It’s June, and the heat’s finally on, so now too can experience the feeling of constantly sweating everywhere you go… Anyway, you can stay in and (hopefully) crank the A.C., while you enjoy some indie games. Or you can steel yourself, venture out into the wall of fire, and hit up one of the local Toronto events.
Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, now available on our homepage, which will be updated as more events are announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.
By the way, if you haven’t heard, you can now pay your dues to be a Hand Eye Society Member with money, not just volunteer hours. This month’s reason to join: exhibitions like our Comics vs Games, pictured above, mixing the comics and games communities.
Toronto Game Events
Tuesday, June 9: How They Roll: Postmortem of Rollers of the Realm, an oral history of indie studio Phantom Compass.
Saturday, June 13: DMG June Speaker’s social, featuring presentations by merritt kopas and Gabriella Aveiro.
Saturday, June 20: Pytyvo Gaming presents Quick Draw, a game-themed sketching challenge.
Wed, June 24: Torontaru monthly meet-and-drink.
Local Game Releases
One of the strange creations from the most recent TOJam is INFINIDEER, in which you play as a deer crossing the road, while trying to do as much damage as possible. That doesn’t even really sum up the strangeness.
Twine game Rab Bits, by Rokashi Edwards, is a quirky interactive story about a bizarre 16th birthday.
Arielle Grimes’s BrokenFolx has been spotlighted here, but it’s been recently updated and tweaked, and is worth another look. This text-and-graphics story tackles sexism, racism and LGBTQ issues using a bright, colorful art style.
Finally, from now until June 8, Nintendo is selling a special indie bundle that features DrinkBox Studio’s acclaimed action platformer, Guacamelee.
Toronto Folks In The Media
I initially discovered INFINIDEER thanks to this article about it in Boing Boing.
Hand Eye Society was cited in a very nice CBC article about indie games, and how they appeal to and can educate younger children.
Now Toronto covered the recent Toronto Comic Arts Festival here, and the indie games at our Comics vs Games contained within. They also wrote an article about the development of The Wizards of Bellwood by Chris De Castro, a whimsical game that journeys through Trinity Bellwoods Park, prototyped at our Artsy Games Incubator.
Gamemoir has an interesting article about the history, strengths and weaknesses of the Twine development tool, and it mentions Say When, Toronto developer Kaitlyn Tremblay’s game, and Christine Love’s Even Cowgirls Bleed.
Speaking of Kaitlyn Tremblay, her article about character choice in video games for Dork Shelf is also worth a read.
LOUD on Planet X received a flood of media coverage for their Kickstarter — Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and a million other places.
Special Announcements
LOUD on Planet X, in its last week on Kickstarter, is a unique Toronto indie-music game with some serious cred — musical acts appearing in the game include Tegan and Sara, METZ, Metric, Lights, July Talk, F*cked Up, Cadence Weapon and Austra. The current Kickstarter aims to get it on the Wii U and Xbox One, as well as add more bands to the title. You can back it here before June 5th.
The Hand Eye Society is organizing a full day of outdoor games at Harbourfront Centre on July 26, as part of a Panam Games-related pavilion. We’ll be playing games from designers around the world, but we’d love to get some more work from Toronto designers in there as well! If you have a game that’s low-tech/no-tech, suitable for lots of players, and family-friendly, contact david@handeyesociety.com.
Help Wanted
Looking to get into show business? TVO Kids needs a web developer. Now’s your chance!
DrinkBox Studios, of Guacamelee fame, is looking for a combination Bookkeeper and Office Manager. If that’s up your alley, have a look at their careers page.
Embreate Inc. is seeking a full-time contract Unity3D programmer to work primarily on Kinect-based projects. The ideal candidate is located in Toronto, plus he/she has front end design experience. See complete listing and company details here.
Finally, Dames Making Games is looking for volunteers to serve as mentors for Indigicade, a game development training workshop for aboriginal women. Have a look here.
That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.
Enjoy this digest? It’s paid for by Hand Eye Society Member dues. For $7/month you get a free Toronto game every month, discounts, and a +5 karma boost. Consider joining!
