November 2020 Update

Nov 3rd, 2020 by Tim Cullings

Hello Indies!

November is looking like it might be a crazy month, so hope you are taking care of your mental health, and can take some time to relax with some of your favorite games. What have you been playing lately? Let us know in the #gaming channel on our Discord! Now, onwards to news & update…

Support Seattle Indies while Shopping

If you choose to shop on Amazon, at QFC/Fred Meyer or on the Humble Store you can support Seattle Indies in the process. Use smile.amazon.com and set Seattle Indies as your charity of choice to support us with a percentage of each purchase donated from Amazon on qualifying purchases. Here’s the Links:

Monthly Recap

We have wrapped up Jamming the Curve, a two-week, distributed “slow jam” that invited diverse creators from around the world to develop games that can help translate data into stories through the use of real scientific models. We recorded our Video Recap with our host Katherine Tole as she played 8 of the best games from the jam and interviewed the developers who made them. The LA Times even published a piece about the jam. Congratulations to Seattle Indies Patrice Metcalf-Putnam for winning the Games that Feature Prosocial Pandemic Behavior category with Outbreak in Space and Brad Kraeling for earning an Honorable Mention in the Games with a Compelling Protagonist category with his game Nonessential. Play all of the excellent entries here.

Sweden Game Conference concluded this month as well, and all the talks are up on youtube if anyone’s looking for some new gamedev material: Click Here!

The Interactive Fiction Competition announced all their submitted games, which you can download, play and judge right here on their website. It features “Big Trouble in Little Dino Park” by our local dev Paxton!

Upcoming Events

The 4th annual Seattle Indies Game Jam will be taking place online from November 6th-22nd on the Seattle Indies Discord server! Read more and join on the jam on the Official Itch.io Page. While you’re at it, cast your vote for a theme by clicking here.

We’re looking for Mentors and Judges for, Click Here for the form. We ask that Judges be available at least for the closing on Sunday the 22nd. We ask that mentors be available for the opening on 11/6 at 6pm. Once we have your timeslots confirmed we will publish a schedule and ask that you be on the Discord during those times and announce your availability.

Area of Effect is an upcoming 2 day even bringing together gamers from across North America over Discord and Twitch to play games, level up on industry knowledge, and raise money for inspiring causes! Panels, deep dives, jams and more! Click here to learn all about it.

If you’ve got a mobile game you’re going to release in November or December, you could be part of PocketGamer’s LaunchPad event. It’s a series of reveals on the site and on Twitch that takes place November 12-14. Click Here for more info + signup.

If you’re musically-inclined, or just willing to learn, Zach Buckley is teaching music production lessons and has space available for 10 students, in classical music lesson fashion. Here’s the official tweet with more info and flyer below:

Game Club will be playing and discussing Breakpoint this month. Check out the Event Here and join us on Discord on Nov 18, 2020 at 7PM Pacific!

Don’t forget our monthly Seattle Indies Social is right around the corner. Keep an eye on our Discord or Facebook for more details. Join your friends from Seattle and beyond to catch up on what everyone is working on and doing to keep busy while we’re practicing social distancing.

Local Dev News

Zach Buckley announced their newest album in time for their birthday on Oct 8 (happy belated!) Check out the official tweet for some lovely tunes.

Flavortown: Ep. 1 “Did It All For The Cookie” just released for VR: “”Congratulations Rookie! You have been recognized as an elite officer of Flavortown’s Finest. You’ll be paired with Biff and Buddy, two wise cracking meatball “hotshots” of the precinct.” Check it out On Steam.

End of the Skyline is now available on Itch. It’s an alternative turn-based tactics game, and submitted for LudumDare 47. Click Here to play.

Arrow Ball is officially releasing November 9th! It’s a fast-paced Arrow-Sports game where you use explosive arrows and acrobatics to outmaneuver your opponents and control THE BALL. Engage in 1v1 or 2v2 local multiplayer battles across a variety of unique Stages. Wishlist Today!

And a special congratulations to our Board President Tim Cullings for being named the new Director of Operations for Global Game Jam. Tim has been a big part of making GGJ a highly anticipated event here in Seattle and we are sure he will do the same on the global level. This year’s event will be unique as it will be fully online due to the ongoing global pandemic but Seattle Indies will have an online site for you to join and jam with your usual crew or find new friends to work with, keep an eye on this newsletter and our social media channels for when registrations go live.

Harassment Policy, Black Lives Matter, and Resources

Seattle Indies believes the stories of the victims of sexual harassment and assault in the games industry that have been shared this past week and before. 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 Sarah 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 sarah@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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