PGM NEWS
Recap of our Play It Forward Month, Asset Jam, Coffee Meetup, June 2025 Playtest night, and more!
You Played It Forward in May!
May was our Play It Forward month to raise money for PGM’s Patreon. Together, we’re contributing $387/month toward PGM event programming and sponsorships such as:
Social meetups: Our flagship event, Playtest Night, holds our community together. Our coffee meetup in March was well loved, and we’re looking forward to a sequel this May. We also hope to make our December potluck an annual tradition. Community events are at the heart of PGM, and we need funding to pay for event space.
Game jams: We think game jams are vital to our community–just ask anyone who participated in the Global Game Jam in January. What an opportunity for people to sharpen their skills, new games to emerge, and the spark of an idea to turn into the next great Philadelphian studio!
Conferences: PGM’s visibility is essential to Philly’s growth as a gaming city. We advocate for you at conferences, connect with new members, form partnerships with other orgs, and convince out-of-town industry folks that Philly is the place to be. We hope the partnerships we form will help local studios launch their games and help local talent find work.
We’ve got a goal of maintaining $400 in donations, and you can help for as little as $3 a month! Sign up for our Patreon here.
The Philly Asset Jam Was a Success!
We also worked together in May to create the Soft Pretzel Pack, a Philly-themed asset pack that everyone can use in their creations. It’s a time capsule, an ode to Philly, and a representation of the creative power of PGM!
13 PGM members submitted art and audio! Their work will be compiled, showed off, and ready for use in our PGM Drive soon, so keep an eye on the Discord server for those details.
June Playtest Night
On Thursday, June 5th, we had another fantastic Playtest Night at Majux Hub in Old City.
Above: The show-and-tell portion of the evening
First,, Brandon W showed off his newest arcade cabinet build while Adrian shared about plans for the Phillytron’s revival.
Next, Heather Flowers showed off their writing for this month’s Exceptional Story for Fallen London!
Nathanael G. shared a command line puzzle game, Ventory, that generates music based off many springs that formed into strings!
Tom Sennett showed off the progress on his daily online browser trivia game, Gimme 10, a shared that One Million Stars is being featured in Brooklyn, and he will be making physical copies
Evan R. shared a new mobile game inspired by the well-loved platformer, Celeste.
James showed off Magusha: Clash of the Commanders, a new card/ physical game by Previously Pluto that’s now live on Kickstarter!
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!
I’d like to give a special thank you to Mel Eager for their help in composing this month’s Playtest night recap, and as always, PGM extends a big, heartfelt thanks to Majux for being willing to host us each month!
Our Second Coffee Meetup Was a Hit!
Thanks to everyone who game out to our second PGM Coffee Meetup at Good Karma Cafe on Broad St. Just like the last one, we got to see a lot of folks who can’t always make our weeknight meetings, and we love meeting all the new faces!
We’re looking forward to hosting more events like this so folks with differing interests and schedules can find a way to hang at PGM events all around the city! We’re hoping to meet up more, jam some, and maybe even hike in the next few months, so keep an eye on the Discord server for details on all our upcoming events!
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
PGM will be at Narrascope!
PGM will be at Narrascope! This celebration of narrative games is being held at Drexel University this year June 20th-22nd, and PGM will be in attendance. Come check us out and enjoy the conference!
PGM will have a booth at Too Many Games!
PGM will have a table at the Too Many Games conference showcasing our members’ projects!
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
PGM Game Job Hunting Advice Sessions
Monthly job hunt advice sessions are hosted in the PGM Discord server. The next will be Saturday, June 21st 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.
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, July 7th at 7pm.
Playtest Night
The next playtest night will be Thursday, July 10th at 7pm at our usual spot, Majux Hub (230 N 2nd St).
Too Many Games
The Too Many Games conference is from June 27-29th at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. Many PGM members participate in the Indie Game Showcase and/or sell their art or crafts at a vendor booth. This year’s accepted games have been announced, and you can see them all here!
Narrascope
PGM will be at Narrascope! This celebration of narrative games is being held at Drexel University this year June 20th-22nd, and PGM will be in attendance. Come check us out and enjoy the conference!