August Meetup

Dyebreaker

Dyebreaker is a two-button “air hockey platformer” with visuals inspired by screen print posters and the Game Boy Color. Two teams jump around a dynamic stage and push the puck towards opposing goals, either by boosting into it or by “riding” it – players can hop onto slow-moving pucks, move them, then shoot them in any direction.

Each stage is a mish-mash of hazards: spinning fans, gates that open and close, booster pads, moving walls, and more. Scoring enough goals wins the stage, and winning a stage adds a layer of color to the winner’s screen print. Each match consists of a handful of stages pulled from a large pool, lasting until one team has won enough stages to complete their poster art!

Dyebreaker is a work-in-progress and this prototype focuses on gameplay. The final game will feature many playable teams, each with their own unique characters and poster art.

Dyebreaker is designed and developed by Walt Mitchell, who also draws some of the pixel art. Walt is a webdev-turned-gamedev who made a handful of arcade games and now works in the games industry professionally, mostly on game UI. Walt is assisted by his childhood friend, Ramsey Haefner, an L.A.-based animator and illustrator who has been developing Dyebreaker's color palettes, UI design, and pixel art.

Developers: Walt Mitchell & Ramsey Haefner

@CoffeeSandwhich

@samseyramwich

Warline

Warline is a fantasy strategy and tactics board game in which you design a unique strategy interactively, then design complex custom combos with your units on the battlefield. The game is set against an "elegant dark fantasy" backdrop; you take on the role of one of Soroyland's four warring kingdoms, each populated by new, non-standard fantasy races. Three unique game modes offer flexible player counts (1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-players) and invite you into the history of Warline's world.

Warline has been likened to, "Final Fantasy Tactics if you could design your own tactical actions with each turn."

Justin Leingang is a veteran game director, designer, and developer—professional and hobbyist. He has directed and/or designed many commercial games for various platforms throughout his 25 year career, but has also independently created a number of indie video games (Glum Buster, Puppy Stew, Cow Trouble, and more).

Developer: El Jay Play

@eljayplay

Venba

Venba is a narrative cooking game, where you play as an Indian immigrant mom, who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s. Players will cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversations and explore in this story about family, love, loss and more.

Visai Games is a small studio based in Toronto that's focused on telling intimate stories through interesting mechanics.

Developer: Visai Games

@venbaGame

Welcome to Polly’s Place

Welcome to Polly's Place is an interactive fiction meant to bring about the nostalgia of early 2000's internet culture. From taking care of digital pets to getting harassed on fan forums this time period was unique in the strangest way. We were just figuring out that the internet could be used to connect more people than ever before. These connections are the focus of this project. The friendships that weren't possible before the fear of the millennium bug. The people we talked to daily on game sites that have now become inactive. People who are just as real to us as we are to them. Even if you can't speak to someone face to face, your connection to them is still worthwhile. Polly's Place aims to blur the line between an "internet friend" and a "real friend" if not erase it completely.

Michelle Foto is a freelance illustrator who was born in Mandeville, Louisiana to a Filipino immigrant and an Italian from New Orleans. They recently completed their BA in New Media & Animation from Southeastern University. Michelle is someone who considers themself to be an artist before anything else.

Artist: Michelle Foto

@staribon