PGM NEWS
PGM Autumn Game Jam games, another installment of
Games Devs in Nature, October Playtest Night, and more!
PGM Autumn Game Jam!
This month, PGM hosted a 10-day game jam from September 18th-28th, with an amazing kick-off event at the Drexel ExCITe Center! The theme was stargazing, and we had 13 fantastic entries, all of which can be played over on our Itch page. This jam was open to folks of all levels of experience and any and all creatives were welcome.
Submissions were judged by PGM members and the winners enjoyed prizes like “lifelong glory” and “a sense of pride and accomplishment.”
Here are the winners: All Around: Supernova Speedway Art: Supernova Speedway Narrative: Sungazer Music: Star-Hating SFX: Starbinder Game Design: Seer of Stars Fun: Little Guy Big Sky Mechanics: Supernova SpeedwayOf course, participating in a jam and coming out the other side with anything to show for it is an achievement in itself. Every one of our participants should be proud of the creativity they displayed, the hard work they put in, and the spirit of collaboration they brought to the event! Don’t forget, you can play all the fantastic entries on our Itch page!
PGM Hike
That’s right, game devs in nature! We had another wonderful PGM hike in the Wissahickon this month on Saturday, September 13th. As always, this hike was a casual affair with lots of breaks and a good dose of Mother Nature throughout.
October Playtest Night
On Thursday, October 2nd, we had another fantastic Playtest Night, this time at a new-old venue—new for Playtest night, but a space we have partnered with many times in the past, Indy Hall in Northern Liberties!
Above: The show-and-tell portion of the evening
John Bonila showed off the trailer for Seedborne Soldiers, an autobattler roguelike with a demo currently live on Steam and entering early access coming next month!
Ian Sundstron shared a micro postmortem for 🔴 (or “Ball,” if you prefer) a Pico-8 bounce shooter with procedural animation and graphics.
Cameron Drummond showed off his TTRPG Bee RPG, which he wrote last summer.
Jon Dare displayed a mock-up of a dynamic audio track with star-gazing vibes that was not implemented in time for the game jam.
We all also got a look into the upcoming game Lightning Katana, a fast, first-person shoot ‘n’ slash.
Many of our jam participants also showed off their starry creations! See the previous segment on the game jam to play their games!
Above: People enjoying the networking and playtest portion of the evening
We’d like to extend a huge thanks to PHL Collective for their support!
We are so proud of our community, and we love providing great opportunities, events, and spaces for PGM devs and enthusiasts, but those things come with a cost. PHL Collective, a local game studio known for their award-winning games since 2013, has donated funds to go toward our first three months of Playtest Nights at Indy Hall. We are so grateful for their past and continued support of the PGM community and for this donation toward our continued success!
If you want to contribute to PGM, you can via our Patreon!
Upcoming and Newly Released Games from PGM Members
Just Released
Not a game, but a book about games—well, making them, anyway—PGM’s very own Adrian Sandoval has co-written the newest addition to all our bookshelves: Word Design for 2D Action-Adventures!
”Award-winning action-adventure designers Christopher Totten and Adrian Sandoval guide you on a quest to create levels for different styles of 2D action-adventure games, from top-down dungeon-crawler adventures to side-scrolling non-linear “Metroidvania” titles. Blending theory and practical analysis, this book shows how principles of game and level design are applied in some of your favorite 2D action-adventure games.”
Heather Flowers’ game about flipping a coin that hates you, Unfair Flips, is out now!
“Unfair Flips is a short incremental clicker about flipping the world’s worst coin over and over until you get ten heads in a row. The game practices true randomness; it is possible that the first ten times you flip the coin will be all heads. However, it’s exceedingly unlikely; with a 20% chance of flipping heads each time, your odds of getting ten in a row are one in 9,765,625. As you play, you can push the odds to be more in your favor, chaining heads together to upgrade your coin. However, getting ten heads in a row will never be guaranteed.”
PHL Collective just released Goosebumps: Terror in Little Creek. Watch the trailer here!
“Step into the shoes of Sloane Spencer, a young teen caught in a town of nightmares, as you unravel eerie mysteries, confront sinister monsters, and navigate haunted locations inspired by R.L. Stine’s legendary book series. Solve puzzles, evade creatures, and uncover the dark secrets lurking in the shadows—all while experiencing the Goosebumps signature blend of spooky adventure and playful twists that has captivated millions of fans both young and young at heart.”
Below the Stone’s Kingdom o’ Quests update is now live!
“The dwarven realms have grown richer and rowdier! This patch brings a trove of new content to explore, fight, and drink your way through.”
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
Pizza Kidd is in development by Kidd Games, LLC. The project is coming soon, but there is currently a playable demo!
”A high-impact 2D action beat ’em up set in a gritty sci-fi fantasy world. Battle grotesque monsters, uncover ancient secrets, and unleash martial arts fury in this pixel art brawler inspired by 90’s anime, noir comics, and arcade classics like Street Fighter II, Streets of Rage, and Ninja Warriors.”
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
Playtest Night is moving!
In case you missed it above, October’s Playtest Night will be at Indy Hall in Northern Liberties (709 N 2nd St., 3rd Floor). Again, we’d like to give a huge thanks to Majux for hosting us over the years and mention the incredibly generous donation from PHL Collective earmarked towards the cost of our first 3 Playtest Nights in this new venue!
Playtest Night Satisfaction Survey
If you have attended a recent Playtest Night, we want to hear from you! Help us level up the experience with your feedback on this short survey. It would really help us out!
Upcoming Events
PGM Game Job Hunting Advice Sessions
Monthly job hunt advice sessions are hosted in the PGM Discord server. The next will be Saturday, October 18th 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.
Playtest Night
The next Playtest Night will be Thursday, November 6th at 7pm at Indy Hall in Northern Liberties (709 N 2nd St., 3rd Floor).
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, November 3rd at 7pm.
Unannounced
We have a few plans up our sleeves for the month that aren’t yet announced yet. Stay tuned in the Discord server to be the first to know!