Ha! I’ll bet you thought I’d forgotten to post a game of the year article this year. I mean, January is halfway over already. Well, after I spent so much verbiage defending review aggregation, it’d be disingenuous to just leave those descriptive statistics just lying there. So get ready to hedge and prepare to evade personal responsibility, because it’s time to bow to the wisdom of crowds.

The Penny Arcade Expo is right around the corner, and if history is any guide that means it’s time for this site to start giving shout outs to the PAX 10. So for the next week, your regular posting schedule will be filled with some of the most innovative gaming of 2008 and 2009. We present to you the conclusion of our PAX 10 introductions.

The Penny Arcade Expo is right around the corner, and if history is any guide that means it’s time for this site to start giving shout outs to the PAX 10. So for the next week, your regular posting schedule will be filled with some of the most innovative gaming of 2008 and 2009. We present to you the continuation of our PAX 10 introductions.

There were a great many games up for the 2009 IGF awards, and they all had something special to offer. Awards were given for excellence in visual art, audio, design, and titles’ technical excellence. Additionally, games were recognized for their innovation, popularity, and for being best in show for both students and professional developers. Of course, we wouldn’t be much of a games criticism site if we didn’t have our own picks for each category (now possible because we’ve had hands-on time with all the games), so we’ll be posting our picks alongside the panel’s. Hit the jump for the winners of each award and our picks.