Howdy charlatans! January blues are bebopping away, ushering in February foolishness. We turn to groundhog for weather predictions, Shoppers Drug Mart for Valentine gifts, New Year happens all over again and we’re all sheepish about it. Plus, at some point, the Christ-leaning among us gouge on fat stacks of pancakes. These random rituals aren’t your only reprieve from this month’s banalities, thanks to everyone running indie videogame events and socials around Toronto.

So maybe slide your math teacher Google Calendar some discount Ferraro Rocher sometime. Poor guy’s got to put up with the anime club’s bullcrap, some chocolate would motivate him to post events when they are announced.

Where to Jaunt – Toronto Game Events

Wednesday, February 3

Hypergame Storytime: The Musical Prepare your body for the game-story-musical event of your life! Inspired by tabletop RPGs, improv comedy and rock & roll, Hypergame Storytime: The Musical invites the audience to take their rightful place as the star of an intergalactic, time travelling odyssey about the triumph of the human spirit and butts probably, whatever, just trust us. What is it? What isn’t it! It’s all your favourite activities and interests smushed together with healthy doses of awkwardness, imagination and friendship. Sign up for the PWYC beta which takes place at Electric Perfume at 7:30.

Saturday, February 13

It’s the Hand Eye Society’s Annual General Meeting! Once a year, we welcome the public to learn about the organization, the folks behind it, and upcoming projects. After those presentations, we have a closed meeting for Hand Eye members where we vote on policies. Join us at Electric Perfume to get to know facilitators, find out what game events are on the horizon, and join our shadowy society if you’re so inclined!

Wednesday, February 17

They’re almost as shadowy as us; the Mad Fox Society, and its secret knowledge, is up for grabs for the cleverest of puzzle breakers. Held by Real Escape Room TO, this brand new escape room series is having its premiere this month, with games running weekly from Wednesday to Sunday. And don’t forget, with a Hand Eye Society membership, you get 10% all Real Escape Room games!

More exciting Feb 17 news: FebMoVid, a night dedicated to the silliness that was the Full Motion Video (FMV) era, is our first event of the year! You can buy tickets here, as well as check out our Facebook event for more information. (Some cool words about the event, by our own Sagan Yee: “This February, videogames and movies collide as The Hand Eye Society joins forces with The Laser Blast Film Society for the first time ever! Together, we will celebrate the poorly compressed, scan line-ridden era of Full Motion Video (FMV) games with a presentation of some of the strangest and funniest forays into “interactive cinema” never meant for the big screen- and even some that were.”). Also, HES members will receive a special discount promo code by e-mail, so sign up for membership now if you haven’t already.

Friday, February 19 to Sunday, February 21

No game will be sacred at Dames Demaking Games. Developers are welcome to de-skin, modify, and re-imagine existing games at this game jam, with the hacked projects featuring in an exhibit in March.

Friday, February 26

Laser Equipped Annihilation Protocol, the live-action laser-avoidance game by Hopkins Duffield, is coming down at the end of February and going into hibernation after a run of playtesting and development. Come join us at Electric Perfume on Feb 26 for some yums, socializing, and try to beat the game and get your name on our Leaderboard, or meet death as an honoured sacrifice. Private group bookings of LEAP available until the 26th!

And if you wanna contribute some villainous voice-recording for the event on the 26th, and attend either a lesson on audio recording or a lecture on the role of videogame bosses, check out the two preliminary Verbal Abuse Training Camps on Feb 10 and 16 respectively!

Where to Haunt – Toronto Game Socials

Tuesday, February 2

Toronto’s Virtual Reality (VR) Meetup group is doing a February social, which will include a playtest of multiplayer Mars. Starts 7 p.m., at Globacore Headquarters.

Saturday, February 20

Toronto Gaymers are bringing the speed at their Queer Pubcade, featuring Rocket League and Mario Kart. Blue shell your way to victory! Starts at 4 p.m., at The Marquis of Granby.

Wednesday, February 24

Time for another Torontaru, the monthly social for all indie game culture locals, developers and fans alike. Starts 8 p.m., at the Get Well.

And if you’re interested in work sessions that aren’t in cramped cafes, webspace TO is a group of digital creators that welcomes game developers. They’ll be holding a working session at LabTO, a new co-working space across from Ubisoft headquarters.

Thursday, February 25

If you wanna scope LabTO out,  they’ll be holding their opening party Food and drinks will be served, virtual reality will be oogled, and Toronto VR/3D creators will be chilling. Starts at 7.p.m., at 231 Wallace Ave.

Saturday, February 27

Expect talks and snacks at Dames Making Games’ Monthly Social. February’s speakers are U-Dimensions Founder Christina Guo and game designer Tanya Kan.

#ICYMI

#TheDameularity – This DMG workshop on a lazy Saturday has let loose dozens of twitterbots onto an unsuspecting public. New AI on the run include a game idea generator, a bot that speaks in Drake lyrics, a bot that I am dating so hands off,  and a bot that cheers on the other bots. May the cyberpunk gods have mercy on our souls. If you weren’t able to make it, notes from the workshop by facilitator Izzie Colpitts-Campbell are available here.

#TGGJ and #GGJ16 – This year, Global Game Jam’s theme was ritual. Almost 200 Toronto developers lost out on the ritual of sleep big-time, after last weekend’s event at George Brown College. Try not to wake them while you’re playing their incredible projects!

Some games that we’re looking forward to playing: pyro-kicking it with multiplayer Combust-A-Move; making poppa pissed with Dad Rage; getting COINAGE from chaste brothers in monk simulator Monastery; zenning out with Serenity; and Super Trump Jump, which has gotta be golden.

Coming Attractions

Soon you’ll be able to rescue space bunnies on the PS4, because beloved co-op game Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime will be available on the PlayStation store on February 9. If you ask us, this is the perfect excuse to grab your favourite co-pilot and go on a Valentine cruise through the galaxies.

By Thor’s Mjolnir, a cross-platform Nordic RPG from Hammer town has got to be good. Thrive Games have launched a Kickstarter campaign for Dragon of Legends. Not only are the gifs from the campaign page super adorable, Thrive promises a rich tapestry of Celtic and Nordic mythos and culture within the game, of which some assets could be user-generated. Another cool thing: Old Hag, You Have Killed Me is a song from the game’s OST.

This ain’t Call of Duty, bub. Real Army Simulator, first developed in last year’s TO Jam, has released episode two of its satirical soldier narrative. The game (by The Really Serious Game Company) is based on true stories from developer Yifat Shaik, who served in the Israeli Army. Instead of a trigger-happy romanticized First Person Shooter, expect to march through bureaucratic boring hardships day-by-day.

Paper Trails – Gaming In The Media

Gabby DaRienzo was interviewed by FemHype, where she talked about her life, her creative processes, and the games she’s made. Among them is Trackoons, a racing game where you play a bloated raccoon who ate too much garbage in, obviously, Toronto. Look for it at the TIFF digiPlayspace coming this spring!

The Globe and Mail published a story on local industry and indie game developers. It features fancy words from Damian Sohmer, known for The Yawg and Chesh, as well as Capybara Games’ Nathan Vella and Bento Miso’s Henry Faber. The Hand Eye Society also gets a shout-out, which is pretty neat!

Writer and HarperCollins Canada editor Suzanne Sutherland wrote “I’m not a Gamer: A Reflection,” which has Dames Making Games featured for reigniting her love for videogames.

MVP

This month’s MVP doesn’t go to just one person. We decided to feature one of the development teams who worked their butts off making a game at Global Game Jam. I managed to catch Acolyte developers Tanya Kan, Brent Gavin Mitchell, and Douglas Gregory before they passed out.

Acolyte uses the Oculus Rift and Leapmotion to let players cast spells and fireballs using their head and hand movements.

“Some fun stuff in the demo include gaze-triggered ‘magic books’ flying off the shelves, your VR hands being made of smoke, clapping to make a ‘magic circle’ for ability selection, the fire propagation of the bookshelves and a telekinetic grab,” Mitchell said.

Kan posted really cool vines of the team demoing Acolyte, with finger-waggling worthy of Merlin’s approval.

“When you play with the peripherals, you feel like you’re actually creating magic out of thin air – Wizard hands!” Kan said.

Considering they had created this demo in under 24 hours, I’m tempted to accuse the whole crew of witchcraft/unbelievable time management skills.

A BREADWINNER IS YOU – JOBS, GIGS & OPPORTUNITIES

In partnership with Techsdale, Pytyvõ Gaming will be holding a Game Diversity Jam at George Brown College in early March. Intrepid Hand Eye member Amanda Wong told us “Diversity Game Jam focuses on themes of diversity such as, but are not limited to, ethnic representation and intersectionality. It will be a 2-day paper jam with workshops on the first day and jamming on the second day. Diversity Game Jam is open to people of all ages and different skill levels.” More details to be announced. If you’re interested in joining or helping out, you can contact pytyvogaming@gmail.com.

The Enthusiastic Gaming Live Expo is now accepting talk proposals. The gaming convention, which runs from April 29 to May 1, welcomes talks revolving around, but not limited to, video game development. As well, a student game pitch competition will be held, with cash prizes available.

All the IndieCade that’s fit to print! IndieCade East talk proposals are due Feb 3, and IndieCade Not East game submissions are now open.

T-t-t-t-that’s all for February’s round-up. These monthly digests are brought to you by the Hand Eye Society, a videogame arts and literacy organization based in Toronto. If you want to support round-ups like these and get in on more perks, become a Hand Eye member for the low price of your time (if you volunteer for 10 hours with us) or your money (a mere 7 bucks a month).

if you want to see your game/event/initiative featured, let us know at calendar@handeyesociety.com, @handeyesociety or @gollydrat on Twitter! <3