The leaves are changing, and it will soon get darker, colder, and spookier. It’s the perfect time of year to curl up in the dark with your favorite horror title — perhaps you’ll visit Silent Hill? Back home in Toronto, there’s plenty of spooky (Hallowe’en Spookcade) and not-so-spooky (the final Gamercamp) things going on. Have a look at what’s happening in the indie game scene in Toronto this month, and as always, don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, which 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.

Toronto Game Events

Thursday, October 2: DMG and Bento Miso present Intro to Game Design.

Fri­day Octo­ber 3: Toronto Arts Council Visual and Media Artists Grant Information Session.

Saturday, October 4: DMG’s Ad Hoctober Game Jam.

*Saturday, October 4: Game Curious? Play and Discussion (Science, Politics and Education).

Thursday, October 9: DMG and Bento Miso present Intro to Programming.

*Saturday, October 11: Game Curious? Play and Discussion.

Sunday, October 12: Nintendo Enthusiast and Event Matchup gaming kick off a Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Pokemon X/Y tournament. Details here.

Thursday, October 16: Build Your Own Dating Sim, with Kim Hoang.

Friday, October 17, 2014: Gamercamp Interactive and Games Conference.

Saturday, October 18: Gamercamp Pop-Up Arcade.

Saturday, October 18: Gamercamp Night Arcade (pictured above).

Sunday, October 19: Gamercamp Pop-Up Arcade.

Thursday, October 23: A third DMG/Bento Miso Joint: Intro to Art and Visual Design for Games with Kate Craig.

Saturday, October 25: October Speakers DMG Social, featuring the results of the Ad Hoctober Game Jam.

Wednesday, October 29: Torontaru.

Thursday, October 30: Intro to Game Audio, featuring Halina Heron, Maggie McLean and Jen Costa.

Friday, October 31: Dames Making Games, XMG Studio, and Bento Miso’s Halloween Spookcade party and arcade.

Local Game Releases

Arielle Grimes has released BrokenFolx, a short little interactive story about gender and sexual diversity, and how we can sometimes suffer for it. It’s free, it’s short, and it makes you think. Have a look.

Merritt Kopas released incantation, a ritual to recall strength and resilience in the face of overwhelming oppressions. Dedicated to Leigh Alexander.

Toronto Folks In The Media

Polygon’s been giving Toronto game developers some press this month. Firstly, we have a writeup on BrokenFolx, the indie game mentioned above. Secondly, their article on Austin’s Fantastic Arcade talks about Toronto devs Metanet Software and Asteroid Base.

Meanwhile, The Verge attended the 2014 Tokyo Game Show, and decided to name Asteroid Base’s Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime as one of the show’s best games in their review.

Last of all, Silicon Era has a writeup on Golden Gear Games’s Fate Techtonics, and the title of the article alone makes it worth a look.

Special Announcements

Our WordPlay Festival of Writerly Games put out a call for volunteers and game submissions. Made (or just love) a game with interesting/amazing writing? Let us know before October 12th, midnight.

After six editions, and scores of games, Gamercamp Interactive & Games Festival will be coming to an end. It’s been quite the ride, and you can read about it here.

The IGDA has started a Steam Curator page specifically tracking Toronto-made indie games. If you’d like to support local developers, have a look at the offerings found here.

IndieCade, the International Festival of Independent Games in California will be held on October 9th. It will be featuring several Toronto-developed titles, including Jazzpunk, Knight and Damsel, N++, & Sext Adventure. Miguel Sternberg and Jim Munroe will be doing a talk there on the first five years of the Hand Eye Society. Check it out!

Castle Pixel has launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new action RPG title, Blossom Tales. Check it out here.

Gamemaking Help Offered/Wanted

Haphead (pictured above) is an upcoming science-fiction web series being filmed in Toronto. It’s currently seeking a talented machinima creator for a paid gig. Check out the trailer, and if you’re interested, contact Sean at sean@smallcity.ca.

My name’s Lucas,  UofT student and currently designer of a two dimensional, sandbox, MMO set within a prohibition era-inspired world.  As I am a pixel artist, when I say “designing,” I mean that I am in the process of producing graphics and hammering out a game manifesto.  Currently looking for passionate team members to push this project beyond the concept realm. For a snapshot at my progress thus far please visit my Reddit page. If you’re interested in becoming involved in the project, or simply wish to obtain more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at lucas.knight@mail.utoronto.ca

Daniel Lanigan is looking to promote his electronic music. He’s interested in composing original scores for games. If you’re interested, you can check out his electronic music on youtube, or download it here.

That’s all for now! If there’s any November events or Toronto video games news, releases, and rad media coverage you want shared, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.