June 2024 Update
Hello Indies!
Summer is in full swing and I am sitting here staring at the rain outside. Here’s to hoping we avoid an awful fire season and enjoy a bit of nice, damp greener this year 🤞 But enough about nature, let’s talk about GAMES!
Upcoming Events
Seattle Indies Expo 2024: Mark your calendars! Applications for Seattle Indies Expo 2024 are open now! Go to the application page to get all of the information about what you will need to apply. Applications close on June 8, 2024, every game submitted will receive at least five pieces of feedback from our panel of industry expert community judges. Interested in being a judge or volunteer for SIX? Sign up here.
SIX 2024 will once again be taking place at the Hilton Motif Hotel on Sunday September 1, 2024 from 12pm – 9pm where the top 25 games from judging will be on display for the general public and games industry professionals who are in town for PAX West to check out and play. We might even have something new in the works for PAX West week, stay tuned to our social media channels and the Discord for all of the latest updates.
Diversity Collective+ is hosting their 3rd annual exclusive LGBTQIA+ game developer Pride celebration hosted at Mox Seattle! This event is an opportunity to network and celebrate Pride together!
We’ll have over 300+ board games available to play through Mox’s library, as well as table space for setting up game demos to show off your latest work or get feedback, which can easily support both video or physical games. (If you bring your own video game, you will need to provide hardware to play it on, but we will have extra extension cords and power strips on hand to help with your setup)
FREE food and drink will be provided through the Mox Kitchen. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are available, as well as vegetarian and gluten free food options.
Bonus: We’ll be playing music exclusively by queer artists throughout the event!
Mox parking is limited (Map attached below), street parking around Ballard is also limited.
Thanks to our Sponsors Magboot Games, Figma, Justin Rogers, and Microsoft for helping to make this event free for Diversity Collective+ members to attend!
PAX West is coming up on Aug 30 – Sept 2, 2024, and the applications are open as well. PAX West is a celebration of gaming and gaming culture featuring thought-provoking panels, a massive expo hall filled with the best publishers and studios, new game demos, musical performances, tournaments, and a community experience unlike any other. Find out more here.
Note that PAX RIsing applications are now open, and will be open until midnight ET on Monday, June 10th.. The PAX Rising Showcase is an intensely curated collection of games selected by the PAX Team and highlighted on the show floor. Apply Here.
Save the date! The annual Seattle Indies and IGDA Seattle Summer Picnic will be happening on Sunday July 28, 2024 at Madrona Park. Bring your families, friends, your favorite picnic food to share, and your appetite. We’ll be serving up burgers, dogs, vegetarian options, soft drinks, and snacks all day. We will bring some lawn games for you to play, feel free to bring your own too.
Join us and members of the Seattle Ed Tech Meetup on Monday July 8th for a lively Happy Hour, an extension of the Games and Education Industry Collider! Building upon the conversations sparked at the collider event, this happy hour provides a relaxed and engaging environment to further connect professionals from both industries. Settle in for an evening of networking, sharing insights, and fostering new collaborations. Whether you attended the event last November or this is your first time joining, let’s continue to bridge the gap between games and education, creating meaningful connections and opportunities for innovation. Additionally, be sure to watch out for more happy hours throughout the year to sustain the collaborative momentum between annual events! We will be meeting at Fremont Brewing on Monday July 8, 2024 from 6-8:30pm.
If you want to get a list of all upcoming game event shows and get ready early, The Indie House has published this fantastic list of upcoming festival that’s exactly that. Well worth a bookmark!
Submissions for our 2024 season include our online Festival – IndieCade Anywhere and Everywhere, as well as consideration for any and all in-person events, as well as our ongoing streaming features and activities for the year.
IndieCade accepts and features a wide spectrum of games and experiences including tabletop, VR, AR, Escape Rooms, Zoom Games, mobile, traditional digital games, and more — regardless of platform, style, experience, or background, and we especially encourage work-in-progress, as well as, completed projects.
IndieCade Anywhere and Everywhere is IndieCade’s online festival for 2024 and will be held in the fall. This online event is built from the ground up specifically to highlight and feature games of all types, along with their creators, from around the world.
https://www.indiecade.com/submissions/
Monthly Events
Here’s our Meetup Page with all future upcoming events.
The Eastside Meet & Drink is happening at Pint & Pie Public House on June 4, at 7pm! Keep in mind it happens on the first Tuesday of every month. It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outdoors. Let’s meet for a drink, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
Feedback Circle is taking place on June 12 at 7pm on our Discord. It’s time to stop coding, animating, making art or audio or adding that amazing new feature you thought of while you were falling asleep last night and come to Feedback Circle to get some real responses to what you have been working on from game creators in our community like yourself.
Northside Social is taking place June 13, 6pm at Watershed Pub & Kitchen on 10104 3rd Ave NE (note the new address!!) It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outdoors. Let’s meet for a coffee/tea, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
Seattle Indies Social is happening on June 18 at 7pm at Stoup (formerly Optimism) in Capitol Hill. Join us for some well-deserved mingling, drinks, and socialization! Make some new friends, catch up with old ones, and find out what the community’s up to.
The Game Club is happening on June 19 at 7pm right on our Discord. What a book club is to a discussion of literature, this event is to a discussion of game design. Every month, we agree to play a game, then meet to discuss and analyze its design and presentation.
We’ll be having a Show and Tell on June 20 at 7pm. Bring your laptop and show off what you’re working on at the Seattle Indies Demo Night. Use this event to get feedback on your game and to network with other game devs. Pizza will be provided. Please bring everything you will need to demo and record feedback for your game. Unfortunately we are no longer able to host the event at our usual location in Belltown but keep an eye on the meetup page and our Discord for information about the venue for this month’s event.
The Writer’s Room is taking place on June 27, 6:30pm right on our discord. Bring your scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or whatever you’re working on to share and get feedback on your storytelling.
Indie Co-working Support Group in-person will take place every Saturday, from 1:00 PM to 6:30 PM PST, at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Seattle Center wifi will be available for use. Please bring everything you need to be productive. We will be meeting every Saturday of the month at AIE going forward. We have also added a Co-working voice channel in Discord for people to use any time they want a quiet space to work alongside their peers.
The Diversity Collective+ is hosting their annual Pride party (read more above)
Seattle Indies Board Game Meetup is OFF This month, but usually meets at Phoenix Comics and Games. Come play board games with Indie Game Developers!
Local Dev News
Larry J. shared their unique mystery game about lost love that spans centuries and challenges your deductive reasoning skills. Check it out
Ezra(DeveloperEzra) shared a new video about Playtest and “release” process experience!
InitJason announced their upcoming game, more details and gameplay trailers to follow in coming weeks. Watch the Trailer.
wheretheredferncodes shared their Plant Therapy has a big update out with a new store and many new items added! The base game is free with tons of free plants and decorative items available. Check it out!
Looking_sharp shared the demo for their second ever game! Its free to play i the browser for anyone who is intereste. Check it out
GindGames shared they are a small indie studio making Pay Up, our game is a Round-base zombie survival game. Check it out here.
FartFish shared their entry to the Bullet Hell Jam and Pixel Game Jam – play it here!
rangerwang shared their Pixel Game Jam game Slumber. Check it out!
Milo M also shared their game for the Bullet Hell Jam. Play it here!
sylvia shared that their puzzle automation game, Star Stuff is coming out June 7th! Check out our release trailer!
Radnyx is making a game about lil guys who build castles and fight monsters. Check out the little progress video!
Darkero shared that their game Apeiron is now available for Wishlist on Steam. It’s an Open World Third-Person RPG that brings a mix of action mechanics that form a fast-paced game full of strategic decision-making. Check it out!
Xin launched the steam page for our rabbit zelda game 🐇⚔️ . Immortal’s Way is an action-adventure game where you explore, fight, and fly as a small rabbit on a big mission. Check it out!
Blazer shared JudgeSim – Uncover the mystery behind Banana Republic’s turmoil in JudgeSim. A gripping text-based simulation where your choices shape the narrative. Check it out.
Prof shared the digital version of their book for free this week if you’re in the mood for cozy fantasy! Check it out!
Harassment Policy, AAPI, Black Lives Matter, and Resources
Seattle Indies stands with the AAPI community. We are here for our members who have been affected by the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes both locally and nationally. For further resources to educate yourself on the issue and how to take action, here is a useful link: https://anti-asianviolenceresources.carrd.co/
Seattle Indies believes the stories of the victims of sexual harassment and assault in the games industry that have been shared. We strongly condemn the actions by people in power preying on the dreams of vulnerable people trying to make their way in the industry and strive to build an inclusive community that welcomes all minorities to provide a safe environment and a better vision for the game industry.
While our code of conduct states a zero-tolerance policy for harassment of any kind we are especially sensitive to the daily challenges faced by womxn due to the ingrained sexism that has existed in the structure of the games industry for far too long. We are actively working to build a better community of game developers and we all need to do better.
Additionally, Board Member August Belhumeur has offered to be a personal resource for anyone who needs help, someone to talk to or some guidance on next steps if you have experienced harassment in the industry either at our events or elsewhere. She can be reached at august@seattleindies.org.
Our friends at Take This Org have compiled valuable resources for anyone in immediate need of professional help for their situation.
Lastly, Seattle Indies and Diversity Collective+ support Black Lives Matter. Here are some resources compiled by Diversity Collective+ for how you can offer support, whether this is financial, contributing to petitions, preparing for protests, or getting informed. If you have additional resources, comment below and we will add them.
As always, keep an eye on our Discord for any last-minute news and discussion, and let us know about any projects you’re working on that you’d like shared on our Steam or Itch collections or tweeted about from @SeattleIndies!
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