2025-02-09
In January 2025, I showed a game in the MAGFest Indie Arcade for the second time. It was Guess Hue, which a team of 4 of us made for Global Game Jam 2024. It's a short, silly game that I didn't have a ton of energy for polishing, so I'm really grateful they accepted it, and that I was able to go. For the second time in a row, MAGFest was a fantastic experience, showing in the arcade was a fantastic experience, and I'm already hella inspired to start another alt-control project.
What went well?
People played it! Every time I walked by the indie arcade someone was sitting at the game. I saw quite a few players that looked a lot like "moms there only to chaperone their kids," and I hope I'm right about that. Because if I managed to put something in the arcade for people who didn't even really want to be there, that's a huge win.
You could hear the music! I forget who recommended the Wonderboom speaker to me, but that thing is L O U D. I didn't have the volume anywhere near maxed and you could hear it over the rest of the arcade.
Nobody stole anything! It would have been super easy to walk away with the speaker, for example. Or, heck, the miniPC running the game, it was unsecured on the table. Fortunately everyone continues to be cool.
People took all the cards and stickers! Did it result in a single new follower? Eh, maybe a couple. I still consider it a win.
On the pre-fest side, I feel like my internal wiring job was a lot more competent than last year's. I don't really know much about electronics, and it seems like all the electronics tutorials out there show you how to build with breadboards and then never explain how to convert that into something you can fly across the country with and leave on a table for 25,000 nerds to slap at for a week. So I may be reinventing some wheels, but hey, I'm learning!
And finally, the Indie Arcade staff is just really great to work with. It's SO NICE to be able to set your stuff up and then just walk away and attend the con.
What could have gone better?
My backup controller got pretty busted up in my luggage this time. I'll definitely pack with more care next time.
And my main controller got slightly broken sometime in the middle of the show. This is hardly unusual for arcade games, and fortunately I was able to fix it with gaff tape, but still, not ideal.
Flying with a monitor in your checked bags is super annoying. But the alternatives are all also annoying, so, I dunno. Maybe next year I'll take the train across the country.
Also, I have not updated the build on itch.io with all the final art and polish. I really need to do that before I forget about it forever.
Things I want to do differently for my next alt-control game:
If there are settings, they should revert to default on reset. This doesn't make sense in a home context, but in an unmonitored arcade context, it's super helpful--people don't know what the defaults even are, nor do they probably think to check!
Instead of making separate enclosures for each button and then gluing them together, I'd add little holes in the interior sides of the boxes and attach them with nuts and bolts.
I'd add hidden counters to the game to keep track of how many people started, abandoned, lost, and won the game, and if they lost or abandoned, how far they got.
Quick reset button. I even HAVE a giant reset button already made. I just didn't have the energy to add it to the code before the show this time.
Attract mode! So underrated and so fun to make.
And, super stretch goal: building some sort of actual cabinet, so that all the parts aren't just sitting naked on the tabletop.