Generation XX

Because games are made by people.

Indie

designers tell me about their games. Some give an elevator pitch, through my contact form for getting in touch for indie coverage. Others tweet a trailer. At PAX Australia, they demo a favourite thing, or share a story about their husband being the goofy PR guy. They try to sell me on the responsiveness of their platformer, because this aspect is critical to their vision, or they’re targeting middle-aged women with serious, literary content, because why isn’t anyone doing that? I feel like I ‘know’ indie games, through years of candid impressions. People love the things they’re making. They’re passionate and driven.

Freeplay’s Parallels sold out this year, to a live audience of 360 people. As such, it should have felt less intimate than these years of one-onone conversations, but the event was extraordinarily warm and confidential. I first met Mike Blackney, for example, when I wrote up Dead Static Drive (way too early) in a PAX feature. At Parallels, he shared the reasons why he’s making a game about an existential road trip, linking back to the relationship with his father over many years. I’m honestly not sure why I never asked after the why of Mike’s game. I wish I had.

So, Parallels is insight into the personal whys of game development? Sometimes. Dakoda Barker opened the night by demonstrating why his game, Rise, is so difficult to play. To open a door, you must complete a complex string of simultaneous controller commands. He discussed an influence for the why of this; repetitively mashing X in Metal Gear Solid 4 during a time when he was experiencing chronic pain. So, instead of beating a boss, you’re challenging the limits of physical ability. With recent spotlights on accessibility in gaming, this is a thought-provoking approach.

Next, Wren Brier and Tim Dawson talked about their experiences at Stugan, a not-for-profit program allowing game developers to spend two months in a cabin in Sweden, making games. Their project, Unpacking, delivers what it promises; the milieu of life, carefully arranged into a new home. Instead of ‘why’, the designers chose to primarily share aspects of their process, like how to make objects recognisable so people would know where to put them.

With similar attention to detail, artist, LeeYing Foo, gave an exceptional (and hilarious) presentation about how she overhauled the art for Simulacra’s user interface. As a phone hacking game that you play on your phone, icons initially appearing too real confused players to the point where they thought in-game messages were from real people or that they had to reset their phone to beat the game. My sides hurt from laughing. I’d never imagined that a simple revision, like cutting the corner off a square icon, could make such a difference.

LeeYing Foo mentioned that, despite her pivotal role on Simulacra, she didn’t always refer to herself as an artist and Parallels’ most common theme was that designers reflected on the intersection of their identity and the creation process. Leura Smith shared an anecdote about Pigeon Game; that her ‘popular’ cousins liked it and she realised she’d created something that was ‘OK to like’. Influenced by her positive experiences with Nintendogs, Pigeon Game is every small child’s power fantasy. You don’t even have to chase the pigeon, you can just catch it and hold it. It’s amazing.

While writing up this event, I realised I didn’t know what the name ‘Parallels’ meant, so I asked Freeplay Director, Chad Toprak, who said, “The original idea behind the name was to acknowledge that there’s a world of indie games that exists parallel to the big world of AAA. Now, Parallels exists to highlight the intimate, experimental, and culturally significant works that sit parallel to the commercially focused, big and loud indie games.”

Of course, Ruqiyah Patel made an excellent point during her presentation, while discussing interactive fiction title, If Not Us. If a designer likes something, they can simply make it. They don’t have to appeal to any particular audience, even at conventions, if their primary focus isn’t commercial. If Not Us is released for ‘name your own price’ on Itch.io, so I’ll let you discover this innovative, personal story for yourself.

Although I enjoyed seeing all of the indie games at PAX, Freeplay’s Parallels was an absolute a highlight and, luckily, held at the same time. There were more games I haven’t touched on; Novena, Touch Melbourne, Desert Child, and Vignettes, because I’m out of words on this page. When I’m not writing for PC Powerplay, I’m happy teaching, composing and being a mum, but it’s been difficult not to feel disappointed about the fact that 5 issues of PC Powerplay in 2018, compared to 12 in 2017, means I’ve connected you to significantly fewer indie games. Thanks for reading about them, regardless.

With recent spotlights on accessibility in gaming, this is a thought-provoking approach.