Visiting the Indie Game Revolution @ MoPOP Seattle

Games made by small teams of dedicated creators and born of non-traditional production ventures have won hearts and minds all over the place in the gaming community, but it’s safe to say that not everyone that passes time with play is aware of the second thriving ecosystem growing alongside the wonderful AAA games currently at the forefront of popular culture.

As someone who works in the industry, I know first hand the blood, sweat, and tears that go into bringing such a personal thing to life. As someone who works directly with independent studios, I know how much more blood, sweat, and tears can be spilled when you’re doing it all indie-style.

That’s why I was so excited to check out the Indie Game Revolution exhibit at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture. An exhibit dedicated to the beautiful gems that are independent games, the players that appreciate them and the talented folks that make them.

(via Alicia Alexandra)

(via Alicia Alexandra)

(via Alicia Alexandra)

The exhibit is a great balance of interactive and educational, with hands-on gaming setups, informative graphics about the history of indie and the creative process and audio/video stations featuring developers, artists, composers, and critics from the industry, each describing their unique experiences with games.

The games that were featured during our visit covered a broad portion of the spectrum in terms of genre, platform, and, judging by the number of people stopping to play, target audiences.

Families played Overcooked on a large projected screen and groups of teens and kids gathered around Push Me Pull You while other visitors took a moment to experience the quiet of Old Man’s Journey. That, in my opinion, was the best part: seeing just how many people were in the exhibit enjoying the available games.

Personally, I walked away from the exhibit wanting to go home and download The World Next Door from Rose City Games and Hidden Folks by Adriaan de Jongh and Sylvain Tegroeg, games that I had heard of before but got to experience and appreciate for myself because of the exhibit.

The Indie Game Revolution exhibit is a great stop for gamers in the know, casual players and non-gamers alike. You’ll walk away with an understanding of the indie process, an appreciation of indie games or the knowledge of a whole new realm of titles to be explored. 

Tickets for MoPOP are available online for a discounted rate. Access to the Indie Game Revolution exhibit is included with general entry to the museum. 

This post is a part of the “Waypoint Washington” series, a collection of posts about the coolest places and events that geeks and gamers living in or visiting the greater Washington area need to stop at and experience in their travels.