June’s Jellybean Journeys: Monthly Newsletter

Welcome to June’s Election Month Newsletter! Yeah, it’s not as alliterative as “jellybean journeys” so we didn’t use it. Also, what the heck are provincial politics doing in my video game digest?! Skip on down to Election Special for a reminder to hit the polls on June 7, or proceed in a linear-type fashion down this very long list of video game happenings in the midst of this muggy month.

If Google Calendar is voted in as Premier, they promised to give me a million jellybeans and a copy of thatgamecompany’s Journey! Whaddya know, that title was relevant after all…

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WHERE TO JAUNT – EVENTS

June 1

Come hang out with the folks at Dames Making Games for the second Game Dev Book Club! This month’s book is Unity in Action by Joseph Hocking.

June 3/10/17/24

Jugger is a fast-paced international team sport that plays like a blend of capture the flag, fencing, and rugby. Come and hang out in Christie Pits with Valkyrie and Evan Savage every Sunday at 2PM and learn how to play! Will be continued in July.

June 6

Do you know someone who’s interested in going to school for game making? triOS College is running an event where you can be a game student for the day and learn all about the industry. There’s also bursaries available! Check it out 🙂

June 12

Ever wanted to battle it out with your friends in AR? You can with Battle Mages, a new location-based game, and the TorontoVR crew! Doors open at 7PM.

June 14

Toronto Game UX has an event about Lessons Learned from Testing with Toddlers with Spencer Winson! They sound like some interesting playtesters to be sure. Doors open at 7PM at the Toronto Media Arts Centre, 32 Lisgar st!

June 15

Check out ANYTHING commercial by Dogson featuring guest collaborator Emmanuel Laflamme at Electric Perfume from 6pm-2am. ANYTHING is part of a collaborative virtual reality improvisation series by Dogson, and has performed at various festivals such as AMAZE Berlin, the Creative Coast Festival, and Nordic Game Conference.

June 15

As a part of the VRTO 2018 Conference and Expo, you can come to workshops about Narrative Approaches in Spatialized Media! Get tickets soon, this conference looks awesome!

June 16-18

VRTO 2018 kicks off at 10AM! Come check out some of the fantastic events, showcases and speakers, including: Steve Gaynor from Fullbright Company (Gone Home, Tacoma), and Paloma Dawkins who you might remember did our Gardening In The 4th Dimension workshop last month! Other Toronto folks include Blair Renaud of IRIS VR, Elli Raynai of Cinehackers, and Lee Vermeulen of Alientrap Games, all of which who are giving talks. Exhibitors include Chris Cooper of Singular Dream, Dustin Freeman, and Stephen Shew. Hand Eye members also get a 15% discount off tickets; the code has been sent to you 🙂

June 19

Loot Boxes: Video Game Gambling, Paying to Win, and the Question of Game Design is a free research talk by Dr. Mark R. Johnson (University of Alberta) and Dr. Tom Brock (Manchester Metropolitan University). This research talk reveals the developer’s point of view on the design and integration of loot boxes, investigates the voices of local, national, and international debates about the regulation and funding of games with loot boxes, and the effects and impacts on both policy, regulation, and video game players themselves. This talk is arranged by former HES Board Member, Dr. Sara Grimes at the University of Toronto.

June 20

Interested in learning VR? Come to the VR Dames June meet up and learn about VR, find mentors, or get help with a project you’re working on!

June 24

GameX 2.0 is an interactive video game event featuring vendors and tournaments at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga. It is a family friendly event with children under the age of 12 entering with free admission. Grab your tickets today.

June 27

Want to learn about wearable technology? Hang out and talk shop with experts at the DMG Wearable Tech Studio.

June 28

Make Friends Monthly presents Phonopticon-An Era of Mass Surveillance at TinEye, 7 PM! This workshop will cover surveillance and how mobile applications and websites are spying on us. Take control of your data!

WHERE TO HAUNT – SOCIALS

June 8-9

Power Up Bar Poutine Fest 2018 is happening! Come hang out, have a beer and poutine, and play some games!

June 16

It’s time for the June Speaker’s Social at Dames Making Games! Interested in speaking yourself? Contact the DMG and pitch to be a part of next month’s event!

June 19

Come and hang out at the Toronto Unreal Engine and Friends! Doors open at 6:30PM

June 20

Are you interested in alternative games and controllers? Want to interface technology into your physical game? Come hang out at the Alternative Games Meet Up at the Toronto Media Arts Centre, 32 Lisgar st! Doors open at 7PM.

June 22

Happy Pride Weekend everyone! Start your weekend off by going to Power Up Bar’s Party With Toronto Gaymers event! Have fun, party safe, and have a fantastic Pride <3

June 27

It’s that time of the month, head down to Get Well and meet other game developers at Torontaru!

June ???

As always, be on the lookout for Friends Play Games and Friends Make Games at Gamma Space, now open for business at TMAC! Typically once a month on a TBA Monday evening.

COMING AND GOING ATTRACTIONS

We still have spots open for Camp Make-A-Game 2018 at Ryerson University! If you or you know someone who is still scrambling to find a summer camp for that kid in your life, Camp MAG is a week-long camp where kids get to design their own games and play indoor & outdoors all day long! Registrations are still open for 3 more weeks in July, so secure your spot today.

We would also like to welcome VRGEN to our invaluable group of Studio Sponsors who are helping to send a kid to camp at the Maria A. Shchuka Library in August. Thank you so much for your support, your contributions make a big difference to our communities!

Aether Interactive’s newest game, Subserial Network, is a Humble Original for Humble Monthly subscribers starting June 1! Cyber-congrats to Sophia Park and Penelope Evans, with further art and production by BARCHboi, Sarah “Esselfortium” Mancuso, Henry Faber and Jonathan Levstein.

Pirate Pop Plus by 13AM Games is available on Nintendo Switch, and if you live in Europe, is 20% off until June 13!

Photo credit: Suanna Flock

June 19-20

Vector Festival will actually be happening July 12-16, but are releasing their full programming on June 19 and passes will be available on June 20. Some program highlights include their flagship exhibition Born Digital, an exploration on how human connections are framed by and dictated through digital and technological apparatuses. There will also be a free screening of Words Before All Else: Oral Histories in the Digital Age by Jenny Western and Clint Enns, in partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario celebrating Indigenous storytelling in the digital age.

PAPER TRAILS – GAMING IN THE MEDIA

Photo by Mark Backler

Congratulations to Adam Robinson-Yu and Marishka Zachariah on getting into Stugan! Stugan is a non-profit accelerator program for game developers who will spend two summer months in the woods in Stockholm, Sweden. Marishka’s game, Soothsayer, was prototyped during the Hand Eye Society’s Artist in Residency program at Oakwood Library. Adam showcased VHS vs BETAMAX during the HES Ball in 2016. More recently, both have showcased games at Comics x Games 2018 (Dispirited VR and Untitled Paper RPG). We’re really excited to see what you both make!

#ICYMI

TOJam 13: Flirteen with Danger happened during the first weekend of May at George Brown College, and with +625 people making a total of 139 games, it sounded like a success! You can play all the games according to their playable platforms on the Flirteen with Danger itch.io page and experience the fruits of the TOJam labour. Congrats everyone!

Speaking of jams: The Antifa Game Jam is finished, but the fight against fascism continues ever onward! In the meantime, check out their Itch page to see all the games that were made. Thank you to our friends at Game Curious Montreal for helping to organize this.

Comics x Games 2018 kicked off at TCAF during the May 12-13 weekend. We brought out 25 digital and analogue games by folks from all over the city and world. There were also two panels by The Tea Dragons Society on Comic Publishers Getting into Games and by 3 indie comic artists on taking their creative vision into the world of video game development. On Sunday, we ended the night with a quiet gathering at May Cafe. Thank you to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival for partnering up with us every year and thank you to the Ontario Media Development Corporation for funding this event.

The Game Curious Mississauga pilot program had a successful end last week at Erin Meadows Public Library. Every Thursday, we concurrently taught one aspect of game design to a group of dedicated and eager youth who built their very own platformer using Unity and Blender. We would like to thank Mississauga Program Coordinator Kadeem Dunn for putting together this program, Mississauga Library for hosting us, and our weekly guests for assisting with instruction during our classes. Want to learn more about how we can bring Game Curious to your Mississauga Library branch? Email us at info@handeyesociety.com.

With growing discussions on the unionization of the games industry (check out Game Workers Unite and GWU Toronto), ACTRA Toronto hosted an information session for video game developers on how to engage with professionals in the industry. ACTRA is a 70 years old union of over 22,000 professionals in film, video, and new media performers, with Toronto being their largest branch.

A reminder that Gamma Space is once again taking memberships at their newly-opened location in the Toronto Media Arts Centre, 32 Lisgar Street! Also home to Dames Making Games on the second floor.

BREADWINNER – JOBS/GIGS/OPPORTUNITIES/DEADLINES

June 15

Call for Participation for Different Games 2018 close. They are accepting Paper Presentations & Talks, Pre-Constituted Panels, and Workshop sessions on the topic of inclusivity and diversity in games. All voices from the games community are welcomed including designers, activist, researchers, educators, journalists and more.

June 22

Vector Festival 2018 are looking for volunteers, the deadline ends at 12 noon.

June 25

IndieCade submissions have been extended! There are two festivals to submit to, one in L.A. California Oct. 11-13, and one in Paris France Oct. 19-20. If you submit a game, you are also eligible to submit a talk and/or a special game showcasing (eg GameTasting) events. Developers are able to apply for submission fee discounts AND they are also working on securing travel assistance for people who make it into the festival. What are you waiting for? Get those games in!!

June 29

Call for Speakers for Full Indie Summit close. Write some cool proposals and head off to the west coast. NOTE: Out-of-towners qualify for a small stipend to help with travel costs!!

Call for Games for Different Games 2018 close. DG is a conference that promotes inclusivity and diversity in games and encourages developers and games of different backgrounds to submit.

July 3

Do you have ideas for how to grow the Interactive Media scene in Ontario? There’s a grant for that: The Industry Development Program has three deadlines and you can apply for all of ’em!

Night in the Woods

Down Smash Studio is looking for a Intermediate 3D Animator

Ubisoft is looking for a Game Intelligence Analyst, a Computer Programmer, a VXF Artist Intern, a Texture Artist, a Lighting Artist, a Tool Support Specialist, and a Character Artist

Rockstar is looking for a Junior Gameplay Programmer, a Junior Animator, a Gameplay Programmer, and someone for Development Support

Gameloft is  looking for a Junior Game Programmer, a Narrative Designer, a 2D Artist, and a Programmer

triOS College is looking for someone to be a Video Game Design & Development Instructor

The Toronto Film School is looking for a Junior .Net Developer, and a Junior Graphic Designer Intern

Enable Education is looking for a Lead Unity Developer

Blue Isle Studios is looking for a Unreal Engine 4 Gameplay Programmer

Boffin Language Group Inc. is looking for translators for Chinese into English Game Translation

Bevertec is looking for a Intermediate 3D Character Artist

Clipwire Games is looking for a C# Developer

Merriam Music is looking for Contract Unity Programmers to help them finish a project

Prodigy is looking for Junior Game Designers and Game Designers

RUBICON PUBLISHING INC. is looking for 2D Game Developers

Spiral Toys is looking for a Unity Programmer

Uken has a bunch of things available!

LitteGuyGames is looking for a Graphic Artist Technician and a 3D Artist

Glu is for people in Toronto

GetSetGames is looking for a UI/UX Unreal Engine

GameHive is looking for all sorts of folks

ELECTION MONTH SPECIAL

Choose Your Candidate!

This June 7, the Ontario Provincial Election is upon us! Our candidate selection isn’t quite as large as the latest Smash Bros. roster — okay, maybe it is if you’re counting the full list of registered political parties — but what’s at stake is probably more important than who gets to main Pikachu with a red party hat (the answer is always me).

Without directly endorsing one particular candidate over another or disclosing the opinions of individual staff, we feel it’s important to remind you that the arts and culture sector — as well as the non-profit and media industry sectors — are affected by funding decisions made at the provincial level. These decisions determine the budget for funding bodies like the Ontario Arts Council and the OMDC, who in turn provide invaluable financial support to arts/culture/industry programming and activities throughout the province, as well as the work of individual creators and studios. That of course includes video games!

So as you prepare for the polls on June 7, consider getting informed about what each Party has to say about the importance of arts and culture in Ontario, and let your riding’s eventual MPP know that it’s important to you. Official platforms of the four main provincial Parties can be found here:

And remember, if you’re not sure how or where to vote, always read the manual!

Disclaimer: This is a monthly compilation of various Toronto game news and events in and around the city — many of which are not organized by Hand Eye Society — and is by no means comprehensive. Always check official links for accurate details and credits, and please send any corrections, additions, or submissions for future months to calendar@handeyesociety.com

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