This past weekend, Carla and I represented UMass Boston at the Boston Festival of Indie Games at MIT. We were able to show off our VR Survival Game that was the basis of our independent study last semester. Our game demo allowed players to explore a virtual island setting and complete certain objectives that reflected real-life needs with the use of the Oculus Rift technology. We had a fair amount of people of all ages come to our booth and try out the various minigames that we had made, with the “starting a fire” minigame being the most popular. Overall, we received positive feedback on our demo and were able to chat with aspiring game developers, artists and students from elementary school to college.
The festival itself showcased both tabletop and digital games with a large amount of attendees. A good amount of those that had won their spot at the showcase had previously worked in well-known game companies and were presenting games that looked very professional. It was an honor for us to share the same space as them despite our differing levels of experience. The games were developed across many different systems and involving several different technologies, including the HTC Vive (which was a popular one). This was our first time attending the festival though we had gone to larger videogame conventions (such as PAX East before) and we had an enjoyable time getting to talk to people who share the interests and see how independent developers are innovating and creating interesting experiences.