December 2023 Update

Dec 5th, 2023 by Tim Cullings

Hello Indies!

Iiiiit’s that time of the year again!

Our annual Holiday Party is happening on Sunday, December 10 at 7 PM at GameWorks in downtown Seattle!  Join us for a special night of festive drinks and merry-making with your fellow indie devs to celebrate a successful 2023, and kick off 2024! Come help Seattle Indies raise money to support our ever growing list of community events in the upcoming year.

This is taking place at GameWorks in downtown Seattle, where we have reserved the entire large venue filled with videogame machines, all of which will be unlocked for this event.

Click Here to Purchase a ticket!

FYI 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!

Monthly Events

The Eastside Meet & Drink is happening at Pint & Pie Public House on Dec. 5, 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!

We’ll be having a Show and Tell at the AIE on Saturday, Dec 9 from 1pm-6pm. Come show off your game at AIE as part of ISG coworking. Bring everything you need to show off your game. This may include a laptop, or paper materials. Play your friend’s games and give feedback.

Seattle Indies Board Game Meetup is happening on Dec. 10, 3pm at Phoenix Comics and Games. Come play board games with Indie Game Developers!

Feedback Circle is happening on Dec 13 at 7pm on our Discord.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 Dec 14, 6pm at Distant Worlds Coffeehouse this month! 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 not happening in December, instead we will be hosting the Holiday Party mentioned above! See you on January 16th, 2024(!) at 7pm at 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. This month a delegation of developers from Australia will be joining us on a post-GDC visit to Seattle so come out and say hello to our Aussie friends.

The Game Club is happening every third Wednesday each month at 7pm – so Dec 20 this time! 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. This month’s game is TBD!

The Writer’s Room is taking place on Dec 28, 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.  Masks will be enforced and vax cards will be checked at the door. Seattle Center Wi-Fi will be available for use. Please bring everything you need to be productive. The online Coffee Break session will still be available to anyone who isn’t ready for in person events yet or doesn’t have the ability to attend the in person event. We will be meeting every 2nd and 4th 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 off this month, but normally takes place at Distant Worlds Coffee House on 6401 Roosevelt Way NE · Seattle, WA. Come to network, socialize, and discuss issues related to diversity and inclusion in game development! Folks that identify as an underrepresented minority in the game industry are welcome. Stop by to get a free coffee or tea from us for this month’s social!

Local Dev News

Daniel Peterson shared a new video where 1000 People Played their Indie Game In London! Go watch it here!

Link:

Carbon just announced “Little-Known Galaxy” – check it out on Steam here!

Maggie Carlson shared that a PhD student from Illinois Institute on Technology are doing a study on accessibility in games (particularly mobile, but games in general) and looking for people with disabilities to interview. Take a look if you’d like to help!

Vangi aka Mateusz shared some new about their nonogram game, please share if you can 🙏

Rude Boy finished a few updates to their little twin stick shooter The Power Latch Kid on Steam. Take a look!

Jerome  has been working for 3 years on this Kickstarter launch for Koboo: The Tree Spirit. It is an action rogue-vania where you defend the forest against seemingly giant hunters.Take a look and support here!

Paymon started a mini series of videos on base building their my game – check out the video here!

Oguz posted their first VFX on Gumroad, take a look here!

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 is having in person meetups again and we need everyone to get vaccinated and boosted against the COVID-19 virus as soon as you are able. The Washington State Department of Health has this website for information on where you can get vaccinated in your area.

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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