PGM NEWS
Summer hangs with IGDA x PGM, the Soft Pretzel Pack release,
September Playtest Night, a new game jam on the horizon, and more!
IGDA x PGM Summer Hang
IGDA and PGM teamed up to take over part of Spruce Street Harbor Parker for a summer hang this month on August 19th! The weather was lovely and people enjoyed chatting, eating, drinking, and taking in the views. It was a great opportunity to make friends and network with other local devs!
Soft Pretzel Pack
We’re excited to share PGM’s Soft Pretzel Pack is now released!
This is a collection of assets designed by PGM during our first ever Asset Jam in May (including the image above created by Sara Lansdell).
It was really inspiring seeing all the creativity that went into these submissions! Hope you enjoy, or better yet, use them!
(Note licensing terms and also please be careful with the use of Philly sports mascots in commercial settings.)
We hope to do more jams like this in the future, so let us know if you have ideas for themes!
September Playtest Night
On Thursday, September 4th, we had another fantastic Playtest Night at Majux Hub in Old City.
Above: The show-and-tell portion of the evening
Pat showed off fancy new custom shader work to improve the backgrounds and game elements for Of The Devil.
Brandon talked about the arcade cabinet he made for Hugby, a cute football game developed by Tom Sennett, which Brandon touted as the Philadelphia’s first indie arcade cabinet. In Hugby, players take turns drawing player paths and then watch the carnage unfold. The cabinet is slated to be available for open play at future Playtest Nights!
Eric showed off his MAGFest submission trailer for his monster punching game called VamPunch, formerly known as V-Town Beatdown.
Jon Dare played a work-in-progress track for OST Jam, where composers write for an imaginary game based on a single screenshot. He has one track of four total so far, giving PS1/PS2 and modern-day RPG vibes.
Dani from Collidascope showed off scenes from Collidascope’s minimum functional playtest, including Tower of Babel—where you simulate walking up ramps of a tall tower—and an underwater narrative titled Siren’s Call. She also displayed some of the results and feedback from the families and friends playtest that Collidascope recently held.
Max showed off his latest pixel art for Bubble Fish, an arena shoot ‘em up that started as a Global Game Jam entry earlier this year.
As always, thank you to Majux hosting us for all these months!
Special Playtest Night Announcements
Above: People enjoying the networking and playtest portion of the evening
Thank you, Majux, for your longtime support of PGM!
We couldn’t have done it without you!
We want to pass along a great big, giant thank you to Majux for supporting PGM by hosting our Playtest Nights over these last couple years. We are eternally grateful to them and to Bernie Clark for providing such a fantastic space for our community to gather and grow! Their support has been a huge part of our ability to offer these events to our community, and we will be forever thankful!
Next month’s Playtest Night will be changing locations!
In October, we will have our Playtest Night at Indy Hall in Northern Liberties. PGM has partnered with Indy Hall for several events already, including a coworking night and the Global Game Jawn. We’re excited to give our devs the opportunity to playtest and network in this large and adaptable space!
We’d like to extend a huge thanks to PHL Collective for their support!
The choice for this Playtest Night move stems from the fact that our group is thriving and PGM is growing. 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 the new venue. We are so grateful for their past and continued support of the PGM community and for this donation toward our continued success!
Upcoming and Newly Released Games from PGM Members
Just Released
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
Heather Flowers is developing a game about flipping a coin that hates you: Unfair Flips.
“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.”
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
Game Dev Hike
The next PGM hike will be a 3-mile, casually paced hike on Saturday, September 13th at 2pm in our favorite green escape, the Wissahickon. Head on over to the events channel in the PGM Discord Server to find the route and helpful tips on the hike. Our hikes are a lot of fun and very open to newcomers!
Game Jam
PGM is hosting a 10-day-long game jam starting September 18th with a live kickoff event at 7pm at the Drexel ExCITe Center. The theme will be revealed and teams can brainstorm their games in-person on online at this event, so come down to work face-to-face or participate online through the PGM Discord The jam will continue until 5pm on the 28th.
PGM Game Job Hunting Advice Sessions
Monthly job hunt advice sessions are hosted in the PGM Discord server. The next will be Saturday, September 20th 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, October 2nd 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, October 6th at 7pm.