**** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****
MIT Game Lab and Boston Indies Announce 2nd Annual
Boston Festival of Indie Games
Thousands Expected to Attend September 14, 2013 on MIT Campus
January 15, 2013 ---Cambridge, MA— The Boston Festival of Indie Games, presented by MIT Game Lab and Boston
Indies, announced today that the 2nd annual Boston Festival of Indie Games will be held on Saturday, September 14, 2013 at
various locations on the MIT campus.
A celebration of independent game development in a variety of media and genres, Boston Festival of Indie Games is
free and open to the public. More fest details, such as the opening of attendee registration and game submissions, will be
announced in late February 2013. To stay informed on fest progress, sign up for updates on www.BostonFIG.com.
Boston Festival of Indie Games provides independent game developers with the opportunity to show off their games,
get feedback from the public and win great prizes in the BFIG Digital Games Showcase. Festival attendees play video
games, tabletop games and live action roleplaying (LARP) games in a casual, inclusive environment, plus attend film
screenings and talks. Attendees can also become game developers themselves by participating in digital game jams,
creating their own board and card games, and attending screenings and lectures about the process of making games.
Highlights from the 2012 Boston Festival of Indie Games included:
Over 2,000 attendees walked the halls of MIT playing nearly 50 digital and board games, including the five
showcase winners…That's So Indie by Chris Hanna (Best Game Design), Prime's Quest by Prime's Quest
(Best Technical Quality), Negative Nimbus by CloudKid (Best Visual Art), Jack Lumber by Owlchemy Labs
(Best Audio Design), and Resonance by Wadjet Eye Games (Best Narrative), along with fest favorites
Fieldrunners 2 from Subatomic Studios, and Girls Like Robots from PopCannibal.
The Adobe Game Jam featured seven development teams, given the theme of “independence,” and set
loose to create complete games by the end of the day, which were later demonstrated to festival crowds.
Guest curators for the Games Showcase included Tim Stellmach and Geoff Pitsch from Harmonix, Eitan
Glinert from Fire Hose Games, Jason McIntosh with Gameshelf and Philip Tan of MIT Game Lab.
Full-house film screenings included Indie Game: The Movie, Get Lamp, Going Cardboard and Darkon.
Featured keynote speakers included Jason Scott, filmmaker of Get Lamp, and Leigh Alexander, Kotaku
columnist and established games industry journalist, plus Peter Molyneux dropped in as a surprise guest.
Featured Boston Festival of Indie Games partners and supporters that made the 2012 event possible
included Adobe, Unity, Dell-Alienware, Wacom, Tapjoy, Stomp Games, Yelp!, DIGBoston, MassDiGI, The
Tap Lab, and Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton.
“The MIT Game Lab is the perfect partner for an event like Boston Festival of Indie Games, with both organizations’
shared dedication to game development and the New England games community” said Rik Eberhardt, studio manager at MIT
Game Lab and Boston Festival of Indie Games co-producer. “All of us at the MIT Game Lab are pumped to continue to be
the location and promotional partner for Boston Festival of Indie Games in 2013 and beyond.”
- more -
Page Two
Boston Festival of Indie Games Announces 2013 Date
"As a sponsor, speaker and attendee of the 2012 Boston Festival of Indie Games, I was impressed with the quality of
the programming and showcase games, as well as the overall attendance - there was an unforgettable energy at MIT last
year," said Michelle Yaiser, gaming content and community manager for Adobe. "We are excited about the updates to come
to BFIG in 2013 and look forward to staying involved with the fest and the ever-vibrant Boston Indie community."
“We are very much looking forward to bringing the same level of quality programming, games and sponsors to our
2013 event,” said Caroline Murphy, community manager for Boston Indies and Boston Festival of Games co-producer.
“Adding to the stellar line-up of activities that took place in 2012, we are planning to make a number of improvements in 2013
including a bigger space to accommodate for thousands of fans and attendees, music performances, panels and more!”
About the Boston Festival of Indie Games:
www.bostonfig.com.
The Boston Festival of Indie Games is a celebration of independent game development with emphasis on the New
England and neighboring regions. The Boston Festival of Indie Games seeks to support and showcase the efforts of
independent game developers by providing a free public event that encourages attendees to share and interact with games
in various media, including video games, location-based games and tabletop games. Produced under the non-profit
auspices of BeEpic, a Boston location-based games production group, the Boston Festival of Indie Games is focused on
creating an intersection between community, academic and independent interests in game play.
About MIT Game Lab:
http://gambit.mit.edu/
The MIT Game Lab brings together scholars, creators and technologies to teach, conduct research and develop new
approaches to applied game design and construction. Ranked by the Princeton review as the #2 Game Design Program in
North America, the MIT Game Lab maintains MIT’s roles as leader in the study, design and development of games. The MIT
Game Lab’s goal is to explore, educate and engage the public by creating groundbreaking games, interactive online courses
and new applications to real world challenges.
About Boston Indies:
www.bostonindies.com
Boston Indies is a community of dedicated independent game developers in Massachusetts and the surrounding
area. Boston Indies works to foster a sense of community among Boston’s independent game developers, facilitate monthly
meet-ups and other related community events, encourage developers to create games independent of large budgets and
large company ties, provide a safe environment to obtain critical feedback on game development works in progress and
serve as a brain trust for important information sharing among local independent developers.
To schedule an interview or for more festival info, please contact Elicia Basoli or Caleb Garner, Boston Festival of
Indie Games publicists, at press@bostonfig.com; or contact Andrew Whitacre, Communications Director at the MIT Game
Lab, at awhit@mit.edu or (617) 324-0490. More info is also available at www.bostonfig.com.
####
0
