April 2025 Update
Hello Indies!
2025 has picked up right where we left off in 2024 and the developments and events keep coming (and they don’t stop coming). We started with another successful edition of Global Game Jam at the end of January with over 200 jammers at DigiPen and AIE throughout the weekend. In February we finalized our 2025 cohort of the mentorship program with over 130 matches made, co-sponsored the RevereXR/Seattle U Immersive storytelling hackathon, sent a few people to DICE to connect with the global game development community, hosted our first ever events in Pierce and Kitsap county, had an excellent Speaker Series event featuring Star Victoria Power, co-hosted another rocking ConSpire event, and attended two separate advocacy days in Olympia to connect with our State and local representatives to chat about our community and initiatives we are working on for 2025 and beyond.
In March we hosted an international delegation of game development professionals from the UK and Europe for a two day tour of the Seattle game development community with two networking lunch events, tours of the Xbox studios in Redmond and the Amazon Spheres in Seattle, and meetings with the Xbox team, the AWS for Games team, and the WA State Commerce Department.
Seattle Indies was at GDC in a big way with our annual meetup in Dolores Park that always kicks off the week the right way, co-hosted our annual mixer for local game community organizers, co-hosted a ConSpire event aimed at raising funds for our colleagues displaced or impacted by the ongoing situation in Ukraine, and co-hosted the annual roundtable also for local game community organizers where we met organizers from all over the world leading communities large and small, all working to support game devs the same way we do here in Seattle. We had many productive meetings at GDC that will hopefully lead to some amazing events and opportunities for you all. We capped off March with a strong showing of ten games from our community at the 2025 WA State Gaming Expo.
Not to mention our ongoing series of socials, co-working, writers room IRL and online, feedback circle, SEABUG events, and more that you can always find on our meetup calendar.
Outside of events we were asked to take the lead on a major grant application with seven other organizations serving the creative economy in Seattle, from film, music and games. We worked with the BRIC Foundation, Vera Project, the Crocodile, Seattle Film Institute, Women in Film Seattle, and Rising Reels. Together we formed what we are calling the Creative Economy Workforce Coalition (CEW-C), and are still waiting to hear the decision on our proposal for grant funding that will advance all of our abilities to create and provide workforce development programs to help skill up our creative economy workforce. This is only the beginning of this new coalition and we plan to work together to help strengthen the base of the creative economy in Seattle and we are very excited and honored to be a part of it.
Speaking of grants, we received the good news at the end of March that Seattle indies was one of 268 recipients of funds from the 4Culture Free Public Access program to help us fund Seattle Indies Expo 2025! SIX is shaping up to be even bigger and better than before with expanded show floor space and more rooms for programming and private meetings. This was a vision that started after SIX 2019 and got put on hold due to the events that took place in 2020, now that things are back on track so we’re excited to hopefully bring it to life this year and watch SIX continue to grow as our primary showcase event of games and our community.
On that note registrations for SIX 2025 are NOW OPEN! Go to https://six.seattleindies.org/apply/ to apply to exhibit and learn more about the process to submit your application. Due to the expanded scope of SIX we are starting the process a month earlier than usual so get those applications in now to be a part of the biggest annual celebration of indie games and game creators from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. And no this is not an April Fool’s joke.
If that wasn’t exciting enough we’re very close to launching a website and registrations for SLICE (Seattle Loves Indie Creators Expo), our new Indie/AA B2B and developer focused event scheduled to happen on Wednesday August 27, 2025. SLICE will bring together game developers, founders, studio heads, publishers, investors, service providers, and more for a full day of workshops, talks, networking, pitch opportunities, and more. It is long overdue for Seattle, one of the main game development hubs of North America, to have its own event dedicated to the industry and the people who make it what it is here. For years people have been asking us the same type of questions, “why do I have to go to other parts of the world to meet the same people I can meet in Seattle?” and SLICE intends to be the answer to that question, bringing a premier developer focused event to the Pacific Northwest that will showcase why Seattle is one of the best places to make games.
To ensure SLICE lives up to our expectations and those of our community we have assembled an advisory board to help guide us and utilize their connections and experience in the industry to bring in partners and sponsors. We are happy to welcome Jen Yi, Mitch Gitelman, Leah Hoyer, Jon Kimmich, Renee Gittins, and Jen Maclean to the inaugural advisory board and couldn’t be more excited to work with them. Reach out to us at contact@seattleindies.org to learn more about SLICE and how you and your company can be involved as sponsors, partners, and presenters at the event. Keep an eye on our social media channels for updates about both SIX and SLICE.
We hope you survived GDC if you attended, or enjoyed the usual Seattle fake spring if you stayed behind. As we’re transitioning to warmer months, we’ve got a bunch of things coming up this Spring and Summer worth keeping an eye on…
If you missed the news above, applications for Seattle Indies Expo 2025 are now open! Due to the expanded scope of SIX 2025 we have decided to start the process a month earlier than usual. Head over to https://six.seattleindies.org/apply to get your application in now. Applications are open until May 4, 2025, the final notifications about acceptance to exhibit are scheduled to be delivered by June 30, 2025.
SIX is the largest annual celebration of indie games and game creators from the Pacific Northwest and beyond. 2024 was our biggest year yet with close to 4,000 attendees getting to play 32 games made by our community members and 2025 is expected to be even bigger with an expanded show floor and more rooms for meetings and programming. More news to come on the expansion of SIX 2025. In the meantime relive the excitement of SIX 2024 with this amazing highlight video of the event.
There’s still time to submit to the IndieCade Festival happening in Fall of 2025! Submissions for this season include 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.
The event is an amalgamation of different smaller events, giving you a lot of opportunities to showcase your game! Take a look at the website and keep your eyes peeled!
The Speaker and Award submissions are open until April 14th, so learn more here!
Here is a link with the code pre-applied: https://ti.to/GDoCExpo/2025/discount/gdocSI
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!
This month’s Seattle Indies Spotlight feature is Nina Kim. Nina is a Senior Game Designer who has been in the industry for 10+ years. She has experience working on F2P, puzzle, cozy, and multiplayer games such as Sea of Thieves, Merge Dragons, Cozy Grove, and Everwild. She is passionate about crafting wholesome and unusual experiences, especially with her game jam friends the Sticky Biscuits.
What inspired you to become a game developer?
My brother and I grew up playing games together and it is some of my most cherished moments. I’ve always been amazed by how games can take people to another world or immerse themselves in another perspective. The way a game can make you feel a certain way or help you experience something from a new angle is so powerful. Games have this unique ability to express emotion and bring people together. They’ve been a source of inspiration, comfort, and growth for me, and I’ve always wanted to create experiences that do the same for others, connecting people and sharing meaningful emotions through play.
What is one important lesson you have learned in your time as a game developer?
I’ve learned that so much of game development is about understanding people. It’s understanding who you’re making the game for, but also who you’re making the game with. Ambitious designs can be exciting, but what really matters is what actually resonates with the player and what aligns with the values of your team. Finding that balance has been so key to creating a wonderful experience.
What is the one piece of advice you would share today with your younger self before you started your career as a game developer?
Don’t be afraid to experiment and get weird. You don’t have to be perfect and treat everything so preciously, play around, prototype early, and iterate. I’ve found that I spiral out trying to think of every edge case, which has been helpful in creating some holistic designs, but striving for perfection sometimes ends up blocking refinement and improvements that could have been made through just trying it out.
How has the game developer community had an impact on your career?
The game dev community has been incredibly warm and supportive. When I first started in the industry, I felt a bit lost, but the game dev community helped me so much along the way. I’ve met so many brilliant people willing to share knowledge and give feedback. I’ve also been so lucky to have such amazing mentors and peers who have inspired me greatly, and helped me to grow. I really appreciate all of them.
What is something interesting and unexpected that people would be surprised to learn about you?
For a long time I thought I’d become a figure skater. I spent 14 years training, but after I tore my leg during martial arts that path shifted. Since then I’ve done all sorts of odd jobs and activities, and I’ve found that a lot of elements of those experiences have found their way into my designs. When I feel stuck in design, sometimes I go out and try new things just to gain inspiration in a different experience and perspective!
How can people follow you and your work?
I’m currently on Twitter/X at @rainysector and Bluesky @rainysector.bsky.social. My game jam group also has an itch.io that I’m quite fond of at https://stickybiscuits.itch.io/!
Here’s our Meetup Page with all future upcoming events.
The Eastside Meet & Drink is taking place on April 1, 6:30pm at Northwest Brewing Pint & Pie Public House. It’s time to get together and swap stories. Put down your keyboards and brave the outside world. Let’s meet for a drink, a bite to eat, and some good conversation!
The Seattle Blender User Group is happening on April 5, 10am to 1pm at Academy of Interactive Entertainment – Seattle Center Armory – Suite 405 (305 Harrison St, Suite 405 · Seattle, WA). Seabug’s goals are to help beginners learn Blender, create Blender opportunities in the Pacific Northwest, showcase advanced Blender tools and projects, and celebrate open source graphics in all forms.
The Pierce Country Social is taking place on April 7, 5:30pm-8:00pm at 7 Seas Brewery and Taproom on 2101 Jefferson Ave · Tacoma, WA. Kids are welcome until 8pm as long as they are within arm’s length. Main tap room is first come, first served!
Feedback Circle is back on April 8, 7pm right 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.
An In-Person Writer’s Group will take place at Hugo House on April 9, 6:30 PM. For anyone interested or working on projects in game writing, narrative design, voice acting or more– swing by Seattle Indies’ In-Person Writer’s Group! Bring your narrative games, scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or any other story materials for sharing and feedback.
Northside Social is happening at Watershed Pub & Kitchen on April 10th from 6-pm. 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!
The Diversity Collective+ is happening on April 13, 12pm at Phoenix Comics & Games. Come to network, socialize, and discuss issues related to diversity and inclusion in game development! Folks who identify as an underrepresented minority in the game industry are welcome.
Seattle Indies Social takes place at Stoup Brewing (formerly Optimism) on April 15 (one week earlier than usual due to GDC happening the week of the 17-21st), 7pm. 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 April 16 at 7pm right on our Discord, and will focus on Little Kitty, Big City. 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.
The SnoCo Social is happening on April 18, 5pm at Zulu’s Board Game Cafe located on 5116 196th St SW Suite 203, Lynnwood, WA 98036 · Lynnwood, WA. Hang out at a local game store with fellow Snohomish Co and adjacent folks over food, drinks, engaging conversations, and maybe some board gaming! If you want to demo/playtest your game, let me know and I’ll make sure there table space + open outlet for your setup.
Seattle Indies Board Game Meetup is happening on April 20, 3pm at at Phoenix Comics and Games. Come play board games with Indie Game Developers!
The Writer’s Room is happening on April 24, 6:30pm right on our discord. Welcome all game writers, narrative designers, voice actors and more to the Seattle Indies Writer’s Room! Bring your scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or whatever you’re working on to share and get feedback on your storytelling.
Southside Social is taking place on April 28, 5:30pm at Logan Brewing Company, 510 SW 151st Street, · Burien, WA. 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! This meetup will alternate between Kent and Burien for the next few months at least so we can find out which location works best for people.
Kitsap Social (Bremerton) Join us every last Tuesday of the month (April 29) at Ashely’s Pub at 6:30pm to meet for a drink and some great conversation! Feel free to bring what you’re working on. We may have a room reserved for the public event. Dogs allowed. Outside food allowed.
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.
Seabug Study Hall is a new series of events taking place every week on Thursday, 9pm to 11pm, right on our Discord! Join others from the Seattle Blender User Group for a lo-fi chill out online study hall. Bring a project, just chat, and have a good time with some unstructured project sharing and Q&A.
Our regular Events that are NOT HAPPENING this month:
Show and Tell, is OFF this month, but usually happens at Niantic offices at One Bellevue Center – Chinook Room 411 108th Ave NE · Bellevue, WA. 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.
Jayden Y shared a steam page for their game “Alice’s Current Draft”, go check it out!
enzi shared The Kickstarter campaign for their project is live 
Take a look and support!
Dylan [seedfound] shared their name game “Relive,” a darkly hopeful zelda-like where you slay undead, explore a cursed land, and unleash nature magic to open up new paths! Take a look and play the demo!
thdbeast also shared a steam page for their game, so take a look!
Yohan shared that their little studio’s first game has a Steam page. Take a look!
Lil C. shared that the game they’ve been working on “Slime Heroes” JUST released! If playing as a little slime with souls-like combat seems like it could be your thing. Take a look!
Peter Norton shared that their second project, the Sapling Scramble Card Game & Sapling Plush is now LIVE on Kickstarter! Take a look and support!
Randy H. (Randak) shared that their “My Lords of Chaos” TTRPG starter module has been released. Print version coming soon. Take a look.
Vangi (Mateusz) shared that Opus Cortex is out, a nonogram puzzle game with captivating story and a cast of wonderful characters.! Take a look on Steam!
Ezra(DeveloperEzra) started a series for teaching programming/godot for TOTAL beginners. Watch the first episode!
Terry Redfield shared the kickstarter for Wicked Fox, a competitive puzzle quest style game. Take a look to support!
Jonathan shared the demo for The Kaiju Force Visit itch.io to download and play it!
Jakub K shared that “Just Crow Things” is OUT NOW on PlayStation 4 and 5! Take a look in the PlayStation Store!
Noatak shared that their game “Upstream” released on Steam! Go 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 follow us on all of our social media platforms.
If you want to join our mailing list to get this update sent to your inbox monthly you can Subscribe on LinkedIn.