Jan. 12, 2018 By Tara Law
Video game enthusiasts will gather at the Museum of the Moving Image this February for a weekend featuring dozens of new and unreleased games, workshops by designers, panels and expert talks.
IndieCade East will take place from Feb. 16 to 18 at the museum, which is located at 36-01 35th Ave in Astoria. The festival is run by IndieCade, a California-based nonprofit that provides financial and creative support to independent video game designers and developers around the world.
The nonprofit holds a number of festivals and competitions each year, with its two flagship events being “IndieCade” in Los Angeles and “IndieCade Europe” in Paris.
IndieCade East attendees are invited to take part in talks, panels and workshops led by independent game designers, critics and other experts in the field. Festival goers will also get a sneak-peak at new and unreleased games.
Events include the launch of a new exhibit called “IndieCade Presents: A Decade of Game Design”, which will be on display at MOMI until June 17. The exhibit will explore the work of eight influential developers and show how video games have become a method for artistic expression.
The festival will also host a 12-hour “game jam.” A game jam is a hackathon for video games, in which a group of people gather to plan, design and create one or more games.
Another featured event provides attendees with the opportunity to play board games created Anna Anthropy, a video game designer also known as Auntie Pixelante who often explores gender and sexuality in her work.
Attendees are also invited to a workshop that discusses how to incorporate video games with protest movements. The workshop is being led by Paolo Pedercini, who teaches experimental game design at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Art. Pedercini is known for exploring political and social topics through video game projects.
More details and events will be announced closer to the festival date.
Early Bird passes for all three days (Friday-Sunday) are available for $100 until Jan. 14. Early bird student, senior and MOMI member passes are $80.
For tickets, click here