Pinnit4

Yes, hahaha... YES!


hi there again!

I'm a gamedev at Brainwash Gang,

making Friends vs Friends and other
nice stuff.

Way too tired to be active anywhere

Maybe not so tired after all, huh

https://pinnit4.itch.io
https://pinnit4.bandcamp.com

the coolest duck in history


PIZZAPRANKS
@PIZZAPRANKS

Maybe back on?

Never mind, this was in fact a bad idea. Leaving up so I can't run from my bad ideas.

I am working to organize the first (annual?) Pizza Pranks Video Game Fair! It will be a month-long event showcasing a storefront of new, short games. Basically, I was deeply inspired by the ShortBox Comics Fair and wondered if it would be possible for me to do that with games.

The goal is the create an event not around game previews, but around fully released (likely shorter and more experimental) games. Basically furthering the exploration of zine and other short-form style art in games that I've been doing with Indiepocalypse. I love the feeling of going to my local indie comic show and picking up a bunch of cool new (or new to me) art! My hope is that one day completed games will be more the norm at fests/expos/events and that this fair will help encourage that!

My hope with the Fair is to also reach 25 exhibitors but that is also a lofty goal that I may not reach! Submissions will still be curated though and not all submissions will be accepted even it means coming under the 25 exhibitor goal

The main details are

  • Will run through the month of November 2023 (tentative)
  • Exhibitors keep full rights of their games
  • Games must be exclusive to the Fair during November, after that you can you do whatever you want with them
  • Games must be newly released
  • Exhibitors receive all of the sales of their game, after processing fees
  • There is no theme for the Fair
  • $20 exhibition fee after a minimum of $50 in sales. No upfront fee

I honestly don't know if this will 100% happen but I'm optimistic! I feel like I'm well overdue for something just outright failing but it weirdly hasn't happened yet. There are 2 main things that would cause this to fail

  1. I can't get enough exhibitors (possible)
  2. ShortBox doesn't like it (I tried emailing them to make sure and I may be worried about some imagined worst case, because Internet. But also it could happen because Internet and really it is very inspired by their comic fair)

Overall, I (obviously) hope this does happen. I don't know, but like anything else it does no good existing in my head so I want to try it!


PIZZAPRANKS
@PIZZAPRANKS

I've rethought the fees on this to be $20 after a minimum of $50 in sales? I still think I ought to get paid for what will surely be a lot of work and this seems like a way to both avoid an upfront fee or me taking a percentage. This way people are guaranteed to also make more money than they pay and make money even if they only sell a couple copies.

I think this is better enough to give the fair another shot?


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in reply to @PIZZAPRANKS's post:

Asking here for others to see: will there be general content restrictions for submissions? ie. No adult content due to event having attendees under the age of 18, no themes of xyz, etc.

I'm also confused about the field for "link to work": is that just for you to see someone's existing portfolio of games, or is it for the game to be submitted?

Yeah, I Basically meant portfolio and expanded on that question to make it clearer. So far as content of the games, there are no restrictions. If someone wants to make something 18+ then I suppose I can figure out making an age gate?

This sounds super rad, and I am 100% with you on wanting to see more complete/released games at game festivals, etc. Quick question about submissions: Are you expecting a pitch for the game we would make now? Or are you accepting people based on their current portfolio of work?

in reply to @PIZZAPRANKS's post:

I'm glad you're considering this again! It seems very fair, but I want to insist on setting up something so you don't have to take the upfront cost of the operation. It's cool that you've found a way to let devs make some money, but I still think you should also be paid. Maybe a ko-fi or a gofundme a few months before you start building the system? I know several people (myself included) who would love to chip in to make this happen and not have you go broke.

hi, i saw some of the talk on twitter about this the other day but am just seeing this amendment. i was tentatively interested when i saw it because i had already been considering putting together a game with the express purpose of trying to submit to indiepocalypse. so this sounds like a way to do that and maybe get a bit more fanfare/eyes as well.

i dont think the criticism is necessarily about whether or not organizers need to be paid (they do!) but i think introducing a fee adds a risk for a developer that is kind of hard to account around, esp. considering they are also signing up to work for XYZ amount of time over the next year actually constructing the game. obviously you are also assuming a lot of risk and work too, but its viewed from the outside as pretty different because there at least is a minimum that goes towards the organizers. i know retaining the rights to the project lessens the risk, since you can still later on try to market your game elsewhere. but that kind of assumes the developers were going to make the game even in absence of the festival which might not be the case.

paying the fee up front is probably not the best because out of 100 developers, its almost guaranteed things will come up and a few might not be able to participate in the end. not that it would be impossible to refund someone if that's the case, but it does add some complexity to running the event. im sure a few people saw that and thought "for $20 am i even sure i'll be able to finish something satisfactory for this?".

so i think this choice is in a better direction than before, but i wonder what the goal is with assigning a flat amount? its hard to tell from this far out how successful something like this will be. it has the potential to bring a lot more eyes than the average indiepocalypse, if all the devs are directing their audiences to the same point. but a year from now if social media implodes indies might not have an audience to influence anymore. because the efficacy is really up in the air it just seems like the fee should be proportional to how well the event goes overall.

indiepocalypse is pretty cool because it gives an opportunity for types of games that otherwise can't charge any money a chance - and developers don't really assume any risk for submitting. and while this festival is really novel, and having devs make new/unique projects for it is key to how it works - it changes the mindset to "i have to spend some time in the next year (with a deadline) working on this and i need to make sure its at least THIS successful after" which imparts some stress that indiepocalypse doesn't have. its sort of shifting the dynamic from indies collectivizing to support each other (which is a good element of the idea!) to now also include a more publisher-like figure, which complicates the relationships.

im not sure i have a very salient point to make, sorry.. but i think this event could be something pretty neat, if the process for the devs feels more seamless/casual, like indiepocalypse. i hope any of this was helpful