Why I gave Indie Game: The Movie a shot

I first heard of Indie Game: The Movie at SXSW last year, around the same time I started immersing myself in all things game industry. I wasn't able to see it then, but I was excited about it. It recently became available on Netflix Instant, which ironically I learned through a tweet by someone announcing that they would be ignoring said movie.

I replied to ask why the hate on Indie Game, and in the subsequent exchange was presented with the following idea. This was a few weeks ago so I hope I'm representing it faithfully:

- Mainstream video game culture and the video game industry is drenched in Straight White Dudes ("SWDs").
- Indie Game's main subjects appear to be stereotypical SWDs.
- Non-SWDs need role models in video game development & publishing to achieve parity.

I don't disagree on any particular point, but my perspective is a little different and I probably did a poor job expressing it in tweets. So here's where I'm coming from. Keep in mind I haven't actually seen the film yet so for all I know it's a total piece of shit. So this isn't a review of the movie itself, but rather why I'm happy that it was made at all.

Focus
The topic of the movie is simply indie game publishing. I don't think the identity of the person making the game detracts from that topic. A movie about a gay Asian female game designer could be AWESOME, but that's not what this movie happens to be about and that's OK. In fact, sometimes when the scope of a documentary is too wide, the end product seems unfocused, because there isn't enough time to fully explore every facet of a situation.

Availability
To my knowledge, there currently aren't any other widely available documentaries about indie video game development. As someone with aspirations to make game development a larger part of life, I welcome any opportunity to learn something from the experience of one who's already doing it. If it were a movie about the staff of EA games and their latest title, I would be just as interested to see that, too, because it's unknown to me. I'm not going to turn down a learning opportunity just because it's not subculture enough.

Perspective
As I watch Indie Game, I will be fully aware that this is one person's experience, and not necessarily representative of all indie projects everywhere. I have no idea if the film will come across as preachy in some way, or misrepresent the process, but I do know that it will be the story of a particular journey or a particular group of people. It's a documentary, not a peer-reviewed scientific paper. As with any media consumption, the viewer must maintain perspective and decide what lessons to take away.

Participation
Another documentary that I enjoyed earlier this year, MissRepresentation, focuses on the presentation of women in the media, and the effect that presentation has on girls. One of the quotes from the movie and something I've seen repeated is, "You can't be what you can't see." In other words, if a young girl isn't exposed to female role models, she won't be able to imagine herself growing up to do her thing of choice. Frankly I think that's bullshit, and more on that later, but suffice it to say that if every young girl waited for a female role model to come along before she worked toward being a female mathematician, banker, programmer, or business owner, there wouldn't be any. We should be teaching our daughters to find role models wherever they can, not based on gender but based on what people are DOING.

Books about Games for People who Prefer Books to Games

I've always had an interest in game development but categorized it alongside astronaut, musician, and artist as a fantastical but ultimately impractical and silly career choice. (A pretty cynical worldview that I've since changed, but unfortunately for me, that's what college-Niki believed.)

A multitude of random events (roller derby, job dissatisfaction, and a trip to SXSW, to name a few) helped rekindle my interest in game development. A lot of what I've learned via software development & systems design is applicable to game design, but I have some way to go before my skills catch up with my ambitions.

So did what I always do when faced with the unknown: I started reading books--lots of them. And the ones I found more interesting were less about game development as a practice, and more about the role of games in our culture, civilization, and humanity.

Here are the three that made the biggest impression on me:

1. Rise of the Videogame Zinesters by Anna Anthropy

By far the best and most inspiring book I've read lately. The full title is Rise of the Videogame Zinesters: How Freaks, Normals, Amateurs, Artists, Dreamers, Drop-outs, Queers, Housewives, and People Like You Are Taking Back an Art Form. (As of this writing there is exactly one paper copy left in stock on Amazon. If you don't have an eReader, QUICK GO BUY IT.)

I have this book to thank for solidifying in my mind the idea that games are the perfect artistic medium to express complex ideas. Previously any connection that I'd made between art and games had to do with graphics or animation. Those are still important components, but the game as a whole is a piece of art, and can only be fully appreciated by being played. On a personal level, I found sudden harmony between my desire to create and my desire to play.

While I found the greatest value of this book to be in the author's perspective of games and the mainstream game industry, it also includes a primer on game development tools that are freely available for anyone to use. The author's site and links to her own games can be found at auntiepixelante.com.

2. Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal

Where Rise of the Videogame Zinesters helped me to see the connection between art and games, Reality is Broken helped me to see how games can and do have a tangible impact on the real world.

Before Jane McGonigal wrote Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, she spent years studying video games and the affects they have on the people who play them. Much to the relief of parents everywhere, what she found was very positive. Games challenge and engage us in ways that the real world does not, by being really good at helping us achieve a state of "flow" and giving us frequent cause to celebrate success.

The author is game designer herself, and specializes in games that have real and lasting impacts on the world.

3. Gamestorming by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown, and James Macanufo

Unlike the first two books, this one deals a lot more with practicalities. However, the "how" isn't about how to design video games or board games, but how to use the principles of gamification in a business setting. The exercises in Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers and Changemakers can inject some fun into the dry and stressful business of ... well, business.

Reading through the list of games feels similar to reading a list of project management and facilitation tools (RACI chart, Stakeholder Analysis, Mood Board, Value Mapping) because really, that's exactly what they are. But the authors re-frame these tools into a set of rules and procedures that feels less like business and more like play. It's really a business book dressed up as a book about gaming, which is what makes it so brilliant, and perhaps a fine example of Jane McGonigal's assertion that games can make reality better.

Small, frequent rewards are more effective than large, distant ones.

Witness:

Case #1 - In The Office

I used to work for a large, evil financial institution. They kinda knew that positive motivation is more effective than negative, but even when they tried to be positive they didn't get it quite right. "If we do well, we'll get a big end-of-year bonus!" my supervisors would say. This would be in February. As weeks and months went by, every challenge was met with promises of a big year-end bonus.

I stayed there for almost 3 years and did see two of those bonuses, which made me feel great right through around January 9th or so. But in the third year, eventually I became so worn down that I left the high-paying but miserable job that many people probably would have loved to have.

Today I'm an independent consultant, and for the most part, I get to pick and choose who I work for and what I work on. Rewards are instantaneous, because I'm lucky enough to work with clients and vendors that appreciate me. I'll take those small, frequent rewards over the end of year bonuses any day, and they don't even cost any money.

Case #2 - In The Dining Room

How do you get a toddler and a pre-schooler to eat their veggies? You explain to them that the benefits of nutrient-dense foods far outweigh what small pleasure they would get from eating junk food.

Just kidding! Your child doesn't give a shit about nutrition. If you're like most parents, you're bribing them with dessert.

But even that doesn't work every time. When my 3-year-old refused to eat her veggies, I enticed her with promises of ice cream. But after a few bites, her excitement at the prospect of ice cream had waned, just as mine for the end-of-year bonus had many years ago.

She didn't care about the ice cream anymore. She just didn't want to deal with the string beans, and she was going to quit. I had to come through with some small, frequent rewards that wouldn't cost me any sugar.
I grabbed a yellow piece of construction paper from her craft area and cut off a bunch of small rectangular "tickets."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'm making special tickets."

"Can I have one?"

"No, you have to earn it. Eat one string bean & I'll give you a ticket."

Without hesitation, she ate a string bean.

"Very good! Here you go. How many tickets do you think you can earn?"

"LOTS!"

She ate the rest of her veggies with no fuss, bouncing with delight each time she earned a ticket.

At the end of her meal, I counted up her tickets. Low and behold, she had earned just enough tickets to trade them in for a small scoop of ice cream--the same scoop that she couldn't muster up the patience to hold out for earlier in the meal.

Same requirements on her part, same result in the end. Small, frequent rewards will do more than long, distant ones almost every time.

Confessions of a Serial Multi-tasker

Hi.

My name is Niki, and I am a serial multi-tasker.

(Hi, Niki!)

I started multitasking just a little bit, you know, once in a while. I found that it really helped me get more done during the day. For example, I would:

• read the news while making coffee
• sew my daughter's patches on her Tae Kwon Do uniform while participating in a conference call
• clean the house while thinking through some rules changes of new board game

All reasonable enough.

But then things started to get out of control. I started catching up on emails from my smartphone while I was at the playground with my kids. I would switch tabs while writing software documentation to look up the year some movie came out.

Soon my work and my relationships began to suffer. I found it more and more difficult to get into the "zone" needed to write code, or create art, or connect with my kids. I became one of those people who would look at my phone while I was talking to you. (Sorry about that.)

I can't give up multitasking altogether, and I don't think it would be wise to try. The fact is, I am busy, and there are not enough hours in the day. But I think I've found a healthy balance between being productive, getting through BS tasks that just need to get done without drowning in them, and being able to prioritize and focus on things that matter.

To start, I made a list of things that are and are not OK to multi-task.

List A - OK to multi-task:

• housecleaning
• listening to music
• preparing meals
• responding to short, simple emails, tweets, etc.
• drinking (e.g. water, coffee; anything that doesn't accompany a meal)
• watching TV

List B - NOT OK to multi-task:

• Spending time with my kids
• Driving
• Eating
• Listening (whether on the phone or in person)
• Writing (including complex or important emails)
• Playing

Every so often, I do something on List A and give it my full, undivided attention. This is a sort of meditation; a pleasant way of practicing my ability to focus. Focus is a skill, as anyone who's sat through a boring lecture or useless status meeting will attest.

Just having the goal and going through the exercise of evaluating my activities and the level of attention they deserve has been enlightening. I can't say I abide by my own rules 100% of the time, but I'm getting there. And being aware of them has made me more efficient, more productive, and most importantly, happier.

Googly Eyes + Pistachios = funtimes

Step 1: Throw a Party

Step 2: Invite children. If you don't know any children, invite awesomely happy adults. If you don't know any of those, supply copious amounts of alcohol.

Step 3: Pass around a bowl of these googly-eyed pistachios. Funtimes!

JammerUp: The Roller Derby Board Game is for sale!

It's been a long road, but the roller derby board game I've been working my ass off on is finally out there.

Here's a list of retailers that carry JammerUp: The Roller Derby Board Game.

SO HAPPY!