Last week in Boston Metal Machine had the pleasure of attending the Boston Festival of Indie Games at the MIT campus for a day. In our adventures, we stumbled onto some of the most innovative and learning-centered forms of gaming that the industry has seen to date. The talent in the youth of gaming developers is heightening and thriving as the years go by and this showcase only proved to incite massive amounts of excitement for the future of what is to come. Scattered about the halls of this campus were an eclectic amount of games that were being showcased for students, press, and Bostonians to view. The games ranged from many platforms including iOS, Android, PC, and even some off the cuff originally modded controllers. What made me extremely happy was to see that a lot of these programmers had taken it upon themselves to integrate the new wave of psychology and video game theories into the makeup of their games. Giving games a learning flare to put something productive in the hands of a child is a truly innovative and productive concept that I feel should be implemented in some aspect of every game. For Example, The Counting Kingdom which is an iOS developed game teaches kids how to quickly solve math equations to further their standing in the game. It uses cleverly drawn and animated monsters with a medieval theme that caters to the allure of fantasy while helping children master basic math skills that will help them for years to come.
Cambridge Unversity based out of Montreal also had a pretty unique concept in the showcased game. Their game, Propinquity, brought a new screen less game concept that had an interesting flare of interactive competition that stole the stage at this convention. Tucked away in a corner lay a projected screen arena where two opponents suited up with self-placed sensors in preparation for combat. The object of the game was to disengage your opponent by not touching them. You’re objective was to merely get close enough to the sensor to set it off. Watching congoers play this was one of the highlights of this show. Huge smiles were painted on comrades who were fighting each other in a fashion that they had never had the pleasure of experiencing before. This project started in the research lab and hit the scene only of the display. The concept is ingenious and I hope that they find a way to produce it for the masses. There were also some pretty seriously toned games, such as Depression Quest. This game is a 40,000-word narrative with a chose your own fate that goes through a month in the life of someone dealing with depression. The creators of this game created a blanket fort for participants to enter to try out the game. Though the premise was disheartening, it shed new light on the disorder in a way that gamers could understand. Also, by creating a comfortable location to test the game and giving away a bag of tea after playing it, the creators made for a special experience that was remembered by everyone who played it. Electronic games were not the only thing featured at this event. There was an entire room dedicated to tabletop games. Large spherical tables packed with people playing with dice in different fashions. There were vendors selling dice rings that would enable you to have your weapon of numbers available on your persons at any time. I feel like this type of gaming has really been thrown to the side. There were some crafty ideas and people were very into trying all of them. It was a splendid, chilly, almost fall day and all the nerds came out to play. I can’t wait until PAX EAST this year to see who has developed their games into a master product ready to sell, produce, and be played by one and all.