In this issue:

What’s on | Highlights of upcoming events.

Chapter Events | Meetups, talks, and other events we’re hosting.

#NYMakesGames News | Game launches and other updates from local creators.

Around Town | A community calendar of events from across the city.

Jobs & Opportunities | The latest posts from our notice boards.

IGDA Resources | Discounts and other benefits for IGDA members.

Chapter Resources | Where to go for more info.

What’s On This Month

Featuring playable demos projects from all graduating Capstone and Thesis students, as well as a selection of digital and non-digital games made in a range of design, studio, and development courses. You are encouraged to meet and chat with students about their game making process at this huge end of year celebration! 

Poster art by Michael DeForge. Find more of his work here.

On The Horizon

• Happening at the Museum of the Moving Image, NYC Gaymers Pride will be held on May 31st!

• 2025 NYC Summer of Games kicks off May 31st with the inaugural NYC Video Game Festival! Featuring the Minecraft Education eSports Challenge, Fortnite® & Valorant® collegiate eSports tournament finals, games from local Developers and more!

• Waffle Games, the EGD Collective’s annual student-run convention and conference held each spring semester is back June 14th-15th! Grab a FREE ticket

• NarraScope 2025 will be taking place in Philadelphia at Drexel University from Friday June 20th to Sunday June 22nd! Talks will be streamed online via Discord for remote attendees.

• The Long Island Retro Gaming Expo returns to the historic Cradle of Aviation Museum August 8th-10th!

2024/25 IGDA NYC Chapter Board of Directors Elections!

Nominations have closed for this years’ Chapter BoD Elections. Stay tuned for more news soon!

Monday Afternoon Co-Working on Discord

IGDA NYC Discord

Every Monday, 1pm – 2pm

Come join us at our new regular co-working hours on our Discord channel!

We’ll be working camera optional/mic off in our new co-working and Quiet co-working channels! All are welcome to show off what they’re working on, ask some questions, or just hang out.

Taco Tuesday with Coexist!

*RSVP required to waive $20 entry fee*
Coexist Gamehouse

Tue, April 22nd @ 6:00pm

Join us at the Coexist Gamehouse for a casual social with Tacos, games, drinks and music!

RSVP required for free entry!

Share your NY game news here or Bluesky #NYMakesGames.
Section Editor: Mattia Sicuro

Making Waves

• Check out the recording of Constantin “The Gaming Copywriter” Dumitru discussing the use of patreon as a community building tool with Yiyi of Heart Machine and Dave from Gumbo NYC!

• The Harlem Gallery of Science announces that their exhibition, Video Games: The Great Connector, is returning on April. 28th. They will be open to the public until May 3rd, at the City College of New York.

• Missed out on Crossword Con 2025? No worries! All talks have been posted on Youtube!

• Want to speak at the Game Devs of Color Expo 2025? Deadlines close on April 18th! The same day applications for GDoCExpo Direct and the GDoCExpo Steam Sale open!

• The Game Devs of Color Expo team began releasing their 2024 talks and interviews on Youtube! Check every week for newly released videos, and sign up for the mailing list!

• Do you have a 1-4 player game? Want to see it in a cabinet at Wonderville? Submissions are open for the Summer 2025 Wondercab arcade residency!

• EGD Collective’s Recap Post shares their week of camaraderie and game dev goodness at GDC!

• Check out Gumbo’s highlight on the Harlem View!

Crowdfund

• Knockoff by Read/Write Memory is a solo journaling game where players cut and paste fabric patterns to create a dress. This game centers around desperate fast fashion designer Marcos, who discovers a cursed dress design from an estate sale. [Ends May. 12, 2025]

Pre-Order/Wishlist

• Skate Story by Sam Eng. Ollie, kickflip, and grind your way through the ash and smoke of the Underworld as you take on a seemingly impossible quest. Wishlist on PS5!

• Garden of Aiden by Solarpunk Studios is a seamless pixel-art adventure featuring Aiden, a sentient AI using the ability to manipulate nature to uncover the mystery of humanity’s absence and confront a corrupting force threatening to unravel the delicate balance of Neura Eden.

• A Little Perspective by Tad Cordle is an abstract, perspective-based puzzle game where perception and reality are one and the same.

• The Longest Tale by Dev Null Productions. Explore, fight, and sneak through lands of ancient civilizations. Solve mind-bending puzzles and piece together a fragmented story lost to time.

Launched

• Old Skies by Wadjet Eye Games is a point & click adventure game across seven time-travel cases spanning two centuries in New York City. Officially releasing on APRIL 23RD!

• Rosewater by Grundislav Games is a thrilling Western adventure in the alternate 19th century world of Lamplight City.

• Bundle of Joy by Essay Games is a lighthearted, story-rich, minigame romp about becoming a parent during the pandemic.

Ongoing Initiatives

• Applications to join GUMBO are open! GUMBO is a non-profit collective of indie game creators located in Dumbo, Brooklyn formed to inspire and motivate each other, stay current in the indie game makers community, and expand an already amazing skill-sharing network.

• In support of Wonderville, consider becoming a member on WithFriends to help to keep the arcades working and pay for parts and maintenance!

• ANNY Exchange is a Talent Connect Initiative for Animation Nights New York. Want to participate and be added to the database of Animation Talent from all around the world? More info here

• Animation Nights New York (ANNY) is always accepting submissions for Animated Short Films, AR Animation Experiences, VR animation Experiences, and Interactive Media (including Video Games). More info here

• Coexist Gaming is a subscription-based gaming lifestyle company that provides an inclusive ecosystem for community, culture, connection and opportunity. Including a gaming lounge, optimized networking experiences and accessible resources for Devs, find out more and become a member here!

• Support the Game Devs of Color Expo’s mission to uplift marginalized voices in game development by signing up for their monthly Ko-fi subscription! Your support ensures ongoing grants, events, and community programs.

• Support GUMBO on Patreon for exclusive digital content, free event access, and more!

• The New York State Digital Game Development Program is designed to accelerate and attract economic development by offsetting some production costs associated with producing digital games in New York State.

• Urban Arts teaches digital game design as a pathway to college and career by offering after-school programs, career prep, school partnerships and more. Learn about their various programs for students and teachers here!

• The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment “Made in NY” Logo Program provides qualified digital gaming companies with the ability to use the City’s “Made in NY” logo in their game’s packaging, title screen and/or game website.

Unless otherwise noted, events are (probably!) free to attend. Follow @GameDevNYC for event alerts. Contact nyc@igda.org to add your org’s events.

Tuesday, April 15th

G4C Level Up Series: Oh, the Places We Came From – Learn from the amazing humans who got here through their own unique path, whether through school, another industry, or even by playing Magic at a local game store!

Wednesday, April 16th

Building and Using VR in Education – A meetup to connect educators and others in the VR space!

Thursday, April 17th

Monthly Thursdays with Hacker Hours – Free office hours for coding help—any programming language, all levels of experience.

NYC Handmade Meetups Demo Night – Come and watch/present demos of software projects or something new you’ve learned!

Friday, April 18th

Puff-Puff Playtest 420(ish) Torch Up – Ages 21+, celebrate 420 with a number of crazy locally made indie games!

Saturday, April 19th

NYC LocalGuessr (NYC Geoguessr Party + Tournament) – Try out the new custom-coded, NYC-specific version of Geoguessr made specifically for this event!

Sunday, April 20th

Animation Nights New York Virtual Events – Watch a curated program of animated short films from all around the world!

Creative Jam with Lauren Bilanko at Twenty Sided – Anything goes! Bring a creative project – writing, drawing, storyboarding, game design – and explore creative tools for inspiration.

Thursday, April 24th

NYC Indie Dev Night with Playcrafting – Indie devs, gamers, publishers, industry vets and students – this is the place to come meet others in the community, network and talk shop – and check out what games NYC is cookin’ up!

Brooklyn Experimental Electronic Music Group – Join the local electronic music community for a showcase featuring an eclectic mix of New York City artists working in a variety of styles.

Friday, April 25th

NYC ACM SIGGRAPH Inside the Studio Series: Preymaker – Preymaker is a cutting-edge creative studio specializing in high-end visual effects, animation, and immersive content.

Saturday, April 26th

Build a Board Game in under 2 hours! – Learn the art of rapid prototyping and hone your game design skills with the workshop group!

Tuesday, April 29th

Wonderville’s last Tuesday of the month PLAYTEST – Come to Wonderville to playtest in production games! If you’re a developer, bring your game! No signups required.

Saturday, May 3rd

Free Comic Book Day! – Come on out to Anyone Comics in Brooklyn (or your favorite local shop) on Saturday May 3rd to celebrate FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

Build a Board Game in under 2 hours! – Learn the art of rapid prototyping and hone your game design skills with the workshop group!

Sunday, May 4th

Romance & Joysticks – Join NYU Game Center students in a showcase of games that explore the world of romance, sexuality, and intimacy!

Wednesday, May 7th

NYC Indie Games Social – A monthly gathering for indie game devs of all stripes to mix and mingle in a casual, relaxed setting.

Wednesday, May 14th

NYVR May Meetup – Join a community of product developers, investors, entrepreneurs interested in the development and application of VR!

Saturday, May 17th

Hack Manhattan Open House – Bring your latest project and connect with local makers, creators, artists and more and learn about starting your own maker journey!

Wednesday, May 21st

Building and Using VR in Education – A meetup to connect educators and others in the VR space!

Wednesday, May 21st

3DNY May Meetup – a Networking community for the Architectural Visualization & Visual Effects industries, with speakers and time to chat.

View or submit a listing for free.

Jobs

• Various Roles at Half Mermaid

• Associate or Full Professor of Game Design & Development at University of Albany

• Lecturer of Game Design and Development at University of Albany
  

• Assistant Arts Professor (non-tenure, continuing contract) at NYU

• Game Designer at Arkadium

Exhibit/Speak/Publish

• Submissions are open for the Summer 2025 Wondercab arcade residency! [Deadline April 30th]
  

• Submit your game to be considered for inclusion in IndieCade Festival 2025! Submissions include the online Festival – IndieCade Anywhere and Everywhere, as well as consideration for any and all in-person events, as well as ongoing streaming features and activities for the year. [Reg. DL: April  14th, Late DL: June 2nd]

Funding/Programs/Contests

• Applications for the EGD Collective Game Studio Fellowship & Transitional Program are open! This is a free, potentially college credit-bearing professional games industry career prep program based out of Harlem, open to all current college students and recent graduates that can make the commute. CUNY Students can get 3 credits per semester after completing their first semester, and non-CUNY students can register this as an independent study or internship with their department.
  

• Applications for The NYTimes Diverse Crossword Constructor Fellowship. This fellowship provides mentorship and support for constructors from underrepresented groups, including women, people of color and the L.G.B.T.Q. community. [Deadline May. 2nd]

Benefits for IGDA members.

Join here. Log in for all member discount codes and details.

• Event discounts: IGDA Members save 10% on tickets to GI Live: Online – visit the Discounts page for details!

• Education discounts: 10% off all General Assembly classes and workshops. Browse NYC classes.

• Software discounts: 20% off Buildbox. Details.

• IGDA Career Center: Job listings open to all; early access for members. Careers.igda.org

• IGDA Crowdfunding Collection: Member projects featured on Kickstarter. Submit.

Follow us for updates:

• @IGDANYC on Twitter
• Facebook page

Connect with the community:

• Discord server
• Facebook group
• Meetup group
• LinkedIn group

Visit our Jobs and Opportunities board to view or post listings for free.

Want to help us do things?

Learn about volunteering with the chapter.

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