PGM NEWS
Sony Fireside Chat, Game Dev Coworking, Too Many Games, Narrascope,
July's Playtest Night, and Some Exciting Upcoming Summer Events!
Narrascope and the Post-Party
We’ve been busy since our last newsletter! To kick it off, back in June, PGM sponsored Narrascope, where we hosted a table to share Philly’s indie game dev scene with an international audience! We also hosted the Narrascope Post-Party at The Post on Saturday, June 21st, where our very own Heather Flowers and Pat Mulholland shared details about their games and what PGM has done to help support them.
A special thank you to RJ Reyes, who covered our costs for the Narrascope sponsorships! Donors like RJ keep us going.
Too Many Games
To cap off June, PGM was honored to be an Industry Partner of the Indie Game Showcase at Too Many Games, where we hosted a booth and invited local developers to learn about us, join us at upcoming events, and become members of our Discord. PGM Developers also attended the event, showcasing their projects at their own booths and joining us onstage for a panel on growing the game dev industry here in Philly and in cities across the country—and we won an award!
We were blown away by the reception we received at Too Many Games, and want to thank the organizers of Too Many Games for not only giving us a warm welcome to the event, but also for recognizing our support for the game dev community, by presenting us with an Industry Impact Award! We are so grateful to be able to make a difference in our local community, and we intend to do even more going forward!
The revival of our Patreon has been a big step toward our goal to host even more events and opportunities for our members and the community as a whole. If you can, we’d really appreciate you being a supporter!
Dev Coworking at Indy Hall
Above: PGM members at Indy Hall for the GGJ
On Friday, July 11th, PGM and Indy Hall teamed up to provide a pay-what-you-wish coworking event. Indy Hall is also our partner for the Global Game Jam (*ahem* Global Game Jawn—sorry!), and with their help, game developers, artists, composers, designers, and enthusiasts came together this month to network, build, brainstorm, and socialize. There was a show-and-tell during the day as well!
Thanks to our very own Zach and Ted for hosting, and of course for Alex of Indy Hall for coordinating the event and always supporting PGM!
Sony X PGM Fireside Chat
PGM was honored to be joined in an online meetup by Sony’s own Kayla Harris—Senior Systems Game Designer, Joseph Wilkerson—Technical Account Manager, and Pamela Iluore—Senior Product Manager, for a fireside chat where we discussed the top questions submitted by PGM members. Then we wrapped everything up with an open Q&A.
This panel was an excellent opportunity for our members to ask questions of developers working at large and small studios alike, and get insight into the development process at Playstation.
The link to the recording of the talk is available in the PGM Discord server.
July Playtest Night
On Thursday, July 10th, we had another fantastic Playtest Night at our favorite place to play and playtest: Majux Hub in Old City.
Above: The show-and-tell portion of the evening
During the show-and-tell portion of the evening, Pat of Of the Devil talked about accessibility features, such as single-handed keyboard usage, color blindness options, features for those who have a harder time reading due to dyslexia or a lower vision level, motion sickness issues, etc. He also showed a simulation of someone who has a color blindness and showed off the new features with that as an example.
Steve B. shared about being in a band from Australia before starting to make music for video games. Steve’s music is colorful, bright, catchy and folky, and his band, Chamberfolk, made his video game music come to life.
Audrey showed off Disco Inferno and talked about their inspiration for the game. It’s a rhythm game where you have to “disco your way out of hell” if you do your paperwork badly!
John showed off the amazing combination of a FPS, rockets, and wrestling with Rocket Wrestling Entertainment! The trailer was amazing, and the up-to-four-player free-for-all has a free demon on Steam right now!
Steve S. showed off his competitive-Tetris-inspired puzzle game. The game is meant for 2+ players, and Steve shared a live demo during presentation with a couple people so we could all check out the mechanics.
Cody, a Windows IT tech during the day, talked about wearing so many hats as a solo dev, wanting to use AI tools to simplify the development process, and the excitement and struggle of his next focus: network multiplayer.
Above: People enjoying the networking and playtest portion of the evening
During the playtest portion of the night, folks mingled, networked, and played and gave feedback on a ton of great games!
As always, thank you to Majux for hosting us each month!
Upcoming and Newly Released Games from PGM Members
Just Released
Gimme 10 by Tom Sennett is now in beta!
Play this trivia game right in your browser and share your results with friends!
One Million Stars by Tom Sennett Games was featured in our last newsletter, but now its Steam page is officially live!
“Get stars, avoid monsters. The rules are simple, but the goal massive. Pilot 4 different ships, choose stackable upgrades, and grab wild powerups in an endless, dynamically generated roguelite arcade space adventure. Take each run as far as you can, banking progress on the road to ONE MILLION!”
Fish Fear Me by Heather Flowers is out now!
“A top-down action roguelite about catching fish, fighting them, selling their bones, and catching more fish. Upgrade your boat and weapons, hunt down sea monster bounties, delve into eldritch mysteries, and try to pay off cosmic debt millennia in the making.”
The first paid episode of of the Devil by nth Circle Studios has just been released!
“Immerse yourself in neon, smoke, and high-stakes legal gambles as a Defense Attorney with uniquely Killer insights in this diabolically stylish visual novel adventure game.”
You can also checkout the free prologue if you’d like to give the series a try.
Coming Soon
Boast Guards has just been announced by Starworks Studios.
“In this casual multiplayer Co-Op game, play as a squad of vainglorious lifeguards and work together to keep your chaotic beach safe, clean, and most importantly famous! Experiment with game-changing Gear & many passive-effects to create the highest fame-generating strategies with friends!”
Don’t forget to wishlist!
Special Announcements
Tell us where you live and how you like to work
We’d love to know where you live—I promise we won’t make it weird! We’re running a survey to find out where PGM members are located (just your neighborhood is all we need) so that we can coordinate events that are accessible to as many of our members as possible. Please spare a (literal) minute of your time to take the (very short!) PGM Neighborhood Survey. It’ll help us continue to curate the best experience for our members.
Additionally, as we mentioned in the previous newsletter, PGM is trying to create a coworking program with our partners at Indy Hall, and you can help! And benefit from our partnership! There’s a form we’d be really grateful for you to fill out so we can use the data to make the most of our shared interests. Please take the PGM-Indy Hall Coworking Survey
Upcoming Events
Game Dev Hike in the Wissahickon
PGM Hikes have returned! Join us on Saturday, July 19th at 2pm in the Wissahickon for a ~4 mile hike. This is a slow-paced, 2-2.5hr hike with plenty of breaks, open to outdoor enthusiasts of all skill and endurance levels.
Following the hike, at about 5pm, we’ll head over to Manayunk Brewing Company for drinks, bites, and chats! Please don’t feel like you need to drink to hang. All are welcome, even if you skip the hike!
Find more details in the PGM Discord server or on our Meetup page!
PGM Game Job Hunting Advice Sessions
Monthly job hunt advice sessions are hosted in the PGM Discord server. The next will be Saturday, July 19th at 11am, so be sure to join in for advice on interview tips, resume and portfolio reviews, and general job hunting advice! These sessions are led by RJ Reyes, and you can sign up here.
Game Audio Meetup & Casual Jam
Calling all audio engineers, sound designers, foley, voice talent, and musicians! It’s time to get out of your studios and out to a fun meetup at the Kelly Center for Music, Arts & Community in Havertown! Everyone is welcome whether you’re a veteran or just starting out in your audio journey. On Saturday, July 26th, from 2pm to 5pm, come talk about your experiences, show what you’re working on and make some music! We’ll do some Q&A/AMA, showcasing, and have plenty of time for mingling and having a casual jam between fellow musicians. Bring your instruments!
More details are available in the PGM Discord server or on our Meetup page!
PGM Planning Session
The PGM Planning Session is a recurring meeting to help organize events for PGM. These events are open to everyone who would like to attend and are hosted in the Discord server the first Monday of each month. The next one is Monday, August 4th at 7pm.
Playtest Night
The next playtest night will be Thursday, August 5th at 7pm at our usual spot, Majux Hub (230 N 2nd St).