MAGFest Recap
Braden Kovalovich · February 27, 2024
Hi Timeworkers! While getting work done on our final zone last month, we had the privilege to attend MAGfest 2024! It was a whirlwind of meeting amazing people, showing attendees our game, and enjoying so many other awesome indie demos courtesy of our talented peers on the MIVS floor. We also published our demo to Steam, got over 150 wishlists, and made a lot of new fans! Here’s a taste of what our experience at MAGfest was like.
We rolled into town Wednesday night, sleepy and groggy from the ride. We spent the night getting organized for the first day, checking out the list of events for the weekend, and anxiously waiting for the con to start. We were so thankful that our very own Colin Page’s parents were gracious enough to host our entire team for the weekend! Since we’re all still undergraduates, we tried to be as frugal as we could all weekend and Mr. and Mrs. Page were invaluable in our success! They even packed us sandwiches every morning which makes all the difference after nine hours on your feet.
Part of the prep was ensuring that we could be all set up by noon the next day, which was easier said than done. We decided to not use the provided loading docks to save time; so many trips had to be made through the icy parking lot to lug our stuff inside. Our goals for the booth would be that four attendees could play Timeworks while three Starworkers could stand by. To draw attention, we also brought a large banner of our logo and a cutout of our furry blue friend. We also wanted to have a mini fridge with water and snacks for our team, as well as some merch (stickers and posters) to sell to enthusiastic guests. All of that movement and activity would be contained in a 10 x 10 foot area for four whole days. Luckily, we pulled together and managed to set everything up well on the first day, and the rest of the weekend followed without any hitches.
Each setup was a laptop connected to its appropriate equipment (monitor, headphones, keyboard, mouse) and tucked away under the table. Additionally, MAGfest keeps the showroom open 24 hours, so we aimed to have two PCs on all night while being securely fastened inside heavy tupperware containers so they wouldn’t be stolen. We also locked each laptop down software side so no sensitive information could be extracted from our machines. We prepared for the weekend like a potluck; in the preceding weeks, we all volunteered the equipment we could, making sure all our bases were covered. We even brought a flatscreen TV, so that the setup facing outward would draw people’s attention to us. We were quite happy with our setup for being on a minimal college student budget, and would recommend any other indie studio on a budget look for small cost-effective solutions like these.
The success of our booth was evident as soon as guests started to walk in; we were immediately swarmed with attention! We have always strived to make Timeworks as unique as possible, which served us well in an event with over 60 indie studios all competing for attention. Our booths were constantly filled with people playing, and our Starworkers were always busy talking or chatting with attendees. It was refreshing for us to be surrounded by like-minded people who understood the appeal of our game quickly, and we made some amazing connections with streamers, developers, and gamers from all over the world!
In particular, we want to shout out some truly amazing teams that went on this journey with us. First is the Glass Jury guys with their deity dental game Deep Mess! Their booth was just to the left of us and constantly had us distracted by how fun their strategic 4x game was. Shout out to Zach, Phil, and Jon for being awesome guys with an equally awesome game, and make sure to check out their site!
To our left we had amazing talent; it only followed that to our right was a game that constantly had attendees' jaws on the floor. The team at Exit73 was showcasing their amazingly detailed and polished game #BLUD, with an art style that was turning heads all weekend. Having done the convention gig before, they also had plenty of experience and advice to graciously offer us throughout the weekend. Their story from doing prominently animation projects to shifting to a labor of game project connected with us, and we wish them all the best on #BLUD’s release! Check out their site, and shout out to Chris, Greg, Bob, and Cody!
We could spend this whole post shouting out rad people we met, so here are just a few we haven’t mentioned. We’re huge fans of the lads at HF Studios and their game Let Him Cook, with everyone on our team lining up to play a few rounds of roguelike goodness. Shout out to Manny, John, Zack and Eric for enjoying our game as much as we enjoyed yours!
Since we had a lot of hands and a small booth, we all had plenty of time to roam the convention and have a good time. There was no shortage of classic arcade and console games, but we found the indie arcade machines to be the most fun. Specifically, we spent a lot of time at the Killer Queen cabinet, a hectic 4v4 coop game. There was a lot of excited yelling and teamwork involved, and we met a lot of cool people there by the end of the weekend.
There was also a deluge of unique arcade games that required special hardware; one of our favorites was Scrapeboard, a rhythm game involving a real skateboard on a pressure plate. (Check it out here!) Truly the showfloor was for the people who get it; designers and creatives all focused on bringing new experiences in the way only games can. We also roamed the surrounding area for food and atmosphere and learned that our own Quinn Wiliams is secretly a cattle rustling cowboy.
We also had the opportunity to attend some of the panels being held during the weekend, which was a great way to hear from some industry pros and got us thinking about the future. One that stuck with us was the panel given by Bruce Nesmith, author and lead designer on Skyrim. This behind-the-scenes look at one of the most prolific and influential games of all time was the kind of experience you can only get at an event like this, and we left with a lot of valuable industry insight. A few of our team members also attended the Blender Panel held by Greg Lord, the assistant Director of Design & Program Manager at Northeastern University amongst other achievements. Not only did we learn a bit more about a program that not all of us were familiar with, but he gave us an in-depth explanation of why open-source software is so valuable. A huge thanks to both of these industry pros for their wisdom and time!
As midnight rolled around and the show floor crowds thinned, we made our way upstairs to enjoy some of the nightlife the convention offered. On Saturday, we attended the Siivagunner Rave, and spent some time jamming to some high quality rips. We also rolled up at the live clubbing night on Saturday, and got to dancing and drinking to some choice nerdy music. It was a nice cooldown after an fufilling but tiring weekend.
We came home Sunday night and spent the succeeding days resting and recovering from the weekend, but couldn’t believe how much we gained from the experience. We believe strongly in the power of community within the game industry, and we feel a lot stronger as a team after meeting so many amazing people on the showfloor. We also were filled with motivation to power through this last month of development, now that so many people are anticipating our release in March. We would recommend every indie team looking for growth to attend MAGfest and other conventions like it, and we can’t wait to return next year for another unforgettable weekend!
We'll leave you with a link to our video recap on Youtube, as well as a photo reel of some of our favorite moments:
