We <3 IndieCade

Last weekend was the festival and conference known as IndieCade. In previous years it piggybacked on top of a few other shows, including Siggraph and E3; but this was IndieCade’s first ever standalone festival. And what an amazing time it was. The location, a beautiful pocket around a hotel in Culver City, was warm and charming — by far the best impression I’ve ever had of LA. The games were a great selection of fun, thought-provoking, wacky, and sublime. All indie of course. The talks and discussions were varied and interesting. And the people…

The people.

I fell in love with the people. Last weekend, a cozy little corner of Culver City became a magical place, inhabited by some of the most genuine, interesting and kind people I’ve met in a long time. And for so many of them to be in the same place at the same time, and not diluted within the structure of a larger event, well… I’ve never seen anything like it. I would start naming names and thanking all the wonderful people we connected with (and I believe, befriended) over the course of the weekend, but the list would go on and on and on…

I’m somehow reminded of the words of Hunter S. Thompson:

San Francisco in the middle sixties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something. Maybe not… but no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time and the world. Whatever it meant… You could strike sparks anywhere… we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave.

The energy of last weekend truly struck me. It wasn’t about “the lack of X, Y and Z in the mainstream industry”; it was simply a group of like-minded, fun, and creative people — gathered together to share their experiences, their ideas, their love of games and what they can be.

For those who weren’t there, the event will appear on a number of gaming sites and blogs, creating a small ripple in the ocean of (indie) gaming news. But for those who were there, IndieCade was a grand and inspiring experience; and for a time, Culver City became an indie celebration and a joyous, intimate community.

And oh yes, allow me to share the icing on this fantastic cake: Osmos won the IndieCade “Best in Show” as well as the “Fun / Compelling” awards, for which we’re honoured and super grateful! Wow. It’s really been an amazing year for us. Big congrats to all the award winners and finalists. Lots of great games in there…

To Sam, Stephanie, Celia, Robert, Robin, and everyone else who generously gave their time to organize this wonderful event: thank you so much! And to everyone else, (at the latest,) see you next year!

– Eddy

ps. for more of our IndieCade photos, visit our facebook album.