Marble Garden
Game Description: Marble Garden is an action fantasy game, with a focus on exploration and fighting. It’s also a story about illness, about the negation or acceptance of it, and about the extraordinary power of children’s imagination. The player takes the roles of Kay and Erica, brother and sister. Together they will have to protect the Kingdom from a new and vicious threat, and at the same time find a cure for the curse that has infected Kay, turning his legs into stone.

Country: Malta
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: PlayCon (Valetta)
Name of studio: Yourun Ltd.
Name of game: Warshmallows
Game Description: Warshmallows is a quick to play and fun to master 2D Shooter arena. Play in you living room on a shared screen with your friends and online in a unique 30 people battle royale mode. Best players and influential people of the community will contribute to the story and the content.

Country: Brazil
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: BIG Festival (Sao Paolo)
Name of studio: Pink Array
Name of game: Grashers
Game Description: Grashers is a twin-stick shooter roguelike set in space where you play as an interstellar custodian known as a Grasher who removes junk from the surface of various planets and fights radioactive mutant monsters. Gameplay is inspired by The Binding of Isaac and The Legend of Zelda.

Country: Finland
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: Polar Bear Pitching (Oulu)
Name of studio: Team Jolly Roger
Name of game: Interplanetary 2
Game Description: Interplanetary 2 follows the orbit of it’s predecessor, but improves on several fronts: The turn-based multiplayer core with gravitational space artillery now comes with colonization, campaign and vastly expanded planet management, topped with improved graphics.

Country: Denmark
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: Growing Games (Aarhus)
Name of studio: Ugly Duckling Games
Name of game: DramaQueen
Game Description: Players write, direct and share theatre plays in a playful low-poly game.

Country: Germany
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: GameOn (Vilnius)
Name of studio: Hekate
Name of game: Ad Infinitum
Game Description: Ad Infinitum is a survival horror game that is set in a surrealistic World War I environment. You are a German soldier plagued by nightmarish visions of your experiences. You will encounter demonic creatures, avoid traps and solve puzzles while trying to put the events of the war behind you.

Country: Belgium
Qualified to the NGDC finals through: Devcom Digital (Cologne)
Name of studio: Happy Volcano
Name of game: You Suck at Parking!
Game Description: You Suck at Parking is the world’s most EXTREME parking game, and the only racing game where the goal is to stop (probably).

Country: Australia
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: Melbourne Games Week (Melbourne)
Name of studio: DragonBear Studios
Name of game: InnChanted
Game Description: Innchanted is an online co-op adventure where you discover magical potions, serve otherworldly guests, and pacify monsters. Gather your party and journey on a quest to overcome the evil Wizard – your landlord! Play with friends, or single player management style with AI companions.

Country: Spain
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: Guerrilla Games Festival (Madrid)
Name of studio: Open House Games
Name of game: A Tale of Paper
Game Description: Can a dream transcend its owner? Follow the beautiful tale of Line, an endearing paper, in this atmospheric adventure with a hint of puzzles. Learn origami transformations to overcome obstacles and explore from a different perspective escaping from little big dangers. Help Line fulfilling the dream of its creator!

Country: Bulgaria
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals at: DevPlay Digital (Bucharest)
Name of studio: Blue Rose Games
Name of game: Azure Dawn
Game Description: A narrative experience where you take control of the Knight to traverse the tower of his mental world and save the neglected inner child trapped within.

Country: Denmark
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals: NGDC Wild Card selection
Name of studio: Bedtime Digital
Name of game: Figment: Creed Valley
Game Description: Figment: Creed Valley is an action-adventure game set in the human mind. Nightmares are spreading chaos and enemies have overrun once-peaceful lands. Join Dusty, The Mind’s courage, as you make your way through puzzles, musical boss fights and unique environments. Face your fears head-on.

Country: Switzerland
Qualified for the NGDC Season IV finals: #SwissGames delegation
Name of studio: Lukyantsev Company
Name of game: Figment: Wild Planet
Game Description: Unwind and enjoy the life in Wild planet – a relaxing adventure full of discoveries and quests! You’re shipwrecked on a mysterious planet with your crew. Build your own camp, hunt, craft and discover the story behind those mysterious lands. All while the environment changes around you.

The 17 NGDC Season IV finalists will be very visible during the NG20+ conference this 25-27 November. Attendees will watch videos about each team and their game, then meet with and vote for their favorite on the NG20+ Discord channel.

At the same time, an NGDC expert panel will select three of the teams for the Season IV Grand Finals on Friday, 27 November, where they will compete online in an exciting live streamed finale to determine the top NGDC Season IV team and award the NGDC Season IV Game of the Year.

Follow your local studio in this season’s NGDC finals here by securing your NG20+ passes here to follow them live through NGDC Season IV Grand Finals this November!

NGDC Season IV is sponsored by Xsolla, Versus Evil, Plan of Attack, Matchmade, Nordic Game Ventures, Karmafy, Microsoft, DDM, AWS Game Tech, WhisperGames and 80 Level.

This year Nordic Game doubles up on their digital debut at NG20 in May with NG20+ on 25-27 November. Learn more and register for NG20+ right here!

Get all the latest Nordic Game, NGDC and Nordic games industry news, including updates about NG20+ in November at nordicgame.com.

About the Nordic Game conference
Nordic Game is the leading games conference in Europe, and 2020 marks its seventeenth edition. Gathering thousands of industry professionals in Malmö annually, Nordic Game is the one and only “home turf” meeting place for the highly successful game developers of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Read more here and follow Nordic Game on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Flickr and Instagram.

Jonas “O.J” Ek
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheGamingGround