December 2024 Update

Hello Indies!

It’s that time of the year again! Things are winding down and the weather is ever-so-chilly. Hope you’re getting into a festive mood and ready to relax a bit. We’ve got our annual Holiday Party coming up, as well as a bunch of new events launching this month. Read on!

YOU MUST GET A TICKET ON EVENTBRITE TO ATTEND: https://indies.eventbrite.com 

Seattle Indies is excited to bring you our ninth annual Holiday Party! Join us for a special night of festive drinks and merry-making with your fellow indie devs to celebrate a successful 2024, and kick off 2025!

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.

Check out the Event Page for more info (and get a ticket before attending!)

There is still time to sponsor the Holiday Party. Email contact@seattleindies.org for more info.

Conspire Holiday Party

If you didn’t get your fill of Holiday cheer or couldn’t make it to GameWorks then hopefully we will see you at the 2nd annual ConSpire Holiday Party at SIFF Downtown (formerly Cinerama).

ConSpire is a casual networking event for good people in game development in the Puget Sound Region. This is a bi-monthly (every 2 months) happy hour hang (drinking alcohol is not required).

Please join us with the attitude of feeling free to ask for or offer help, the goal is to build connections of support in our community to make our region the best it can be for game developers and game development in general.

This event is for experienced professional game developers to casually connect. Register now.

Welcome SEABUG the Seattle Blender User Group to Seattle Indies! They will still run their own events and be managed by their admin team. They will be posting and hosting their events on our meetup page and Discord to help boost awareness and attendance from Seattle Indies community members.

There will be a Seattle Blender User Group meetup on Saturday, December 10am to 1pm at the Academy of Interactive Entertainment – Seattle Center Armory – Suite 405 on 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.

If you are a beginner who needs help with Blender, leave a comment about what you’re struggling with! If you’ve got an awesome project to show people, tell us about it and we’ll make sure there’s time to see it.

Additionally, the 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.

The D.I.C.E. Summit is a video game networking conference which includes a variety of intimate and exciting events spanning several days. It takes place February 11 to 13 in Aria, Las Vega. Click here to learn more about it and book tickets early. 

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!

Hi! My name is Jakub “Koobazaur” Kasztalski, and I am a Polish, traveling guy currently in Seattle. I am probably best known for “Rain on Your Parade” and “Headliner: NoviNews” games, among others. I lived all over the world working on games, storytelling and even cinematography at one point. I studied humanities and have a Masters in international politics, all of which inspire my creative works. 

I am the founder and creative director of Unbound Creations, an award-winning, independent game studio focusing on serious games that make you think, and silly games that make you laugh. We released 7 commercial titles in the past decade, spanning PC and consoles. Our games have been exhibited at numerous shows (such as PAX, Tokyo Game Show, or GamesCom), won several awards, were featured in museums, and were even used as a teaching tools in classrooms.

What inspired you to become an indie developer?

When I was a wee kid and got the very first Starcraft, I spent more time messing around with the Map Editor than actually playing the game itself. I think that was the moment when I knew I wanted to be a game developer, haha!

What draws me to games as an artform, is that it’s the only one that is truly interactive. A movie can show you something, a poem or a song can make you feel something, but a game… a game can make you DO something! And that, I think, is a very powerful ability.

What is one important lesson you have learned in your time as an indie developer?

Ah dang, it’s hard to pick just one! Hmm… I think the question “Is this a good or bad game?” is the wrong one. The question I ask myself is: “Who is my target audience, and how easily can I reach them?” I think this is true for all art in general, and not just games. 

There’s been so many examples of games (or other art) that might seem like nothing extraordinary at first glance, yet manage to flourish and succeed in the competitive market. I think that, with 8 billion of us, there’s always going to be people who will resonate with your art and love what you do. But some may be easier to reach than others, some may be more willing to spend on your game than others, some niches may be bigger than others, etc.  Creating (and scoping) with your audience in mind has become an important pillar of all my projects.

What is the one piece of advice you would share today with your younger self before you started your career as an indie developer?

Just release something already. It’s not new advice, but perhaps worth repeating, especially for first-time and hobby devs. I definitely was the guy who always made games, but never released games. I spent years just mucking around on ideas and never putting them out in the world. I think we all do, for the love of the craft. 

But ultimately, games are an interactive medium, and they depend on others experiencing them. Completing the game is also just half of the equation – there is also dealing with platforms, marketing, localization etc. Something I realized with my first game, is that half of the big lessons I only learned after the game was released – by talking to my players, by reading reviews, by taking a break and looking back at the project in retrospect. If games are your career, you’ll make more than one, and can carry lessons from one project to the next. You can only learn from your mistakes if you make them. 

How has the game developer community had an impact on your career?

Before moving to Seattle, I felt like an island. I was working on my own things, but rarely ran into people in the same space (aside from occasional conferences, which I didn’t really have a budget for at the time). It felt very solitary. 

I think the biggest benefit of having moved to Seattle and joining communities like Seattle Indies is the mental and emotional one. Finally, people who are struggling with the same struggles, who understand the work and the toil. The emotional support was very uplifting and encouraging. I really appreciate the indie game scene for how supportive and collaborative it is (as opposed to some other professional communities I was part of before, which felt a lot more competitive). It really feels like “rising tides lifts all boats” in my experience. 

The secondary benefit (perhaps even more important, objectively speaking) are the many doors that opened for me. Through the community, networking, attending local events, the geographical proximity, etc. I was able to exhibit at major showcases, get on the radar of game journalists and influencers, meet representatives from Nintendo and Microsoft… Put simply, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for all that. 

What is something interesting and unexpected that people would be surprised to learn about you?

According to my friends, the most surprising thing is that I am friendly to cats. I’m not really much of a pet person (or a human person, for the matter), yet somehow animals always seem at ease with me (and so do humans, surprisingly enough). 

How can people follow you and your work?

You can find me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/koobazaur) or Bluesky (https://bsky.app/profile/koobazaur.bsky.social), and for our game updates, you can follow our studio Twitter as well (https://twitter.com/unboundcreation) 

Here’s our Meetup Page with all future upcoming events. 

Feedback Circle is taking place Dec 11 at 70pm 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.

Seattle Indies Board Game Meetup is happening on Dec 15, 3pm at at Phoenix Comics and Games. Come play board games with Indie Game Developers!

Southside Social (Ugly Sweater Edition!) is happening on Dec 16, from 5-9:30pm at Logan Brewing Company, 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.

The Game Club is happening on Dec 18 at 7pm right on our Discord, and will focus on Wintermoor Tactics Club. 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 Writer’s Room is taking place on Dec 19, 6:30pm in our discord. Bring your scripts, flowcharts, character bibles or whatever you’re working on to share and get feedback on your storytelling. 

SnoCo Social will take place on December 20, 5pm – 11pm at Zulu’s, located at 5116 196th St SW · 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. We have the dragon’s lair room in the back left side of the store. We will post signs and have name tags.

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 because of holidays:

Show and Tell, normally 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.

Northside Social, usually 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!

The Eastside Meet & Drink is CANCELLED this month sorry! 

Seattle Indies Social that usually meets 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.

Seattle Indies Speaker Series happened at M5 Creative. Join us for an evening of talks and discussion featuring a retrospective from Paul Kankiewicz on his recently released Grapplers: Relic Rivals which was showcased at SIX 2024, then we’ll have a Q&A session with Gavin Eisenbeisz of Two Star Games, maker of the indie hit Choo Choo Charles. The talks will be streamed live on our Twitch and YouTube channels. Pizza and NA drinks will be provided for in-person attendees.

Paxton just shared that their Local Cryptic Conservatory game the Maze Gallery placed 20th in the Interactive Fiction Competition. It’s a large-scale collaborative narrative game about a surreal museum intent on keeping its patrons forever: Click Here to Check it out! 

Jeremy launched the Steam page for their game! It’s a deckbuilding roguelike with a placement/positioning component. Take a look here!

Toby M. released RAM (a SIX alumn game). It’s a  a top-down roguelike shooter with no player character. Seize control of diverse robotic enemies, turn them against each other in frantically paced combat, and fluidly swap to fresh hosts as old ones collapse into smoldering rubble. Go check it out!

AustinBMX released Temple of Shadows. If you enjoy atmospheric adventures, puzzles, and mysterious lore, I’d love for you to check it out! Even if it’s just adding it to your Steam wishlist or spreading the word, it would mean a world to them. Check it out here!

Oliver Beebe also released their precision platformer UnDuster!  Master the peculiar abilities of a powerful vacuum to run, jump, suck, and blow your way through precarious and horrifying platforming challenges. Take a look here.

Noatak launched their Steam page for a 2-button platformer about a salmon called Upstream, and you can go wishlist it now!

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!