iPhone and iPod touch games form the largest bulk of titles nominated for this year's Independent Games Festival Mobile awards, listings reveal. Three out of the five Best Game finalists (Smiles, Edge and Fieldrunners) work on Apple handhelds, and face competition only from Wardive for the Nintendo DS and Cubic Republic for phones with Flash Lite. iPhone games in fact completely control three other categories, including not just a dedicated one but the Art and Audio Achievement sections.

Hassey's Galcon and Steph Thirion's Eliss have meanwhile been nominated for Innovation in Mobile Game Design, while Firemint's Real Racing is the only iPhone game under Technical Achievement. Another iPhone title can be found in the NVIDIA-sponsored Next Great Mobile Game category, that being VillaVanilla's Depict. Apple's platform could have an unusual advantage in the contest though, due to friendliness to independents. While Nintendo DS and Sony PSP games may require special development tools, Touch and iPhone games can be created with any Mac and a $99 developer registration fee. Apple handhelds also provide an easily-accessible means of sale and distribution.