Submissions for the 2013 Independent Games Festival are open as of this morning, with deadlines for both the Main and Student Showcase categories looming in the near future of October 7 and the 31, respectively. Finalists will be announced sometime in January 2013.

This year each category will birth six finalists, each of which will then be playable in the IGF Pavilion on the GDC show floor. These finalists will be competing for nearly $60,000 in prizes (in the form of various awards), the most notable of which being the coveted $30,000 Seumus McNally Grand Prize. The considerably smaller but equally prestigious $5,000 Nuovo Award honors "abstract, short form, and unconventional" games. Last year the Seamus McNally Grand Prize was taken by Phil Phish with his innovative cubist puzzle-platformer FEZ, while the Nuovo Award was given to Daniel Benmergui for his 8-bit comic strip styled IOS puzzler Storyteller.

IGF winners will be announced in grand style on stage come March 27, 2013 at San Fran's Moscone Center, with the IGF Pavilion opening that same day and continuing until March 29, giving all attendees ample time to experience each finalist entry in playable form.

The Independent Games Festival is an important staple in the indie games community and one used to showcase the most brilliant and expressive up-and-coming titles from some of the most creative minds in the field. Previous IGF alum would include titles like Castle Crashers, Braid, Gish, World of Goo, and the now ultra popular Minecraft. Winners of the Grand Prize often go on to see both critical and commercial success as well as widespread respect among peer developers, so its a pretty big deal for any budding indie dev looking to make a splash.

If you're interested in submitting your own creation, you can do so by hopping over to the IGF's official site. But hurry, as you've only got a couple of months left before the impending deadline hits.