Play the year’s top indie games for free

Top indie games according to whom? Glad you asked. Sid Meier, Will Wright, and a panel of esteemed judges helped select the winners of this year’s Intel Level Up Game Demo Challenge – showcasing the world champs of indie games. Want to take a look? All of the winning game demos are available for you to play at www.intel.com/software/levelup2009.

Indie developers from around the world submitted their best work for a chance at huge prizes and an industry breakthrough. The judges had their hands full narrowing down the group of 22 finalists to just seven winning demos. Awards were given to the top three demos in three categories, as well as an honorary award for the Judge’s Choice. The winners were announced on Wednesday at the Austin GDC.

We’ve been hosting this contest for three years and this year’s winning batch has some of the most innovative and fun games we’ve seen. Don’t take our word for it, try them out for yourself and let us know what you think.

Best Game on Intel® Graphics
First place: I Know Your Deeds by Yakov
Second place: Spin Tires by Pavel Zagrebelnyy
Third place: Inferus by Kevin Gadd, Ian Maclean, and Troupe Gammage IV

Best Game-on-the-Go
First place: Inferus by Kevin Gadd, Ian Maclean, and Troupe Gammage IV
Second place: GermiNation by Bradley Wesson
Third place: Rise of Pirates by Stefans Keiss

Best Threaded Game
First place: Spin Tires by Pavel Aleksandrovich Zagrebelnyy
Second place: I Know Your Deeds by Yakov
Third place: The Ray Trace Game by Klyuchnikov Eugene

Judge’s Choice Award:
Rise of Flight: The First Great Air War by Albert Zhiltsov