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Monday, October 6, 2014

IndieCade 2014: Why The Hell Should I Care?

Bro,
Fine lady,

I'm not going to force you to care, I'm just gonna tell you because I don't want you missing out on all the fun and the games. Oh, the games to play.

If a gamer or lover of games you might want to spend the end of the week in lovely Culver City, not a joke. Culver City is one of the rather nicer areas around LA. Near Sony Studios and covering a few blocks again this year is IndieCade. Put indie and arcade together and you have IndieCade, a big ol'  game event showcasing independent games. Not just video games, games of all media; board games, card games and fun at night adult games. You can play these games, meet the creators  and connect with new people or just have a ball playing some new games, though we're not getting that zorb soccer this year at it.

IndieCade Oct 9-12
9300 Culver Blvd., Culver City 90232
Festival Day $30-$40
3-Day Pass $90
All Access $495, more details on pricing

For those wanting to learn, you'll be going the 9-10th, those who want to just game, you'll be going Saturday and Sunday the 11-12th.

Pen Ward, creator of Adventure Time, will be a a keynote speaker at IndieCade, the independent games festival on Friday. I've spotted him at it numerous times and it only makes sense he would like to talk a bit at it. He'll be joined by David O'Reily, who did an epsiode of Adventure Time fully in CGI, by himself. David is also the creator of Mountain, which is being showcased at the the game festival, though many might argue it's not a game.
11:30am - 12:30pm Friday, October 10th @ Ivy 


I'm sorry to see Nintendo and the Oculus VR are aren't part of the featured exhibitors this year. However, PlayStation is returning and we don't need the big guys to have fun. To get nice licensing deals yes, but they will have their agents about looking at what video games people are playing.

There's quite a selection of video games to check out, we've gone over a few on the site in the weeks leading up to the fest, here's the current digital selection. From spying on dolphins in virtual reality to getting a chance to play a new version of Hyper Light Drifter, it's an odd assortment of game to try.

IndieCade Table Games has a wide assortment to try this year. The Thing From The Future might be something to consider for all those into time travel, describe an object in the future based on certain timelines, it all lies in the cards you get.

 The eSports Showcase brings some competition to the festival with special bracketed events on people playing games. Dog Park, a dog park simulator looks like it will make for a great strange time. You'll be able to play more classic like games with Toto Temple deluxe and Lethal League

IndieCade has more than just games you can play sitting down. You'll be active and have to use your brains for the Big Games and Night Games. These two sections really get those bodies moving. Starting with Big Games, whcih you'll see during the day, will have large groups canvasing Culver City. Some games require only two players like, Sabertron, think light-saber battle. Lock & Key has you and up to seven others getting out of restraints together, if you help each other out. Punch the Custard, is exactly as it sounds, but how much will you punch it is up to the rules.Sankofa Says is a highlight to us, figure out the history of Culver City with a flash mob.

Night Games can be dirty. Not that dirty, but dirty enough to be funny. This year, they're more about potty humor such as Daphny Needs to Poop, an unplayable mess of a poop game.

Many of the games, but not all, are nominees for awards and playable in the firehouse, that's not a cute name, IndieCade takes over a firehouse every year. No, I don't know what happens if there is a fire nearby, I'll be too busy playing games. Crawl looks like a heavy contender. The multiplayer dungeon crawler has use both questing and being able to attack your friends as the enemy.

For the more learned or wanting to get more for the business side you have IndieXchange summits and bootcamps with Friday being a Professional day to look at everything. These are days to hear from big companies on what they want and professionals in the industry on how to get your game out there.

GameU is for those wanting to learn how to make games or make them better.

The IndieCade GameSlam 2014 seems like a beast, you're given a  mere one hundred seconds to explain your game with 16 others. October 11th at 4:30pm

The Beer Garden Part will be Friday evening between 5-and 8pm and Indie Village.