IndieCade


IndieCade or Indiecade is an international juried festival of independent games. IndieCade is known as "the video game industry's Sundance." At IndieCade, independent video game developers are selected to screen and promote their work at the annual IndieCade festival and showcase events. In 2009, IndieCade launched a conference track featuring classes, panels, workshops, and keynotes. The conference has since become a major attraction for indie developers and others in the industry.

Background

IndieCade was formed by Creative Media Collaborative, an alliance of industry producers and leaders founded in 2005. IndieCade's board of advisors includes Seamus Blackley, Tracy Fullerton, Megan Gaiser, Andy Gavin, Carl Goodman, John Hight, Robin Hunicke, Henry Jenkins, Richard Lemarchand, Frans Mayra, Jamil Moledina, Janet Murray, Robert Nashak, Carolyn Rauch, Kellee Santiago, Keita Takahashi, Will Wright, and Eric Zimmerman. IndieCade founder is Stephanie Barish, Festival Chair is Celia Pearce, and Festival Director is Sam Roberts.
The festival started as part of E3 before being spun off as an independent event in Bellevue, Washington. In 2009 the festival moved to Culver City, where a Twitter game and an "urban" scavenger hunt were part of the festivities.
The Indiecade festival is the only stand-alone festival for independent games in the United States, and open to the public. Games are submitted for consideration to the IndieCade festival jury in the early spring and a selection of finalists for the culminating annual IndieCade festival is determined and announced by the fall. Additional games from the pool of IndieCade submissions are showcased at a variety of events each year around the world. 2009 IndieCade showcase events included E3, the Ottawa International Animation Festival partnered with the IndieCade organization "that focuses on independent games and works to cultivate innovation and artistry in interactive media" in 2009, and an independent video gaming festival has been held in the United Kingdom in 2007-2009 at Gamecity. In 2016 IndieCade Europe was rebooted and took place in that year and 2017 in Paris, where it will return in 2018.

Location and Dates

In 2009, IndieCade moved its flagship stand-alone festival from Bellevue, Washington to Culver City, California. Each year, IndieCade "invades" downtown Culver City to create a "city-sized arcade". The festival transforms a central blacktop parking lot on Main Street, leveraging the open space by building temporary structures that host parties, individual games, and planned and spontaneous Big Games.
YearDatesMonthLocation
20091– 4OctoberDowntown Culver City
20108 –10OctoberDowntown Culver City
20116 – 9OctoberDowntown Culver City
20125 – 7OctoberDowntown Culver City
20133 – 6OctoberDowntown Culver City
20149 – 12OctoberDowntown Culver City
201522 – 25OctoberDowntown Culver City
201614 – 16OctoberUSC School of Cinematic Arts
20176 – 8OctoberLittle Tokyo at the Japanese American National Museum
201812 – 13OctoberSanta Monica College - Center of Media and Design
201910 – 12OctoberSanta Monica College - Center of Media and Design
202023 – 24OctoberSanta Monica College - Center of Media and Design

Festival events

Game Walk
GameWalk is the heart of the IndieCade festival and consists of approximately 40 finalist games selected for their creativity, unique vision, and technological innovation.
Previously, the games are exhibited in several locations in downtown Culver City: the Fire Station, NextSpace coworking offices, and the Gregg Fleishman Studio, which are turned into temporary galleries for the festival. It is free and open to the public.
Game Slam
The IndieCade GameSlam, in the vein of a poetry slam, invites developers to the stage and provide a brief showcase of their game, including the idea behind its creation and development. This presents an opportunity for developers to share their work via short presentations within a communal creative environment.
Big Games
The Big Games program serves as an extension to IndieCade's mission to promote games of all kinds. Big Games are large, multi-player games played outside and involving physical activity, and range to include technology, tactics, and personal interaction. Big Games are curated by on-site docents, and presents projects such as Ninja, Reality, and Meatspace Invasion. It is free and open to the public.
Night Games
Night Games are an evening event centered on showing and playing multiple games. These games can be single player experiences played on a giant screen in front of an audience ; multiplayer games that use only glowing wands or laser pointers ; or large performance pieces, involving many players. IndieCade promotes the Night Games to feature the beauty and innovation of modern game design which is beyond what the audience currently conceives as a traditional game.

Annual events

The first IndieCade Mobile 3D Game Jam was hosted in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division on August 6–7, 2011. During the two-day event, 12 teams began the process of creating a fully functional 3D mobile game for the LG Thrill 4G. 6 finalists were chosen to go on to the next round of refining their games in order to compete for the LG Mobile 3D Award at the Red Carpet Award Ceremonies.
The first annual IndieCade Holiday Party took place at Riot Games headquarters in Santa Monica on December 14, 2011. The fundraiser featured postcard art sent in by the community, available for sale by silent auction. The art show was curated by Glitch Lab. Notable art contributors were Pendleton Ward, Jason Torchinsky, as well as Amanda Williams and Katherine Rubenstein.

IndieCade awards ceremony

Approximately 40 games each year are selected to exhibit at GameWalk. The finalists are eligible to compete in IndieCade's Red Carpet Awards. Audience Choice and Developer Choice Awards are announced separately during the festival's Closing Party.
Awards categories include: