Vessel is not the prettiest game around. The graphics are crude and unpolished, and the animations are downright terrible. What it lacks in presentation, however, it makes up for in charm and technical superiority, as the fluid dynamics presented in Vessel are far beyond what we've seen in most indie games. You play as a scientist who has invented a sort of luminescent fluid and fluid gun. The game entirely revolves around you using your gun and the different kinds of goop contained therein to move through levels, complete objects, and all that other hogwash one expects from a game. It's kind of cliche and boring, but what the game lacks in story, it makes up for in gameplay.

As mentioned, Vessel has some of the best fluid dynamics we have seen in an indie game. The usage of the gun is excellent, and the qualities of different kinds of goop is also cool. For example, green goop tends to be stickier than normal goop, allowing it to stick to walls where it can illuminate your way. The goop behaves like a fluid would, flowing downhill and merging with other droplets as it goes. It may not be perfect, but the technical excellence on display here is very impressive to just about anyone that has played a game, and even some people who haven't. The puzzle design is just as good as the technical aspect, it's just a shame that the graphics and sound are not quite up to par.

Closure is the last game, and it was mentioned yesterday as a finalist in the audio excellence section. This is a common theme of IGF 2010, and one that has irked quite a number of people. However, it has to be admitted that Closure succeeds technically in a way that makes the average person start drooling. You can imagine the effect this might have on the average programmer. To recap, Closure is a game where if you can not see it, it literally does not exist. This treatment of darkness as a mechanic beyond simple blindness is what sets Closure apart from its competitors as an engaging and interesting game that is definitely worthy of keeping a close watch on.

Closure's big technical brilliance is in how darkness can make something cease to be. Despite obviously being there, as you saw them when they were illuminated moments ago, the stairs you were on do not exist as they are shrouded in darkness. Cue puzzles that revolve around the absence of light as well as the manipulation of elements such as glowing balls and lamps. This is all of what Closure is about, and as the puzzles get harder and harder you will find yourself enjoying Closure more and more thanks to the ingenious puzzle design excellent mechanics. This is why it is a technical finalist. Anybody can set up something along the lines of darkness shrouding objects and hiding them from interaction, but only the Closure team pulls it off this smoothly.