Last night marked what is probably the biggest awards night for the gaming industry outside of the DICE Awards as GDC’s double whammy of the 13th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and the 15th annual Independent Games Festival Awards celebrated the biggest and brightest achievements in game design as decided on by game designers themselves. Much like at the DICE Awards, Journey reigned supreme at the GDC Awards, taking home six out of eleven categories including the Game of the Year Award, Best Game Design, Best Visual Arts, and the Innovation Award. By the way – shameless plug time – to learn more about Journey creator Jenova Chen’s design process, check out our video coverage of the DICE Summit. Also netting honors was The Walking Dead, which took home Best Narrative because, duh, it’s incredible. I will never shut up about that game, so please bear with me and just give me a second – I’m not crying, I was just thinking about Lee and Clem while chopping my body weight in onions.

Meanwhile, at the IGF Awards, Cart Life, Richard Hofmeier’s better-than-it-sounds simulation game about the hardships that face small town food vendors, took home top honors including the $30,000 purse that comes with the coveted Seumas McNally Grand Prize.  Other notable winners include FTL: Faster Than Light, a spaceship sim that netted awards in both shows, and Zineth, a game made by students at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute that is head and shoulders above the one time my roommates and I invented a College Jeopardy! drinking game.

Peep the complete winners lists below, then head on over to Steam, where you can snag proven winners like Cart Life, FTL: Faster Than Light, and others for prices as low as $3.50. Like you really needed to do a load of laundry this week anyway… go ahead and buy a game instead!

Game Developers Choice Awards

Best Downloadable Game
Journey (thatgamecompany)

Best Narrative
The Walking Dead (Telltale Games)

Best Visual Arts
Journey (thatgamecompany)

Ambassador Award
Chris Melissinos (founder of Past Pixels)

Best Technology
Far Cry 3 (Ubisoft)

Best Game Design
Journey (thatgamecompany)

Best Handheld/Mobile Game
The Room (Fireproof Studios)

Best Audio
Journey (thatgamecompany)

Pioneer Award
Steve Russell (creator of Spacewar!, one of the first known video games)

Best Debut
FTL: Faster Than Light (Subset Games)

Innovation Award
Journey (thatgamecompany)

Audience Choice Award
Dishonored (Arkane Studios)

Lifetime Achievement Award
Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk (BioWare co-founders)

Game of the Year
Journey (thatgamecompany)

Independent Games Festival Awards

Excellence in Visual Art ($3,000)
Kentucky Route Zero (Cardboard Computer)

Nuovo Award ($5,000)
Cart Life (Richard Hofmeier)

Excellence in Audio ($3,000)
140 (Jeppe Carlsen)

Excellence in Narrative ($3,000)
Cart Life (Richard Hofmeier)

Technical Excellence ($3,000)
Little Inferno (Tomorrow Corporation)

Best Student Game ($3,000)
Zineth (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

Audience Award ($3,000)
FTL: Faster Than Light (Subset Games)

Excellence in Design ($3,000)
FTL: Faster Than Light (Subset Games)

Seumas McNally Grand Prize ($30,000)
Cart Life (Richard Hofmeier)

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Do you agree with their selections? What games have you been playing lately? Let us know in the comments below.