LucasArts day 46. I’m starting to count down for Game Developers Conference. Even though I’ve been working in the game industry for over 10 years, I’ve never been there. I guess that having it across town makes it easier than it being 9 time-zones away. Today I got a mail from Nifflas, the maker of Knytt which is one of my favorite independent games, who told me that he’ll be coming here for the Independent Game Festival. He’s nominated for the Grand Prize and for Excellence in Design on his new game Night Game, which I’m really looking forward to. I checked the nominees out for that and to my giggling surprise there were more people on that list that I know. Two other projects that I’m very familiar with from being in the jury for last year’s Swedish Game Awards have managed make the prestigious list. Blueberry Garden is a really wonderful game taking place in a living evolving world. This game managed to snatch two finalist spots with both the Grand Prize and Excellence in Audio. You Have To Burn The Rope is the second one and was nominated for Innovation Award. It’s a very simple but hilarious game, and you just have to try it out (it’s just a few minutes long, and don’t miss out on the end credits). All this just makes me happy and proud. I guess I’m a patriot after all…