IndieCade Day 3 / Closing Reception
Sunday was the final day of IndieCade. I had seen most of the games at this point, so just took it easy and revisited a few of my favorites.
Some of the games I really enjoyed at the Fire Station were Nova-111, Mini Metro, Drei, and Gemini.
Here’s my friend Jaime playing Mini Metro. According to the devs, she got the highest score out of anyone during IndieCade:
Later in the afternoon, the closing reception was held at IndieCade Village: 
Post-IndieCade
I was set to fly back to Chicago in the evening of Monday right after IndieCade. I spent the day hanging out at Glitch City, alongside the regulars and a bunch of out of town devs: 
Conclusion
So, was the trip worth it? Did I find what I was looking for?
The short answer is yes.
Here’s the long answer: Yes, I got a lot of feedback on Relativity, and was able to have many in depth discussions about my game’s mechanics and aesthetics with other developers.
The best part is that because I showed the game on the first day of IndieCade at IndieXchange, for that rest of the festival, I could continue to discuss the game in detail with people who had experienced it. Plus, they would say things like “I’ve been thinking about that one issue…” and offer me a bunch of suggestions and advice.
There were also a lot of opportunities to socialize, and because all of IndieCade takes place within several blocks in Culver City, you will keep running into people throughout the duration of the festival. You meet people for the first time on day 1, and by day 4, they feel like best friends. It’s really awesome in this sense.
In fact, to me, I think what’s best about IndieCade is actually not the game playing experience, but being able to meet so many developers. This is not a statement about the selection of games at IndieCade. On the contrary, I think they do a fine job with selecting the games. However, I think the format in which the games are presented (outdoors, in tents, with multiple categories), is actually not ideal for the experience of actually playing games, especially in contrast to the setup at other conferences and festivals.
I was discussing this topic with a fellow developer I met, and he pointed out how during IndieCade, he only really got to play around 10 or so games. Instead, most of his time was spent talking to people and hanging out.
So if you’re going to IndieCade, it’s really people first, and games second. I think it’s more about building relationships with other indie developers, and just making new friends. That’s what IndieCade does best and what makes it really great.
That being said, I think if you go as a developer, you should always be prepared to show people your game, or at least images of it. One issue I was trying to sort out, and which I’ve been dealing with for some time is, how can I have a minimalist art style with edge-detection, but differentiate the game from Antichamber?
What I did was that I used a screenshot of my game as my phone’s lock screen, and at every opportunity, I would ask people for feedback. This worked really well, because I could immediately take my phone out of my pocket, and show people the problem I was having. I got lots of valuable feedback this way, such as the use of screen space gradient and chromatic aberration.
Finally, while IndieCade is a lot of fun, and the atmosphere is on the whole very positive, I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel isolated or alienated at some points. I think this is largely due to the fact that I’m still a relatively new member of the indie game scene. 2014 is the first year I started going to game events, and this was my first time at IndieCade. But IndieCade itself has been going on for 6 years, and for some of the people attending, it’s their 3rd or 4th IndieCade.
At times, it can feel like it’s a large group of really good friends that you’re just not a part of. I especially felt this way during the award ceremony on the first day. It felt like everyone there already knew each other super well, and I barely knew anyone.
However, it’s important to remember that this is nothing personal. A lot of these people are great friends with one another, and for them, IndieCade is an opportunity to catch up and see old friends. It’s not being done to exclude anyone. And when you start to talk to people, you’ll soon start to make friends. The whole situation is much less intimidating than it might initially appear.
Everyone there is just someone who is passionate about indie games, and are more than happy to meet new people, despite how “big” they might seem on the internet. Don’t worry if you don’t know anyone. You’ll easily make new friends, and they’ll introduce you to people, and by the end, you’ll feel like you know everyone. It was very difficult to say good bye to people at events later in the festival, because as you start to make your way to the exit, you keep getting drawn into conversations with different groups of people.
So yeah, if you get a chance to go to IndieCade, even if you’re not exhibiting a game, I highly recommend it. Make friends and enjoy the beautiful California weather!