July 2024 Update
Hello Indies!
It’s that time of the year where Seattle can’t decide if it wants to be hot or cold. But that’s not gonna stop us from making some games, is it?
Upcoming Events
Seattle Indies Expo 2024: Mark your calendars! Our annual Expo is coming back on September 1st!!!
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.
Join us tonight at Theater Puget Sound at Seattle center. Lead developer David Evans gives us on an intimate look back at what it was like to navigate the high seas of developing and releasing the hit game Sail Forth from Early Access to full release and DLC. David is a longtime member of the Seattle Indies community and a regular at Global Game Jam as a member of the Sticky Biscuits team. Sail Forth was featured at SIX 2019 and 2020.
Sail Forth is an action-adventure game developed by Festive Vector and published by Quantum Astrophysicists Guild. It was released on 21 December 2022 for Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
In Sail Forth, the player assumes the role of a captain, commanding a fleet of customizable ships in an open-world adventure game. Sail a fleet of customizable ships across an ocean whose ancient depths have swallowed the key to the mysterious past. Befriend fishfolk to expand your boat crews, take up arms against petulant pirates, and chart a course across an expansive watery world.
Schedule:
6-7pm: Networking/social hour
7-8pm: Presentation/Q&A
8-9pm: Networking
https://www.meetup.com/seattleindies/events/301448355/
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 July 2, at 6:30pm! 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!
Northside Social is taking place July 11, 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 July 16 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 July 17 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 July 18 at 5:30pm at Niantic in Bellevue. 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.
Seattle Indies Board Game Meetup is happening on July 21, 3pm at at Phoenix Comics and Games. Come play board games with Indie Game Developers!
The Writer’s Room is taking place on July 25, 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.
Feedback Circle is OFF this month, but usually happen 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.
Local Dev News
Paul K (Ally Productions) released Grapplers: Relic Rivals! Check it out on Steam.
mooooooooo shared a new game where “Gay monkeys island meets feminist leisure suit Larry 😉” Check it out on Itch or on Steam
Michael Shephard shared a demo for their VR Project, take a look!
Tom Goulding just shared The Ancients is available in Early Access. Take a look!
Cirra shared a new trailer for their game, give it a watch here!
Prof shared that the Pre-order for their game Concord is now available. Take a peek!
Nathaniel Roldan shared their team’s first time submission on TheRookies. Check it out here.
Lil C. shared the demo for Slime Heroes, check it out on Steam.
Zach shared that their team released their first game that wasn’t for a game jam! Take a look!
Connor shared that the Pro Philosopher 2 demo is finally live, take a look on Steam.
Ezra is starting a “minimally edited” live coding tutorial type for Godot, starting with rogue like deck builder! Give it a Watch.
Michael Betts shared that Tower Song, a turn-based RPG with four playable main characters, has left early access today and is now a full release! Give it a look.
RedVonix shared that their company Cerulean Games has acquired Visible Games and the FMV titles GHOSTS – coming in 2025 to PC/MAC/Consoles. Read the announcement
Jonathan Hackers shared their silly quick TTRPG called “Mutant Possum Cowboys” that’s free to download! 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!
If you want to join our mailing list to get this update sent to your inbox monthly just signup on this form.