This year I attended the 10th annual IndieCade, thanks to the generosity of my advisor Dr. Bo Ruberg and Stephanie Barish, founder of IndieCade.

IndieCade showcases the work of hundreds of independent game developers every year in order to cultivate innovation and artistry in games, and is the largest and best known games festival for indie games.

Some of my favorites from this year’s IndieCade included:

The giant version of Exploding Kittens. Exploding Kittens got its start at IndieCade and this year was a sponsor.

Sign, a tabletop game from Thorny Games about the experience of creating your own form of communication in order to be understood.

Oblige, a narrative side-scroller game from students at USC about a working class mother in 1979 Hong Kong. It had a really interesting mechanic incorporated into the typing that altered the experience in a way that really underscored the message in the game.

Anamorphine, a surreal first-person exploration game that visualizes feelings.

Somewhere in the South, a survival horror experience which takes place on the Underground Railroad.

And of course, Magia Transformo, which was made here at UCI by members of the Transformative Play Lab. MT is a physical game about witches that utilizes movement and digital augmentations in costumes to create the experience of doing magic.

IndieCade is a fun and fulfilling experience for any person with an interest in independent games. It also a venue for scholars and developers to discuss issues related to independent game making, and so IndieCade includes a number of interesting and informative panels.