A message from Jim Munroe

I’d like to announce that at the end of this year, I’ll be stepping away completely from the Hand Eye Society. Since Sagan took over as executive director at the beginning of 2016, I have been working in a fundraising and partnerships role to improve the organization’s financial stability. I was able to focus on expanding our portfolio of funding, establish programming like Camp Make-a-Game with future revenue potential, and develop membership and studio membership support channels. Given that we’re feeling good about where we’re at financially (though it will be an ongoing challenge) and Sagan feels comfortable in the ED role, we’ve decided now is a good time for this change.

And this change has been a long time coming! There were 6 founders who started the organization — Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard (Metanet), Jon Mak (Queasy), Jim McGinley (Big Pants), and Miguel Sternberg (Spooky Squid Games) — and I’m the last one to be actively involved in running it. When we started it in February 2009, all of us were (and are) practicing game makers and simply wanted to see the videogame arts flourish in the city. We were astonished at the response to this vision, and were able to build only thanks to this community support.

Many organizations never outlive their founders. The fact that after only eight years the organization is now run by people who discovered it through our programs and are inspired by our mandate is truly an ideal outcome.

This kind of community work takes a lot of energy, and a lot of faith, but in the end it all comes back to you. This project has been one of the most fulfilling I’ve ever been involved with, and I’m super-excited to see where the nextgen (and nextnextgen) Hand Eye Society goes!

A message from Sagan Yee

The end of an era is upon us! It’s with optimistic but bittersweet feels that we prepare to bid farewell to Jim Munroe, indie arts kingpin and the long-standing former Executive Director of the first 7 years of Hand Eye’s history. We’ve never known HES without him, so it truly is symbolic of how far we’ve come that we continue to move forward with an entirely different team than existed at the beginning. It’s going to be an exciting challenge, and we have the original co-founders and membership to thank for laying the foundations for a future full of possibilities.

On a personal note, Jim has always believed in my abilities to a degree that anyone should be fortunate enough to experience, especially as a woman in games during the early stages of her career. I’ve always felt free to make my own decisions, and more importantly, my own mistakes, which I think is a key part of the learning process. I can’t stress enough the empowerment that can come from a good mentor, and the value of a leader who is able to intuit when change is needed. As much as I’d like to hope that I’ve had some positive effect on the organization, it’s probably more accurate to claim the reverse: Working for the Hand Eye Society has been one of the most rewarding and challenging experiences of my life, and I’ll always be grateful to Jim for opening a door that I didn’t even realize was there.

The impact of the creativity and independent zeal that Jim has brought to the organization since its humble beginnings can’t be overstated. We wish Jim the best of luck, both with his creative projects as well as a new community resource he’s developing called the Game Arts International Network, and look forward to whatever the next adventure may bring!

Sat. Sept. 30th, 9pm
Electric Perfume (805 Danforth Ave, near Pape station)
FREE
RSVP

As we mentioned when we posted our first “indie industry” Kelly Wallick event on Monday, this month is all about bringing interesting & influential videogame folks to Toronto!

Massive player Humble Bundle announced at the last GDC that it’s getting into publishing games, and funding lead John Polson is coming to town and wants to see what developers here have made.

The event is happening at studio-gallery-lounge gamespace Electric Perfume and will consist of one minute peeks at games, either completed or in progress, projected on the wall. Who gets to show off their game to John and the community? YOU DO!

To keep things convivial, we’ll have a delightful host Shaun Hatton MCing and delicious beer from Halo Brewery available for sale!

Thanks to our sponsor EGLX!

Here in Toronto we’ve developed a rich videogame art scene and a vibrant interactive digital media industry, but how will it continue to thrive as the international market gets increasingly saturated? We think a part of the answer is a focus on business skills, and we are partnering with the Ontario Media Development Corporation to run a program to give promising young game creators and developers a leg-up in our changing world. It’s OMDC’s IDM Fund Futures program.

Participants who complete the program will be eligible to submit an application to the OMDC IDM Fund Concept Definition or Production programs starting in the Spring 2018 deadline. They will also have the opportunity to submit an application to receive one of a limited numbers of grants to assist with product development (administered by the OMDC).

Additionally, participants will  meet international experts like Kelly Wallick (IGF Chairperson, Indie Megabooth) and John Polson (Humble Bundle, ALT.CTRL), learn from the experience of locals like Alex Jansen (Pop Sandbox) and Rob Segal (Get Set Games), and develop pitch and business assets they can use. They’ll also make critical connections with fellow participant peers facing similar challenges.

The sessions will run over six weeks on Sunday afternoons starting Sept 24th and will cover the following subjects:

• Pitching and Financing: Funding Sources, Publishers, Tax Credits, Deferrals
• Legal: Incorporation, Insurance, and Contracts
• Budgeting: Payroll, Cash Flow & Accounting
• Production Methodology: Scaling Up, Hiring, Timelines/Schedules
• Audience Connection: Community Building, Publicity & Marketing
• Strategy: Designing Your Company & Alternate Income Streams

We are developing a curriculum from scratch using interviews with experienced game creators to uncover what are the most critical and useful business learnings for people in our region, from tax credits to connecting with an audience. One representative from each company or team will be accepted, and they will be working on one game idea throughout the program.

This program could be a good fit for you if:

• You have an awesome game prototype with commercial potential -OR- you’ve made game prototypes in the past and have an idea for a game with commercial potential
• You have less than 3 years of full time industry experience
• You are available to attend the weekend sessions in Toronto
• You can commit to 3-4 hours a week for the hands-on assignments
• You are an Ontario resident

Selections will be made by Hand Eye Society staff in consultation with the OMDC with an eye towards cultural innovation and viability. If you are not selected or it’s not quite the right fit for you, never fear! The Hand Eye Society will be doing videogame arts workshops throughout the year aimed at a variety of experience levels and approaches (commercial/non-commercial). Make sure you’re signed up to our mailing list to be notified, as they tend to fill up fast.

Get in touch with jim@handeyesociety.com with any questions.

We’re all set for our first full month of Camp Make-A-Game in July!

Our unique full-day week-long kids program that combines indoor screen game design instruction with outdoor, playground-based game design instruction is happening all over the city. More info and a video here.

This summer camp is FREE, and we’re bringing it to under-served neighbourhoods — with the Toronto Public Library!

We’re able to do these free programs thanks to our incredible support from local game studios, who leapt at the chance to send a kid to camp.

Lead Sponsor:

Studio Membership Supporters:

(Want to join these esteemed ranks? Find out more about membership here!)

Thanks to Matt Hammill for Camp Make-a-Game’s amazing visual identity!

Building on the success of our Game Curious and Games for Dorset Park programs, The Hand Eye Society is starting a week-long full-day summercamp for kids 8-12. It’s called Camp Make-a-Game!

Mornings are spent indoors with digital screen instruction, teaching kids to use point-and-click game creation tools. Because these tools don’t require coding, most of the instruction can focus on design principles like game mechanics or game feel and not just be focused on technical hurdles. Afternoons are spent outdoors, discussing and playing physical games like tag and soccer — and then the kids will re-design the rules and play the modified games, learning about design while getting some exercise. By the end of the week they’ll be game makers!

[button size=”medium” icon=”” target=”_self” hover_type=”default” align=”center” text=”Future camp mailing list” link=”http://eepurl.com/b6I5ZT”]

We prototyped our unique indoor/outdoor format last August with the support of our partners the Toronto Public Library, Asteroid Base and Ubisoft Toronto. Watch the video below for a taste of the camp!

Interested in partnering or sponsorship opportunities? We’d love to chat at jim@handeyesociety.com.

The amazing visual identity of Camp Make-a-Game was created by Matt Hammill of Asteroid Base!

We put a call out to like-minded groups for their 2016 highlights and got a dozen responses covering cities like Montreal, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, New York, Milan, Melbourne, Brighton, Utrecht, Vancouver and Berlin. Enjoy!

Pietro Righi Riva from Italy writes: “In September, the Milano Game Festival offered an entirely new format – a real play hall with many seats, similar to a movie theater, in which to dedicate the right amount of time to enjoying immersive interactive experiences. For one week, all participants played each night a different game for two hours, met the authors, and shared a common experience to discuss and remember. (photo by Alex Camilleri)”

Lauren Gardener from NYC writes: “This was from Kara Stone’s ‘Mystical Digital’ exhibit at Babycastles back in May. Photo by Emi Spicer.”

Davis Cox from New York City writes: “I curated ArtCade this fall for CultureHub in La MaMa Theater for our second year, with nearly 30 titles selected from multiple organizations, including Sheep’s Meow, Finji, NYU Games Center, and Games for Change. Panels during the weekend included discussions on the independent games marketplace, journalism, and an in-depth artist spotlight on Robert Yang – videos are located here.”

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We took over 3 spaces in the library to host talks, workshops and the interactive fiction showcase.  

We also shared some space alongside the British Library, hosting boardgames, generative poetry and games from the off the map competition and the National Archive Steam Punk jam.

See more photos of the day on Press Fire to Win’s flickr album.

WordPlay London is in session at the British Library!

We will be streaming the sessions at http://wordplay.london/live , and it will be archived there as well.

Feel free to to use the #WordPlayFest hashtag on Twitter!

Schedule

(converted to Eastern Standard Times)

6.15 – 6.30am Welcome

6.30 – 7.15am The City is your Playground: Games Played in Public
As a designer, pervasive games allow you to use the greatest set of all — the real world — already pre-populated by unpaid extras! A variety of public game creators discuss the particular affordances and considerations they have to keep in mind when designing outside-of-the box narrative experiences.
Holly Gramazio – director of game design for Matheson Marcault, with a particular interest in site-specific work and physicality.
Tom Williams – Designer of mystery events and immersive treasure hunts.
Hannah Nicklin – Writer, game designer, academic, producer and artist working in game design.
Mink Ette – Digital storyteller specialising in interactive experiences, particularly around escape rooms.

7.45 – 8.10am Not Losing the Point with A Normal Lost Phone (Rafael Martinez-Jausoro)
One of the people behind A Normal Lost Phone (pictured above) explains how they found a balance between a social impact message and engaging gameplay by using narrative and an original point of view.

8.10 – 8.35am Standard Structures in Choice-Based Games (Hannah Powell-Smith)
While choice-based games are simpler in form to systems-based games, there is a considerable variety of structure that impacts player experience. Learn and be inspired by examples of the Branch-and-Bottleneck, the Time Cave, and the Gauntlet!

9.00 – 9.45am Crafting Interactive Fiction Tools
“We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.”
― Marshall McLuhan
What motivates people to make interactive fiction tools, and what encourages people to use them?
Richard Bartle, co-creator of MUDs, or Multi-User Dungeons;
Jon Ingold, whose company released Inkle and Ink;
Juhana Leinonen, co-creator of Texture;
Emily Short, who was closely involved with the development of Inform 7.

10.15 – 11.00am Practical Considerations of Writerly Games
Because creating interactive fiction is challenging, with no straightforward path, we’ve assembled a panel of seasoned writerly games types to discuss some nitty gritty issues: funding possibilities, useful production tools and methods, and how to connect with an audience.
Olivia Wood, writer and editor at Failbetter Games
Haley Uyrus, marketer at Failbetter Games
Adrian Hon, CEO at Six to Start
Rob Sherman, writer at Bonfire Dog

11.15 – 12.00pm Worldbuilding with Words
Creators of interactive fiction, prose-forward games, Twitter microfictions and gamebooks discuss the challenges and joys of using words to evoke historical eras and weird universes.
Hannah Powell-Smith, Twine creator
Nate Crowley, dystopic Twitter writer
Helen Carmichael, historical game writer
Jon Green, gamebook author

WordPlay London happens at the British Library this Saturday!

The British Library
96 Euston Road, NW1 2 London, United Kingdom
10am-6pm, Free
Workshops in Dickens room, Panels/talks in Bronte, Showcase in the Mezzanine
RSVP to our Facebook event

Attendees will get a chance to learn authoring tools like Twine, Texture, and Inform in our hands-on workshops (PRE-REGISTER HERE), as well as try a variety of games in our juried showcase. Our programming committee — Adrian Hon (Six to Start), Sharna Jackson, Alexis Kennedy (Failbetter founder/Weather Factory), Jim Munroe, Emily Short, and Stella Wisdom (British Library) — have crafted some great sessions:

11.15 – 11.30 Welcome

11.30 – 12.15 The City is your Playground: Games Played in Public
As a designer, pervasive games allow you to use the greatest set of all — the real world — already pre-populated by unpaid extras! A variety of public game creators discuss the particular affordances and considerations they have to keep in mind when designing outside-of-the box narrative experiences.
Holly Gramazio – director of game design for Matheson Marcault, with a particular interest in site-specific work and physicality.
Tom Williams – Designer of mystery events and immersive treasure hunts.
Hannah Nicklin – Writer, game designer, academic, producer and artist working in game design.
Mink Ette – Digital storyteller specialising in interactive experiences, particularly around escape rooms.

12.45 – 1.10 Not Losing the Point with A Normal Lost Phone (Rafael Martinez-Jausoro)
One of the people behind A Normal Lost Phone (pictured above) explains how they found a balance between a social impact message and engaging gameplay by using narrative and an original point of view.

1.10 – 1.35 Standard Structures in Choice-Based Games (Hannah Powell-Smith)
While choice-based games are simpler in form to systems-based games, there is a considerable variety of structure that impacts player experience. Learn and be inspired by examples of the Branch-and-Bottleneck, the Time Cave, and the Gauntlet!

2.00 – 2.45 Crafting Interactive Fiction Tools
“We become what we behold. We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us.”
― Marshall McLuhan
What motivates people to make interactive fiction tools, and what encourages people to use them?
Richard Bartle, co-creator of MUDs, or Multi-User Dungeons;
Jon Ingold, whose company released Inkle and Ink;
Juhana Leinonen, co-creator of Texture;
Emily Short, who was closely involved with the development of Inform 7.

3.15 – 4.00 Practical Considerations of Writerly Games
Because creating interactive fiction is challenging, with no straightforward path, we’ve assembled a panel of seasoned writerly games types to discuss some nitty gritty issues: funding possibilities, useful production tools and methods, and how to connect with an audience.
Olivia Wood, writer and editor at Failbetter Games
Haley Uyrus, marketer at Failbetter Games
Adrian Hon, CEO at Six to Start
Rob Sherman, writer at Bonfire Dog

4.15 – 5.15 Worldbuilding with Words
Creators of interactive fiction, prose-forward games, Twitter microfictions and gamebooks discuss the challenges and joys of using words to evoke historical eras and weird universes.
Hannah Powell-Smith, Twine creator
Nate Crowley, dystopic Twitter writer
Helen Carmichael, historical game writer
Jon Green, gamebook author

We will be streaming and archiving the sessions online — keep an eye on our Youtube channel for that.

We’ve noticed in the community that people are facing real challenges with getting their game noticed these days. Unlike a few years ago, there are a lot of games being released — the market is as saturated as other mediums like movies and music.

Even the Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly is talking about the need for change. “We have to stop being humble and sell it on the international stage,” she says here.

As a videogame arts organization, we don’t judge a game by its profits, but we see a missed opportunity to be part of the international cultural conversation when our country’s quality work isn’t connecting with an audience.

So, we’re joining forces with Interactive Ontario to do an event on October 12 called Building an Audience for Your Game.

It’s focused on getting marketers on board as part of game making teams at an early stage — where there’s time for them to be creatively and personally invested, and not just being brought in as a hired gun as the end of the process.

This is the format: 10 game creators will be presenting what they think is interesting about their game in 5 minutes. Couple slides, no big deal, and the project can be at any stage. Note that this isn’t a pitch.

Then, each creator will talk to 10 marketing people to get top-of-head marketing advice and insight, to get a sense of where they’re coming from. We will be screening the marketers for passion about games and experience, though not requiring specific games experience if people have ideas around new audience development. We anticipate that this will lead to a few good fits and fruitful collaborations!

To participate please fill out one of these forms.

Game creator application form

Marketer application form

Deadline is a week today, Wed. Oct. 5th. You can email us if you have questions.