This article originally appeared in Dev.Mag Issue 29, released in February 2009

• Developer: Jason Rohrer
  
• Nominations: Innovation Award
  
• Free to play
  
• Dev.Mag played
  

Between is a particularly strange game, created by someone known for his particularly strange games. Like one of Jason Rohrer's other creations, Passage, Between is an odd, brooding game, simultaneously a puzzle and an experiment in isolation – which is strange considering this is strictly a 2-player game. It may take a little bit of time to work it out, but that's the point.

• Developer: Erik Svedang
  
• Nominations: Seumas McNally Grand Prize, Excellence in Audio
  
• Under development
  

Blueberry Garden is a secretive game, an experiment about the player's influence on a self-contained eco-system. While little is known about how the game will be played, it has already walked away with an award for innovation from the 2008 Swedish Game Awards, and this arty submission certainly appears to be a feast for the aural and visual senses as well.

• Developer: Digital Eel
  
• Nominations: Excellence in Audio
  
• Demo available
  
• Dev.Mag played
  

With its vivid yet curiously surreal visual style and use of audio, Brainpipe is like riding a hypnotic rollercoaster – except you also need to steer it. Its simple controls and gradually increasing pace – peaking somewhere just beyond frenetic, assuming you can make it that far – instantly classify the game as one that attempts to be simultaneously casual yet challenging.