January 2014 Game Event Roundup
Happy new year, everyone! Hope 2014 brings just as many exciting and amazing events, game releases, and special announcements as 2013 did.
Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, that will be updated as more events become announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.
January Events
Monday, January 6: Games With Friends #48
Friday, January 10: The Long Winter Year 2 Volume 3, with games curated by Team Vector
* Sunday, January 12: The Hand Eye Society Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, January 15: Brainstorm Session for the Social Justice Open Studio at Bento Miso
Saturday, January 18: Dames Making Games’s January Speaker Social
Friday, January 24: Dames Playing Games #1: Horse Play
Friday, January 24-26: Toronto Global Game Jam 2014
Saturday, January 25: Designing Games For Behavioural Change workshop
Tuesday, January 28: Dames Making Games Annual General Meeting
Local Game Releases
You can now play the full game version of Rokashi’s I’m Fine.
Golden Gear’s Fate Tectonics was also released, pictured above.
BlotInteractive released an iOS app called Save the Earth: Asteroid Defense.
Kaitlin Tremblay released her second Twine, There Are Monsters Under Your Bed.
Untold Entertainment’s Spellirium was Greenlit!
Christine Love released a PC/Mac version of her Interstellar Selfie Station.
For a list of local games in development, check out Toronto Indie Hub’s Toronto Gaming Directory.
Toronto Folks in the Media
Bit Bazaar appeared on the National Post, NOWToronto, and Guys With Pencils.
Soha El-Sabaawi talks about her Twine, Penalties, on the Episode 4 of the Venus and Mars podcast. Also check out Penalties on Forest Ambassador.
Also on Forest Ambassador is Cecily Carver’s Feed The Ducks.
Hand Eye Society’s Jim Munroe was interviewed about WordPlay on the Built To Play podcast.
Merritt Kopas was interviewed by Leigh Alexander on meaningful violence in video games at Gamastura.
Sword & Sworcery was featured on an Italian website, Oorlandoo.
Dames Making Games got featured on 5 More Women in Tech Organizations You Should Know About on Craig Connects (from Craig’s List).
Drinkbox Studios’ Guacamelee! is up for GOTY at Destructoid and Gamasutra.
Kaitlin Tremblay’s Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before was on the Best of 2013: Horror list at Free Indie Games.
Exist, a game that features the art of Torontonian Kim Koronya, was featured on IGN.
Phantom Compass’s Rollers of the Realm was featured on Gamezebo‘s list Games We Can’t Wait to Play in 2014.
Rogue Legacy was put on Talking Ships‘ GOTY list. Rogue Legacy also won the Best Greenlight/Kickstarter 2013 game on Press Play.
Special Announcements
DMG’s Swipe Comic Anthology was released for the iOS app store, and is a fundraiser for DMG.
Professors from two Canadian universities are researching working environments for video game developers, and are looking to interview 30-35 game developers in Toronto. Contact Johanna Weststar if interested.
Vector announced its first workshop, glitch.jam 2. There’s only 10 spots, so get your ticket soon!
Gamemaking Help Offered/Wanted
Mark Animation is seeking an experienced Game Programmer who knows the ins and outs of Torque 2D for a full-time position… Please email resumes.
I am freelance composer / sound designer interested in volunteering my skills for indie developers... If interested, please email Scott.
Need an iOS/Android developer & possibly an artist …
Not what you’re looking for? You can also check out the Help Offered/Wanted board for earlier postings.
That’s all for now! If there’s any February events or Toronto video games news, releases, and rad media coverage you want shared, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Kaitlin via email or on Twitter.
