The 11th Annual Independent Games Festival Finalists are now online, listing the games competing for nearly $50,000 in prizes to be awarded on March 25 in San Francisco at the same ceremony as the Game Developers Choice Awards at GDC. The Independent Games Festival Website quotes a concise rundown from media partner Gamasutra, which also mentions a new independent games area on IGF sponsor Direct2Drive:

From a record field of 226 entries, 30% over last year’s totals, a number of notable games scored multiple nominations this year.

These include orbital osmosis sim Osmos (3 nominations), abstract PSN action-er PixelJunk Eden (3 nominations), time-reversing guitar-compatible antishooter Retro/Grade (2 nominations), and atmospheric ball-ambulator Night Game (2 nominations).

Other examples of the finalists, which are viewable on the official IGF website, include charming exploration-game Blueberry Garden and music-based block puzzler Musaic Box, both double nominees, and several of the finalists for the new Innovation award, including Ratloop’s Mightier, Jason Rohrer’s Between and Tale Of Tales’ The Graveyard.

Finalists were decided by a panel made up of over 40 industry-leading game creators and journalists, including the makers of previous IGF honorees World Of Goo, Braid, Aquaria and N+; industry veterans from studios including Maxis, Big Huge Games, and SuperVillain Studios; and noted writers from Wired, Newsweek, and MTV.

In addition to the announcement, digital download store Direct2Drive has aligned with the Independent Games Festival to serve as the festival’s official download partner this year.

This includes a new Direct2Drive Award given out at the IGF Awards this March, and the service has opened dedicated Direct2Drive indie game area, including many previous IGF finalists and winners and other notable independent games.