It’s June, and the heat’s finally on, so now too can experience the feeling of constantly sweating everywhere you go… Anyway, you can stay in and (hopefully) crank the A.C., while you enjoy some indie games. Or you can steel yourself, venture out into the wall of fire, and hit up one of the local Toronto events.

Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, now available on our homepage, which will be updated as more events are announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

By the way, if you haven’t heard, you can now pay your dues to be a Hand Eye Society Member with money, not just volunteer hours. This month’s reason to join: exhibitions like our Comics vs Games, pictured above, mixing the comics and games communities.

Toronto Game Events

Tuesday, June 9: How They Roll: Postmortem of Rollers of the Realm, an oral history of indie studio Phantom Compass.

Saturday, June 13: DMG June Speaker’s social, featuring presentations by merritt kopas and Gabriella Aveiro.

Saturday, June 20: Pytyvo Gaming presents Quick Draw, a game-themed sketching challenge.

Wed, June 24: Torontaru monthly meet-and-drink.

Local Game Releases

One of the strange creations from the most recent TOJam is INFINIDEER, in which you play as a deer crossing the road, while trying to do as much damage as possible. That doesn’t even really sum up the strangeness.

Twine game Rab Bits, by Rokashi Edwards, is a quirky interactive story about a bizarre 16th birthday.

Arielle Grimes’s BrokenFolx has been spotlighted here, but it’s been recently updated and tweaked, and is worth another look. This text-and-graphics story tackles sexism, racism and LGBTQ issues using a bright, colorful art style.

Finally, from now until June 8, Nintendo is selling a special indie bundle that features DrinkBox Studio’s acclaimed action platformer, Guacamelee.

Toronto Folks In The Media

I initially discovered INFINIDEER thanks to this article about it in Boing Boing.

Hand Eye Society was cited in a very nice CBC article about indie games, and how they appeal to and can educate younger children.

Now Toronto covered the recent Toronto Comic Arts Festival here, and the indie games at our Comics vs Games contained within. They also wrote an article about the development of The Wizards of Bellwood by Chris De Castro, a whimsical game that journeys through Trinity Bellwoods Park, prototyped at our Artsy Games Incubator.

Gamemoir has an interesting article about the history, strengths and weaknesses of the Twine development tool, and it mentions Say When, Toronto developer Kaitlyn Tremblay’s game, and Christine Love’s Even Cowgirls Bleed.

Speaking of Kaitlyn Tremblay, her article about character choice in video games for Dork Shelf is also worth a read.

LOUD on Planet X received a flood of media coverage for their Kickstarter — Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and a million other places.

Special Announcements

LOUD on Planet X, in its last week on Kickstarter, is a unique Toronto indie-music game with some serious cred — musical acts appearing in the game include Tegan and Sara, METZ, Metric, Lights, July Talk, F*cked Up, Cadence Weapon and Austra. The current Kickstarter aims to get it on the Wii U and Xbox One, as well as add more bands to the title. You can back it here before June 5th.

The Hand Eye Society is organizing a full day of outdoor games at Harbourfront Centre on July 26, as part of a Panam Games-related pavilion. We’ll be playing games from designers around the world, but we’d love to get some more work from Toronto designers in there as well! If you have a game that’s low-tech/no-tech, suitable for lots of players, and family-friendly, contact david@handeyesociety.com.

Help Wanted

Looking to get into show business? TVO Kids needs a web developer. Now’s your chance!

DrinkBox Studios, of Guacamelee fame, is looking for a combination Bookkeeper and Office Manager. If that’s up your alley, have a look at their careers page.

Embreate Inc. is seeking a full-time contract Unity3D programmer to work primarily on Kinect-based projects. The ideal candidate is located in Toronto, plus he/she has front end design experience. See complete listing and company details here.

Finally, Dames Making Games is looking for volunteers to serve as mentors for Indigicade, a game development training workshop for aboriginal women. Have a look here.

That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Enjoy this digest? It’s paid for by Hand Eye Society Member dues. For $7/month you get a free Toronto game every month, discounts, and a +5 karma boost. Consider joining!

Well, it looks like we’ve finally left the long Toronto winter behind, and we’re experiencing the first of the warm weather. Horrible, isn’t it? The sun blinds you, gives you headaches, makes your skin burn, and worst of all, with the “lovely weather,” you suddenly have no excuse to hide away in your home and play games like you’ve been doing all winter. Well, you can always go outside and bring your mobile phone or 3DS, so it’s not all bad. And while you’re out, there’s plenty of game related events you can experience, too

Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, now available on our homepage, which will be updated as more events are announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

Toronto Game Events

Friday, May 1- Sunday, May 3: The Tenth Toronto Independent Game Jam, or TOJam, an annual game-making marathon. Registrations are closed.

Saturday, May 2: TAAFI Animation Arts Job Fair, connecting animation, gaming and visual effects students with job opportunities.

Wednesday, May 6: DMG’s May Speakers Social + FIGHT! Launch Party

Thursday, May 7: PanelScapes opening party, an exhibit of new comics + virtual reality projects.

Thursday, May 7: The Tour Guide: A Playful Fiction by Jim Munroe is being launched at the AGO’s First Thursday event.

Saturday, May 9: Bit Bazaar 5, A celebration of independent games, comics and good food, featuring a generous helping of all three.

* Saturday, May 9 – Sunday, May 10: Comics vs Games at Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2015, with 30 games and their creators — many from out of town.

Thursday, May 14: Bitmaker Labs is doing a free Introduction to Game Development.

* Friday, May 15 – Saturday, May 16: Wavelength is doing a two night music show at Handlebar in Kensington, and Hand Eye is curating games out on the patio for it.

Saturday, May 16 – Sunday, May 17: Enthusiast Gaming Live: A whopping 18 tournaments will have players battling it out in this 60,000-square foot grassroots eSports event.

Tuesday, May 19: iLunch 14.2 – Building A Video Game Company, A lunch series providing skills development and networking opportunities to interactive digital media producers and those in other sectors, featuring speakers from PixelNAUTS, Snowed In Studios and more.

Friday, May 22: Dames Throwing Axes, a literal axe-throwing event. Yeah, it’s not a videogame, but c’mon, axe throwing.

Saturday, May 23: DiscoTech 2 (Discovering Technologies) A social-justice themed event about tech skills-sharing, focusing on all the building blocks needed to make indie games.

Friday, May 29 – Sunday, May 31: DMG’s Gym Jam, a game jam focused on multiplayer sports action.

Local Game Releases

Noodles, pictured above, exclusive to the Canadian iTunes store, is a cute little puzzle game developed by Toronto local Michael Busheikin.

Say When is an interactive fiction sci-fi/horror/fairy tale game game by Hand Eye alumni Kaitlin Tremblay. It can get a bit intense, but if you’re up for it, have a look here.

MINKOMORA is difficult to describe, but it’s an adventure about a small colourful character exploring a big colourful world. This free browser game from DMG alumni merrit kopas and Joni Kittaka is worth a look for its uniqueness alone.

Toronto Folks In The Media

PAX East may be over, but Golden Gear’s Fate Tectonics is still getting eyeballs from its showing at the convention, like this video at A List Daily.

With its Steam and Xbox One release dates drawing near, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (pictured above) by Asteroid Base received an exclusive special look from Destructoid.

Feminist Frequency has begun a new series focusing on positive portrayals of women in video games. Their first episode talks about Capybara Games’ 2011 release Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. Watch it here!

Kill Screen has a writeup about Femmepocalypse, a game made during one of Dames Making Games’ Jams.

For some interesting real-world gaming, check out this write-up in Make about DMG Member Daniele Hopkins and Kyle Duffield’s laser-dodging game, L.E.A.P.

Help Wanted

If you’re a creative writer interested in new frontiers for the medium, interactive storytelling experience Massively is currently searching for a writer to help create compelling interactive fiction of almost every genre. If you’re interested, read more about it here.

TV Ontario is currently looking for the following candidates: 2 x Senior Web & Game Developer, 1 x 2D Game Artist / Designer (job posting pending), 1 x Web Infrastructure Architect, 1 x Quality Assurance Analyst.

That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

If you regularly browse online for the latest game news, then you know by now that you’re about to be hit by a ton of fake April Fool’s news. Some of it will be funny, some of it will be obvious, and the worst things will make you wish they were true. Well, this calendar comes with a guarantee of 100 percent serious news only. Everything happening this month is really taking place, and these games all really came out. So, enjoy a little island of sanity on this day of lunacy.

Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, now available on our homepage, which will be updated as more events become announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

Toronto Game Events

Thursday, April 2: The 2015 Level Up Showcase, spotlighting the most talented students in design, animation and computer science programs from colleges and universities across Ontario.

Tuesday, April 14: IGDA’s Grab-bag of Developer Chats.

Saturday, April 18: Dames Making Games April Speaker’s Social.

Tuesday, April 28+29: Thank You For Playing doc about That Dragon, Cancer at Hot Docs

Wednesday, April 29: Torontaru monthly social.

Local Game Releases

Created entirely by developer and graphic designer Peter Lacalamita over two and a half years, Sky Battles (pictured above) is 3D air combat simulator, where you take on a variety of giant monsters on your plane, or other players in an online battle mode.

Toronto Folks In The Media

DMG member and indie game developer Soha Kareem wrote a piece for Offworld about how the games she’s developed have personally healed her. It’s touching, and well worth a read.

GamesTM has published a list of the top 50 best developers in the world, and without spoiling it, anyone in the know should see a few familiar names on that list…

Drinkbox Studios will soon be publishing a new title, Severed, which generated a lot of positive buzz at Pax East. Instead of linking all of the articles here, Drinkbox itself made a blog post rounding up all the positive buzz.

Special Announcements:

TO Jam, the free annual, 3 day game making event, needs volunteers to make the magic happen. They’re looking for casual volunteers for a day or two, or superstars who are willing to take on more. If you want to support the community, contact Arthur.

If you didn’t already get the memo, the Hand Eye Society has helped create a new game-related television series, YYZ Gameshow, dedicated to Toronto game culture. Have a look here, and if you have any story ideas, or things to present, be sure to drop a line.

Autodesk is looking beta testers for the next edition of 3d Studio Max. They want local 3ds Max users who use a 4k (high resolution) monitor. If that’s you and you’re interested in participating in the beta program for next year’s version of 3ds Max, you can send a message to Ian at ux.team@autodesk.com

To all the indie devs out there, IndieCade 2015, a showcase of independent games, is looking for submissions. You have until May 1st to get them in!

The Bit Bazaar is a celebration of independent games, comics and food, where you can showcase and sell your wares. The next one is in May, and if you have a game to show off, apply before April 3!

PTYVO Gaming is setting up a cultural display project for indie devs to show their games off. Here’s how you can apply to that, too.

Say hello to Local Sound, a newly-founded GTA organization dedicated to bringing the Toronto audio community together, including indie game makers, and professionals looking to pick up new skills. Stay tuned to it for lectures and talks by indie professionals starting in May!

Help Wanted

Drinkbox Studios, developers of Guacamelee, are looking for game designers and a gameplay programmer. If you’re interested, have a look on their website.

Enjoy our Game Event Roundups and want to make a contribution? The Hand Eye Society is looking for game enthusiasts with excellent writing and research skills to help out with this monthly digest, on a volunteer basis to start. Please email Jim with a either a sample of your writing, an event in April we missed, or a typo you found in this post!

That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Unless this cold breaks in a few days (apologies if it does), nobody’s going outside again ever! While we can’t guarantee you have enough food to survive the winter, we can make sure you have enough indie games. And if you do feel like venturing out into the cold (insert the Luke-on-a-Tauntaun meme here), there’s plenty of events happening this month. If you’re lucky, it’ll be warmer by then.

Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, now available on our homepage, which will be updated as more events become announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

Toronto Game Events

Sunday, March 1: Mississauga Pop’s Playing Games, a game-themed orchestral concert.

Tuesday, March 3: Bento Miso’s Toronto VR 11, an exploration of the evolution of virtual reality technology.

Saturday, March 7: Video Games Live: Bonus Round. Tommy Tallarico’s massive concert of video game music from every genre returns to Toronto.

Wednesday, March 11: Interact: Boundary Breaking Games, a networking event between digital media creators and professionals.

Saturday, March 14: Dames Making Games March Speaker’s Social.

Wednesday, March 25- Wednesday, May 28: Dames Making Games Open Studio Session, where you can have your work critiqued, advised, and collaborated on.

Local Game Releases

Planet of the Eyes is an action-oriented platformer with puzzle elements, starring a nameless robot scout marooned on a hostile alien world. It’s just made its way to Steam, and is well worth a look, coming to us from indie dev Cococucumber.

Alto’s Adventure is an endless snowboarding game for the iOS that involves, of all things, resuing Llamas. It sounds simple, but it’s marvelous to behold, developed by the aptly-named Snowman.

Originally created for the 2015 global game jam, I Know This has gone on to get a lot of media buzz. It’s an unofficial Jurassic Park hacking simulator, tasking the player to break into the UNIX system seen in the film.

Here’s a series of words you never thought you’d see in one place: A platformer about christian mysticism. It’s called Obeissance, was developed by merrit kopas and…well…just go look.

To Be or Not To Be, originally a choose-your-own-adventure book written by Toronto’s Ryan North (and featured in WordPlay 2013), has been adapted into a game on Steam.

Toronto Folks In The Media

Most of the new games releases this month came with a media blitz, so let’s get right to it. Firstly, Alto’s Adventure got coverage in Polygon and Kill Screen.

Kill Screen also took the time to talk about I Know This, with the obligatory Jurassic Park shout-outs

Meanwhile, Obeissance got coverage in Gay Gamer, specifically an analysis that will help you get a better handle on what’s going on.

Finally, Engadget gave us a list of 21 small game studios to watch in 2015. It included Toronto-based teams Asteroid Base and Capy Games.

BlogTO reported on plans for a Toronto e-sports bar, and Metro did a story on a potential barcade.

Special Announcements:

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2015 will be happening May 9-10, and Hand Eye Society will be there with a Comics vs Games exhibit. If you have a game you’d like to expose to the 20,000 TCAF visitors, we’re particularly interested in games with strong illustrative, narrative or connection to comics, but all are welcome to apply. Do it soon though!

Indigicade is a special game development program for indigenous girls ages 13-18, and they’re currently looking for applicants. If you’re interested, have a look.

Meanwhile, Dames Making Games happily announced that they hit their fundraising goal, and are sending a team of developers to the 2015 Game Developer’s Conference.

That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, now available on our homepage, which will be updated as more events become announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

An extra note this time around: If there’s anyone out there in Toronto who either has or needs game-making talent and wants to connect with collaborators/companies to see, email us and we’ll gladly include it in our Help Wanted/Offered section. Similarly, if you’ve made a game and want to plug it here, give us a shout for some free press. Our monthly calendar goes out to about a thousand subscribers. Without further adieu…

Toronto Game Events

Fri. January 9: Sub Zero Rock, a video game rock show at Lee’s Palace, featuring the Blast Processors, Mega Ran, Epic Game Music and Phonetic Hero.

Also happening is the third annual Long Winter, a multimedia arts festival featuring netgrind, Spirographics by JamminGames, and Severed by DrinkBox Studios

Wed. January 21: Dames Making Games’s Annual General Meeting, perfect for new members looking to see what they’re all about.

Fri. January 23-25: The Toronto Global Game Jam, the world’s largest game jam event, held annually worldwide as well as in Toronto.

Sat. January 24: DMG’s January 2015 Speaker Social, featuring Susan Blight.

January 27: IGDA’s QA Q&A – Three Microtalks on Bug Testing, Fixing, and Managing the Process, featuring Jennifer Costa, QA Lead at Uken Games, Thomas MacDevitt , QA Manager at The Foundry and Brenda Puebla, QC Manager, at Ubisoft. The event will be held at Metro Hall, Room 308&309, at 7 pm.

* Sat. January 31st, 1-4pm: The Hand Eye Society’s Annual General Meeting, The Storefront Theatre (955 Bloor Street West).

Local Game Releases

I’m Fine is a text and graphics adventure from Toronto developer Rokashi, dealing with the struggle for acceptance as a man deals with a variety of personal problems.

Writer’s Block: The Game is a short, snarky text adventure from Kaitlin Tremblay about that common author’s problem.

Finally, it’s not a game, and it isn’t Christmas anymore, but what the hey, Robby Duguay’s 12GB of Christmas Vol 2, an album of game-themed holiday tunes, is definitely worth checking out.

Toronto Folks In The Media

Phantom Compass’s Rollers of the Realm has been reviewed by Indie Haven over here.

Kill Screen has an article about humor returning to video games written by local writer Zack Kotzer, and cites Toronto games Super Time Force and Jazzpunk as some of the culprits.

Unity’s blog has an article up about the history of the Unity User Group, which was started by members of Toronto’s Uken Games.

Meanwhile, Uken Games gets another profile here, courtesy of the Globe and Mail.

The Toronto Star has an interesting piece about game developer Ryan Henson Creighton’s live action room-escape adventure, Escape the Book Club Killer. Creighton’s two game companies, Untold Entertainment and LockQuest, with their mandate to create thoughtful, inspiring games are profiled in Deseret News here.

Finally, Indie Game Reviewer has published its annual top ten list for 2014, and the Toronto representation is strong.

Special Announcements

As mentioned, the Toronto Global Game Jam (pictured above) is happening at the end of the month. If you feel like testing your skills, you can still register in a few ways. Have a look here.

Interactive fiction pops up on this digest a lot, and if you’re an interested author, you’ll want to have a look at the new Interactive Fiction Fund, designed to set creators up with money and resources for their ideas.

If you scored some new gear these holidays, you might consider donating some of your old stuff to us: specifically, we’re looking for Playstation 3s, flat-screen monitors/LCD TVs (22″+), and digital projectors to enhance our game literacy and exhibition programs. Email us at info@handeyesociety.com if you’re feeling like being generous to a non-profit videogame arts organization!

That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage happening in the new year, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

December’s here, and your level of sanity depends on one question only: Gotten your Christmas shopping done yet? If you have, congratulations, play some games on the couch while your friends run around in a panic. And if not…play some games on your couch in denial. Or go to the Bit Bazaar and pick up some last-minute game related swag. Either way, there’s lots happening this month, if you’re up for braving the snow. Fortunately, a lot of it’s online if you aren’t. Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, which will be updated as more events become announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note none of the events this month are Hand Eye events — we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

Toronto Game Events

December 2, 2014: The TO Tech Bash, uniting digital and technological artists from all across the city.

December 6, 2014: The Bit Bazaar (pictured above), Bento Miso’s market for indie games, comics, and good food.

December 18, 2014: DMG’s Game Development with Unity for Beginners.

Local Game Releases

Rollers of the Realm’s premise is fascinatingly simple: a medieval-themed pinball battle game. The Phantom Compass-developed title can be found on Steam here.

Frail Shells is a first-person shooter from Toronto dev Taylor Bai-Woo for Windows, Mac, or Linux. It’s a unique experiment that focuses on what happens to a soldier after the mission has ended. It can be downloaded here.

Utopia, a Twine game by Charlotte Ashley made in the Artsy Games Incubator, asks the question: Who would you start a new world with? Play it here.

Toronto Folks In The Media

The Canadian Video Game Awards are over, and you can read the full list of winners at the link. Toronto studios Vagabond Dog and Drinkbox Studios walked away with awards for Always Sometimes Monsters and Guacamelee. Read the Financial Post’s coverage here.

It seems WordPlay 2014 has gotten people thinking, if this piece from the Canadian Science Fiction Review is any indication. Another writeup can be found here, at Tilt at Windmills.

Motherboard takes a look at Toronto hacker space Site3 here, outlining their live game installations revolving around Tetris and Street Fighter, among other things.

13AM Games, creators of Runbow, were interviewed by Nintendo for their involvement with IndieCade 2014. Have a look here.

The Maker Faire, which featured custom games and technology at the Toronto Reference Library, got ink in the Toronto Star.

An oldie but a goodie: Toronto devs DrinkBox hosted a post-mortem on the development of their hit game, Guacamelee. IGDA has posted a video of the talk, and it’s worth a look by any hopeful designer.

Special Announcements

Are you a lady game developer with dreams of making it to the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next March? If you’re a student, low income, freelance, or retired, then the Dames Making Games Scholarship program could be able to help you out. Read more here.

Until December 12, 2014, Team Vector invites you to submit to its festival programming. Vector 2015 will take place from February 19 to 22, 2015, in Toronto. They’re also taking submissions for games and interactive media for the open-source Gamebuino platform, which will be exhibited at events in Canada and Europe in 2015. If you’re interested, have a look here.

That’s all for now! If there’s any events, Toronto games news, new releases, or rad media coverage happening in the new year, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Toronto Game Events

*Saturday, November 1: The Canzine indie arts fair includes an Artsy Games Incubator exhibition

Wednesday, November 5: Assassin’s Creed Unity Launch Celebration

*Saturday, November 8: Wordplay 2014, a festival of writerly games

Wednesday, November 26: The November Torontaru

Friday, November 28: Arcade U

Local Game Releases

Created during Dames Making Games’s Ad Hoctober game jam, spooky arcade game Candy for Satan is available for Windows user to play, free!

Kaitlin Tremblay has finished her collaborative interactive story compilation, Lights out, Please. It combines traditional ghost stories with modern, user-submitted tales to scare the reader while making them think.

Home is a pixel-based adventure game created by Benjamin Rivers, a horrifying murder mystery with an ending you decide. The PS4 version of the game saw its release a few short days before Halloween, but you can enjoy the scares all year round.

Toronto Folks In The Media

Game Curious co-ordinator Sagan Yee created a marvellous animated tribute to the SNES RPG Earthbound (pictured above), which then received coverage from Kotaku.  

The Justice Points video games podcast had an episode featuring Dames Making Games members Jennie Faber and Cecily Carver. Check it out here!

Special Announcements

Attention to any indie devs looking for government funding for their projects. There’s only a few days left to apply for the Toronto Arts Council’s Grants to Media Artists for 2014. Have a look here before time runs out!

Haphead, a videogame themed cyberpunk web series written/created by Hand Eye Society co-founder Jim Munroe, is Kickstarting its post-production. Find out more here.

IndieCade, the International Festival of Independent games has come and gone for 2014. But before they left, they awarded Toronto studio Metanet Software with a special recognition award for N++. Read Metanet’s statement here.

The Ontario Media Development Corporation is hiring! The OMDC provides opportunities for Ontario’s cultural media industries (including book publishing, film and television, magazine publishing and music industries, and most relevant to us, interactive digital media) to create new products, access new markets and improve market readiness. While a contract position, this is a great gig that calls for a rock-solid administrator. Those interested can apply here.

Gamemaking Help Offered/Wanted

The video game development club at Don Mills Collegiate Institute has been running for three years, bringing together a pool of talented and passionate students to promote and teach game development, learn and design together, and attempt ambitious projects. We are trying to get speakers from the game development scene in Toronto to come in and talk about their personal and professional experience, give career advice, teach industry methods and standards, If you are interested, contact Hussain Jasim (hussainmkj@gmail.com).

That’s all for now! If there’s any Christmas events or Toronto video games news, releases, and rad media coverage you want shared, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Toronto Game Events

Thursday, October 2: DMG and Bento Miso present Intro to Game Design.

Fri­day Octo­ber 3: Toronto Arts Council Visual and Media Artists Grant Information Session.

Saturday, October 4: DMG’s Ad Hoctober Game Jam.

*Saturday, October 4: Game Curious? Play and Discussion (Science, Politics and Education).

Thursday, October 9: DMG and Bento Miso present Intro to Programming.

*Saturday, October 11: Game Curious? Play and Discussion.

Sunday, October 12: Nintendo Enthusiast and Event Matchup gaming kick off a Super Smash Bros. 3DS and Pokemon X/Y tournament. Details here.

Thursday, October 16: Build Your Own Dating Sim, with Kim Hoang.

Friday, October 17, 2014: Gamercamp Interactive and Games Conference.

Saturday, October 18: Gamercamp Pop-Up Arcade.

Saturday, October 18: Gamercamp Night Arcade (pictured above).

Sunday, October 19: Gamercamp Pop-Up Arcade.

Thursday, October 23: A third DMG/Bento Miso Joint: Intro to Art and Visual Design for Games with Kate Craig.

Saturday, October 25: October Speakers DMG Social, featuring the results of the Ad Hoctober Game Jam.

Wednesday, October 29: Torontaru.

Thursday, October 30: Intro to Game Audio, featuring Halina Heron, Maggie McLean and Jen Costa.

Friday, October 31: Dames Making Games, XMG Studio, and Bento Miso’s Halloween Spookcade party and arcade.

Local Game Releases

Arielle Grimes has released BrokenFolx, a short little interactive story about gender and sexual diversity, and how we can sometimes suffer for it. It’s free, it’s short, and it makes you think. Have a look.

Merritt Kopas released incantation, a ritual to recall strength and resilience in the face of overwhelming oppressions. Dedicated to Leigh Alexander.

Toronto Folks In The Media

Polygon’s been giving Toronto game developers some press this month. Firstly, we have a writeup on BrokenFolx, the indie game mentioned above. Secondly, their article on Austin’s Fantastic Arcade talks about Toronto devs Metanet Software and Asteroid Base.

Meanwhile, The Verge attended the 2014 Tokyo Game Show, and decided to name Asteroid Base’s Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime as one of the show’s best games in their review.

Last of all, Silicon Era has a writeup on Golden Gear Games’s Fate Techtonics, and the title of the article alone makes it worth a look.

Special Announcements

Our WordPlay Festival of Writerly Games put out a call for volunteers and game submissions. Made (or just love) a game with interesting/amazing writing? Let us know before October 12th, midnight.

After six editions, and scores of games, Gamercamp Interactive & Games Festival will be coming to an end. It’s been quite the ride, and you can read about it here.

The IGDA has started a Steam Curator page specifically tracking Toronto-made indie games. If you’d like to support local developers, have a look at the offerings found here.

IndieCade, the International Festival of Independent Games in California will be held on October 9th. It will be featuring several Toronto-developed titles, including Jazzpunk, Knight and Damsel, N++, & Sext Adventure. Miguel Sternberg and Jim Munroe will be doing a talk there on the first five years of the Hand Eye Society. Check it out!

Castle Pixel has launched a Kickstarter campaign for their new action RPG title, Blossom Tales. Check it out here.

Gamemaking Help Offered/Wanted

Haphead (pictured above) is an upcoming science-fiction web series being filmed in Toronto. It’s currently seeking a talented machinima creator for a paid gig. Check out the trailer, and if you’re interested, contact Sean at sean@smallcity.ca.

My name’s Lucas,  UofT student and currently designer of a two dimensional, sandbox, MMO set within a prohibition era-inspired world.  As I am a pixel artist, when I say “designing,” I mean that I am in the process of producing graphics and hammering out a game manifesto.  Currently looking for passionate team members to push this project beyond the concept realm. For a snapshot at my progress thus far please visit my Reddit page. If you’re interested in becoming involved in the project, or simply wish to obtain more information, please do not hesitate to contact me at lucas.knight@mail.utoronto.ca

Daniel Lanigan is looking to promote his electronic music. He’s interested in composing original scores for games. If you’re interested, you can check out his electronic music on youtube, or download it here.

That’s all for now! If there’s any November events or Toronto video games news, releases, and rad media coverage you want shared, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Toronto Game Events

* Saturday, September 13: Game Curious? Play and Discussion group begins (alternate poster pictured above)

Saturday, September 13: DMG September Speaker’s Social, featuring Sarah Anne Drew of Every1games

Wednesday, September 17: Playing Nice in the Sandbox: Legal Considerations for Collaborative Content Creation by Artists’ Legal Advice Services (ALAS).

* Saturday, September 20: Game Curious? Play and Discussion group

Saturday, September 20: DMGtalks: Gigs and careers in fandom and geek culture

Wednesday, September 24th: Torontaru

* Saturday, September 27: Game Curious? Play and Discussion group

Monday, September 29: ArtsVote will be running a mayoral debate around how Toronto can better support arts and culture — perhaps also videogame arts?

Local Game Releases

Depression Quest is a browser-based text adventure game, exploring the realities of living with depression. It’s been available online for some time, but now it’s gotten a free release on Steam.

A bird game that’s actually beatable! Lucky Mask Games has released Fishy Feathers for free on the iTunes App Store. You control a diving bird collecting food and avoiding predators, and helping it grow into a majestic bird of prey.

Brandon Gardiner has released the delightfully bizarre Drunk Cloud on both iTunes and Android, in which you control a cloud stumbling home from the bar, collecting hot dogs, and avoiding happy clouds trying to “harsh his buzz.”

Uken Games has launched Titans, a collectible card-based fantasy RPG. The original soundtrack is also available, composed by DMG-er Maggie McLean.

Toronto Folks In The Media

The first issue of Two Clones, an online magazine about games, comics, and fandom in general, has been released, including contributions from Toronto devs and Hand Eye members. Check it out — grab a free issue before 5pm on Sept 1st!

Bento Miso recently held a workshop on how to apply for Ontario’s Interactive Digital Media Fund, and recorded the talk, hosted by Kim Gibson,  for posterity. If you’re an indie dev, and want government capital, check it out.

Coinciding with the Steam release, Kill Screen has an article on Depression Quest.

Asteroid Base’s Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime has been selected as one of the titles in this year’s Fantastic Arcade, at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas. It also appeared at Pax Prime as part of the Indie Megabooth, as did N++ and Analogue: A Hate Story.

Ben Rivers announced his new game Alone With You will be a Playstation 4 and Vita exclusive.

Special Announcements

Dames Making Games has launched the Codex, a database and resource of the organization’s members and creations.

SXSW interactive 2015 has a novel feature where you vote for which panels will be featured at the show. The folks behind LongStory, along with Bento Miso, could be presenting a panel entitled “But where’s the market for that?!” on the role of community in helping unique titles find their audience, as well as an analysis of market-driven innovation. Help the community out, and vote here.

Gamemaking Help Offered/Wanted

Kaitlin Tremblay is looking for short horror stories to use in her upcoming game, Lights Out, Please. If you’re a crafty writer of things spooky, throw your hat (or pen) into the arena.

Rocket 5 Studios is looking for an experienced Unity game programmer for a high profile, short term contract gig starting in early September and wrapping up mid-November. Unity and C# skills required. We’re looking for someone who is easy to work with. It’s a bonus if you’ve shipped a few games. If you’re interested, or if you know anyone who may, feel free to pass this along. Contact hello@rocket5studios.com.

Dara Gold is a Toronto based 2D game artist and illustrator. She’s ready to jump in at any stage of a project, be it initial concepts and designs to final art assets, promotional materials and UI. If you’re currently in need of an artist for your video game or creative project check out www.daragold.ca or contact her at gold.dara@gmail.com.

That’s all for now! If there’s any October events or Toronto video games news, releases, and rad media coverage you want shared, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or to @HandEyeSociety on Twitter.

Don’t forget to check out the Toronto Gaming Calendar, which will be updated as more events become announced throughout the month. (Remember, the calendar can also be added to your googlecal.) Note only the events marked with an asterisk are Hand Eye events — for the rest, we’re just signal boosting for this amazing community.

Toronto Game Events

Friday, August 1-Sunday, August 3: Improv Remix, a groundbreaking video and live performance fusion!

Tuesday, August 5: Play Your Story: Art and Visual Design

Monday, August 8- Wednesday, August 10: ROM Game Jam: The Evolution Revolution (pictured)

Saturday, August 9: Dames Making Games Julivewire Showcase and August Social, featuring the playable results of their last Game Jam!

Tuesday, August 12: Play Your Story: Intro to Programming

Tuesday, August 19: Play Your Story: Sound Design

Tuesday, August 26: Play Your Story Games Showcase

Wednesday, August 27: Torontaru

Local Game Releases

Kara Stone and Nadine Lessio’s Sext Adventure is an experimental hypertext game played from your phone, and it’s been making waves in the media. Come see what the chatter’s all about.

The Phantom PI: Mission Apparition  (pictured) is a spooky adventure game set in a huge haunted mansion. In the words of the developer, it tasks you with “helping deceased rock’n’roll legend Marshal Staxx escape the torment of a larcenous poltergeist named Baublebelly.” What’s not to love? It’s available for iPhone and iPad.

After much delay, TO Game Jam creation PondScum finally sees release for Android. It’s difficult to describe what it is. You’ll just have to see for yourself.

Drink Box Game’s Guacamelee! proved popular enough that they’ve put out a Super Turbo Championship Edition for the PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Wii U.

Finally, we have Buzzle, a combination endless runner/puzzle game for the iOS where you guide Charly Ironfly through 4 unique, obstacle-filled worlds. The game’s currently featured on the front page of GreatApps.

Toronto Folks In The Media

Blog TO has been kind enough to provide a list of the best gaming nights and groups in Toronto. Take a look, and you might see some familiar names.

Didn’t believe me about Sext Adventure getting all that attention? It’s gotten coverage in Wired, Motherboard, and The Mary Sue.

Pocket Gamer is covering Phantom PI’s big win at the Big Indie Pitch in San Francisco.

Polygon has written a piece on the depiction of mental health in gaming, including mentions of indie title There Are Monsters Under Your Bed.

Meanwhile, Toronto indie game designer merritt kopas has written a lengthy, fascinating article for Lambda Literary about indie hypertext games and trans women.

Retro Runner: Princess Power has shown up on Gaming Rant as their Featured Indie.

Finally, Shu’s Garden got written up in The Guardian.

Special Announcements

Submissions are now open for the Gamercamp 2014 interactive & games festival. If you’re a game maker, don’t miss this chance to show your work off. Early bird submissions are on now until early August. Submissions in general finish the first week of September. Apply now! The festival runs October 17 to 19.

Createrra is developing a new tactical strategy RPG, Empyrios. You can follow their progress on their blog.

Mana Crowd is a Toronto-based company dedicated to supporting indie games by serving as a combination crowdfunder and game publisher. The live beta of their site has just been launched.

Attila “Gabriel” Branyiczky, a Toronto-based indie developer, is Kickstarting a new title, “Robo’s World: The Zarnok Fortress.” A 2D action platformer set on a giant spaceship, it’s described by the creator as “Majora’s Mask cross Mega Man.” It’s been shown off at Bento Miso’s Games with Friends, and will appear at Con Bravo 2014. For more information, and to help the game out, check out the Kickstarter page.

Gamemaking Help Offered/Wanted

My name is Gillian Blekkenhorst, and I’m a freelance production illustrator. I have experience doing UI layout design and pitch illustration for game design packages,  2D asset creation including sprite animation, backgrounds and a bit of 3D modelling, and good old fashioned illustration for books, board games, or concept art. You can see my portfolio at http://blekkenhorst.ca

That’s all for now! If there’s any September events or Toronto video games news, releases, and rad media coverage you want shared, don’t hesitate to pass it along to Anthony via email or on Twitter.