‘Balatro’ Wins Game of the Year at Game Developers Choice Awards; ‘Consume Me’ Takes Top Honor for Independent Games Festival
variety.comJennifer Maas TV Business Writer “Balatro” won Game of the Year at the 2025 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) on Wednesday, just after “Consume Me” received the top prize at the Independent Games Festival Awards (IGFA).
From LocalThunk and Playstack, “Balatro” is a indie roguelike deckbuilding game that has a “unique spin on the timeless card game Poker where players build unique decks with a variety of distinct cards to score points and defeat blinds within the roguelike gameplay.” During the 25th edition of annual awards show, which took place at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco amid the Game Developers Conference, “Balatro” also won Best Debut, Innovation Award and Best Design.
PlayStation Studios-owned Team ASOBI’s “Astro Bot” was the runner-up in total wins for the night, taking Best Audio and Best Technology.
Other winners included “Black Myth: Wukong” (Game Science), which won Best Visual Art, “Metaphor: ReFantazio” (Studio Zero / ATLUS) which received Best Narrative, “Life is Strange: Double Exposure” (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix) which won the Social Impact Award and “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth” (Square Enix) which took the Audience Award.
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