Steven and I went to the event together on Saturday, and to be honest we had no idea what we were going to expect there. Once we arrived at the venue, there was a huge line coming out of the building. VIPs were those who bought the Humble Bundle, so they got to go in an extra hour early. We walked in and there were many monitors displayed around in the hallways and in the rooms. There was one large screen at the front where the champions of Gangbeasts fought for glory.
We walked around and were able to listen in on what the game developers had to say. Most of the time, we stood around to listen in on conversation while waiting in line for a chance to play a game. I was able to play Riverbond, Gangbeast, and Small Talk. I saw someone playing Bennett Foddy’s “Getting Over It”. There was on game that really caught my eye because of its art style; it was called Mineko’s Night Market. Erica and Steven were nice enough to wait with me as I tried to get in line for a turn to play. Basically you farm cats and it looked like you ran around a set world as the story unfolds.
There was also a lot of Red Bull going around. People were shuffling to get in line to play games, listen to live music outside, or just talk to other people. It was a festive atmosphere, and I would definitely go again with a more concise plan on which games I want to wait in line for and overall for more time to play the games.
Also I got to take a picture with someone who cosplayed as Cuphead. It was pretty cool! (Photo courtesy: Steven Fan)
Fun fact: Cuphead cut me in line to play Gang Beasts >:l HAHA but seriously, I agree with you that next time I would go with a more concise plan of which games I would want to play, because there were so many!
I’m glad you wanted to play Mineko’s Night Market because I actually hadn’t seen it on my way in, so I’m happy I got to check it out. I’m interested to see how your upcoming project for the final (The Search for Oinkers) integrates that style of gameplay with your own visuals! I also think it’s a great idea to use your own drawings in the game space. I wonder if you will hand-draw the text bubbles as well? Or choose a font that is of a similar handwritten style. I think your game has great potential to use narrative storytelling as well as many of the techniques we’ve learned in class!