Earlier this month, we showed a prototype of You and the Garden at the Dare ProtoPlay festival in Dundee, Scotland. The festival is one of the largest indie games festivals in the UK, exhibiting to around twelve thousand attendees over the course of four days. We were one of sixteen finalist teams invited to show as part of the Dare to be Digital student game development competition, and we had the privilege of interacting with industry judges and the people of a city which has fully embraced the digital games industry into its cultural fabric. |
We had a booth running two demo stations for You and the Garden, where we spent nearly the full time of the festival speaking with attendees about the game and watching them explore the prototype. After several months of burying our heads in development, it was a so exciting to speak with the people that we want to share the game with. Many of our conversations centered around the way people use artificial intelligence and imagining alternatives to the common representations that are salient in the media. Many people found You and the Garden to be a peaceful reprieve from the frenetic energy that pervaded the festival, and it was a pleasure both to be able to provide that small sanctuary and to see that it was something that people desired. |
One of the things that surprised us most about Dare ProtoPlay was the way in which it was so strongly connected with the city of Dundee. The festival took place in Dundee's city hall and central plaza, a shared, public space full of shoppers, children, and ambling pedestrians. Whole families would come to the event together, creating a festival atmosphere very different from what one imagines when thinking of other independent-games festivals. It really shouldn't have been a surprise though, as the city of Dundee has a long history with games, and they constitute a large part of the city's industry. This is the place where Grand Theft Auto was born and Lemmings entered the market to great success. A variety of great companies currently populate the city. It is also home to Abertay University, a key organizer in both the festival and the Dare to be Digital competition. All together, there is an understanding that games are a key part of the city's economy, and they receive a love and respect from people that I have not seen elsewhere. I could not think of a better place to show independent games than Dundee.
The festival has energized us for future work on You and the Garden. The great conversations and feedback we received on core systems have informed the trajectory we are taking for the next big push on the game. One thing we're particularly excited for is the data we collected from playtesters during the game. A whole stack of play traces from the two demo machines is sitting on the desktop as I write this post, and I'm ready to dive into it.
Any reflection on the festival would be woefully incomplete without a discussion of the other great teams that were present. You can read all about the great relationships that were formed over the course of the competition in Part 2.