what is magfest?

MAGFest, or the Music and Gaming Festival, is a four day, nonstop video game convention, to put it shortly. All aspects of video games are celebrated there, including speedrunning, LAN parties, tournaments, cosplay, music, arcade, consoles, and of course, indie and game dev. I attended some game dev panels and talked to a number of fellow indie devs.

indie games

Indie devs from around the country bring their game to an expo hall to show it off. I spent a big chunk of time checking out different games and talking to the devs about how they work. I learned some new things, and reinforced some ideas we’ve already had.

punk juice

Punk Juice is a cute life sim and rhythm game. The studio consists of a duo with a band by the same name, Lemon Boy. The art style is very fun, and the character customizaion is top tier. I could’ve spent a long time choosing features for my MC. The hair alone had back, middle, and front customizable sections to it. We’ve toyed with the idea of character customization, and would like to include it someday. It would involve more art, which we’re still figuring out.

other: her loving embrace

OTHER: Her Loving Embrace is a long-awaited action-adventure RPG. Chimera Labs is also a two-person studio, that had a very successful Kickstarter campaign in 2019. Their game caught my eye because it accomplishes some things that we would like to do. It captures a retro nostalgic vibe well, taking inspiration from games like Zelda and Earthbound. As for the gameplay, it’s something I could see us coming up with or wanting to make.

nekomancer of nowhere

Nekomancer of Nowhere is a cute 3D puzzle game with a unique look and mechanic. Standing Cat is a studio started by recent college students who took a game development class together. They decided to keep going with the game they started, and have brought more people on board since, including a 3D artist. The colors and point of view make it look mysterious and cool, which is something we’re striving for in our current game. The gameplay involves drawing shapes with your mouse to perform spells, making the game even more visually insteresting.

where ideas come from

I talked to a lot devs, beyond the ones who made the games listed above. Game ideas can come from anywhere, really. There’s no secret formula. Some devs expanded a game they worked on for a class. One dev made a game out of their Dungeons & Dragons campaign. One drew the art first, and then came up with a game for it. Some devs don’t remember where they where their idea originated, or it has evolved so much that it’s hard to pinpoint. We want to practice prototyping more games, so that we can try things and figure out what works, and what’s “fun.”

game dev panels

Another area of interest for game devs is the panels. People with real experience in the industry hold talks on any sort of topic that may be useful for those of use trying to break in. Some panels were more relevant to us than others, but all were interesting to see who was talking and gave us some things to consider.

getting a publisher

Publishers, while not required for indie games, can help with a lot of things. Funding, branding, and advertising are some of the big ones. This panel was hosted by Samuel Martino, Rouben Gregorian, and Tyler Ulsch, who have worked with a variety of publishers, big and small. The big takeaway was that it’s difficult and unlikely to get noticed by a bigger traditional publisher. Instead, the panelists recommended getting in touch with smaller publishers. I learned about Outersloth, Innersloth’s indie game fund, and various state funding programs for small businesses. There are pros and cons to going with a small publisher, of course. They might provide less funding, or might have slower response times. They might not have a background in video games. However, because they work with fewer people, they will have the time to get back to you and give you real feedback on why they can or cannot fund you.

game jam tips

Game jams, as we have learned, are highly valuable to indie devs. Our current ghost game was inspired by a little game we made for Godot Wild Jam. This panel was given by Kirk Musngi, Ruthie Edwards, Tyler Rhodes, and Francisco Gonzáles, all of whom have participated in 40+ jams and work in the game industry. They had helpful tips for beginners and pros; some things we had considered, and some we hadn’t.

A big point of emphasis was scope, for example. We have struggled with scope a lot, and it sounds like a common problem. During a jam, you can’t afford to lose to scope creep. The more time spent planning and ideating, the safer and easier the execution of the game is. About half the time should be spent planning and building the base mechanics, and the other half should be building out content for players to progress through.

Make the game as small as possible, and then use any remaining time to add extra little things that help make the game feel complete. It could be a speedrun timer or scoreboard. You can add a clear beginning and end to the game. There’s no need to tell a huge story, but some context on who the player is and why they’re there can go a long way.

it was fun.

MAGFest is fun every year, but it was especially eye-opening this year. Having a real, full-sized game in progress changed the experience, and it hit me how much hopefully not blood or sweat, but maybe tears, goes into making a game. We’re hoping to attend again in some capicity next year. There are cool people to learn from and new games to play. It’s a lot to absorb, but there are few opportunities where game developers from so many walks of life come together. Catch us there next time!