Constraint as Creative Catalyst

Anyone who has participated in a Game Jam can tell you how the ticking clock affects the choices you make. Knowing that time and resources are limited, a game developer has to make hard choices if they want to finish something before the jam ends. The same principle is brought to bear by the theme. Many developers view the theme as a tool for preventing jammers from getting an early start and therefore an unfair advantage, but its real value is that it provides a focal point for inspiration. Ian Dallas is the creative director at Santa Monica based independent game studio Giant Sparrow. They recently released their second game, What Remains of Edith Finch, which led to him taking part in a series of promotions for the new game. Of note was his “Ask me Anything” session on Reddit in which he talked about how the constraints of time » read more

BGSJam 11 Recap

This past weekend a crowd of creative folks got together and made 9 games in 48 hours at Buffalo Game space. BGS Jam 11, the eleventh local only Buffalo based game jam was attended by veteran and aspiring game developers with the challenge of making a game fit the secret theme chosen by the community by Sunday night. Always an amazing learning experience whether you've never made a game before or if it's your 100th project, BGSJam 11 created some new and interesting ideas while minting some new game developers in the process. The theme selected by community vote was "KAIJU". A surprise as always. If you didn't know what a Kaiju is, think Godzilla, Mothra, Ultraman etc. For a little more to go on than just that, Buffalo Game Space also accepted community submitted suggestions for diversifiers which were then selected down to 11. They are: UPC-A O.K. » read more

How to BGSjam Like a Pro

If you've never participated in a game jam before, it can be a bit daunting. We at BGS wanted to try to make it a little easier for beginners (and pros!), so we put together this handy introductory doc to jamming at a BGSjam. Read along here, or grab the latest version via Google Docs. Advice for BGSJammers 1) Don’t Be a Hero - Use a Game Engine! It is called a game jam for a reason. If you want to build your own game engine – go ahead, just make sure you have finished it before the BGSJam starts, so you can spend those precious 48 hours making a playable game. Don’t waste your programming kung fu on writing a game engine during the jam, use it to make a game! (Unless you are making a networked multiplayer game in Visual Basic on a dare. Even then reconsider. » read more

Make something awesome at BGSjam 11!

The ELEVENTH official game jam of Buffalo Game Space | May 18th - 20th Register now at itch.io! RSVP: Facebook | Meetup Buffalo Game Space is proud to be hosting their ELEVENTH official local game jam from May 18th to the 20th! Join newcomers and industry pros alike as we all work to create games over the course of the weekend, all based on one unifying theme (to be announced at the start of the event on Friday). So if you're a programmer, an artist, a musician, a designer, or just someone who wants to get a crash course in making games, come to BGSjam 11 and create something amazing with us! BGSjam 11 is free to attend, but we strongly recommend attendees bring $20 each in order to pay for the meals we'll provide during the jam (Dinner Friday, Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner Saturday, Brunch/Dinner Sunday) Never jammed before? Check » read more

Announcing BGX 2018

Tickets available now at BigCartel! Buffalo Game Space is proud to announce Buffalo Game Expo (BGX) 2018, our third official showcase of locally made games, will be happening on June 9th! Come to BGS to meet and play games made by members of our incredible community of designers, programmers, artists, and musicians. We'll have more details on what games are going to be there soon, so stay tuned to learn more about the games and makers we'll be featuring! Submissions for BGX have closed, but tickets are still available! Hit the link above, below, or right here to grab yours today! Each ticket gets you in the door and provides you with two free drink tickets and two free raffle tickets! Do you have a project you want to show at BGX? Awesome! We're accepting game submissions until May 26th - all you have to do is fill out our » read more

Official BGS Hoodies Available Now!

Order now: Unisex Special Blend | Heavyweight Rock the Buffalo Game Space brand in style with a new BGS hoodie! They're available in a two styles, each in a variety of colors. We're taking orders for a limited time right now, so act fast and place your orders today! How do I order my size? When checking out, be sure to indicate which size you want your hoodie in. If you're ordering more than one, just let us know which size you want with each color. For example, if you want a Black hoodie in Medium and a Royal XL, just write "Black - Med, Royal - XL" in the "Notes" section. When will I get my hoodie? As soon as we finish taking orders we'll be sending off the list for print. Since they're all being made to order, it might be a couple weeks. We'll be sure to let » read more

Game Dev Meeting Recap 3/1/18

Couldn't make it to last night's Game Dev Meeting? Check the recap here to see (most of) what you missed! Phil Lowery brought the latest update to his in-development RPG to last night's meetup. His latest feature? A built-in level editor, complete with tile brushes for environments, enemies, and, of course, treasure. To show what can be accomplished in just a month, Doug May and Greg Giles showed off Nepal, their entry into February's One Game A Month challenge. This 3D bullet hell shooter features impressive visual effects, lightning fast gameplay and an excellent soundtrack by local musician and BGS regular Chuck Leone. TJ 'Kyatt7' Cordes briefly took the stage to let everyone know that Go Morse Go! Arcade Edition is now available for purchase on both Steam and itch.io. Get it before Monday to save 10%! Mark Miller brought a number of cards with him to show for » read more

The BGS Spring 2018 Workshop Series

Buffalo Game Space is excited to announce the Spring 2018 Workshop Series, a collection of introductory and intermediate workshops on various aspects of game development. Get a crash course in the Unity game engine, learn to use the powerful open source 3D modeling and animation program Blender, create 3D levels for your games, and more. Tickets and Season Passes are on sale now at buffalogamespace.bigcartel.com - get yours today! Workshops Intro to Unity - March 7th and 14th Part 1 of this two part session will cover the essentials of working with the Unity game engine, a powerful and free toolset used by millions of game creators around the world. Attendees will gain the knowledge needed to begin working with Unity and it's 3D engine features. Part 2 will provide attendees with an introduction to the advanced physics system included in the engine, 2D game elements and animation » read more