NYC Game Dev Digest – November 2025

A week of pop-ups, leading to this year's NO QUARTER
A new, cozy edition of the long-standing NYC Indie Dev Night
And plenty of releases, local events, with more to check out in this issue!

In this issue:

What's on | Highlights of upcoming events.

Chapter Events Meetups, talks, and other events we're hosting.

#NYMakesGames News | Game launches and other updates from local creators.

Around Town | A community calendar of events from across the city.

• The New York Videogame Critics Circle - The Insight: Game-A-Palooza Exemplifies Unity Between NYC Game Devs!
• The New York Videogame Critics Circle - The Insight: The Best Games From NYC's Game-A-Palooza - Platformers, Horror, More!
• The official recap video by Playcrafting
• Thread of breakout favorites from content creators JavaconLeche
• Highlight and walkthrough video by content creator Fumblez Retro Hunter

Thank you to our sponsors Playcrafting, and The Mayor's office of Media and Entertainment which has supported digital games through city-wide initiatives and resources over the last three years, to help make New York City a great place to live in and make games.As always, we couldn't do this without you! Thank you again to our volunteers; Jamal, Jason, Hamna, Jeremy, Aaron, Shaak, Gabriella, Lan, and to everyone who participated, attended, and helped along the way!- IGDA NYC BoD; Adolfo, Amit, Anthony, Kevin, Mattia, Nicole, and Olga

What's On This Month

Game Design Days is a NYU Game Center sponsored event series that highlights the underground independent game development communities of NYC. The event is meant to serve NYC game design students and anyone curious about game design, by introducing them to the broader NYC game development scene! Providing opportunities to connect with independent studios, collectives, and spaces.

On The Horizon

• The 15th Annual New York Game Awards + GG Fest with Supergiant Games: Unplugged brings together fans, creators, and critics for a one-of-a-kind, two-day experience in the heart of NYC! Starting Saturday, January 17th.

Share your NY game news here or Bluesky #NYMakesGames.
Section Editor: Mattia Sicuro

Making Waves

• Check out the newest issue of Narrative News by Rose Behar, featuring Sam Eng discussing writing for Skate Story ahead of its release on December 8th!

• The NYC Mayor's Office launched the first round of the sixth annual New York City Minecraft Education Battle of the Boroughs Esports Competition. Through BOTB, K-12 students compete to build a more inclusive, sustainable, future-ready New York City in Minecraft.

• Don't miss Jess Haskins & Francisco Gonzalez's talk from Narrascope 2025; Tabletops and Twine, discussing prototyping Rosewater with tabletop RPG scenarios and a fully playable Twine model!

• Wonderville is now accepting submissions for their Pico-8 Arcade Cabinet residency until November 23! The selected game will be featured from Dec 1st - March 1st on a custom 2-Player cabinet. Apply here!

• Reminisce on the year with a collection of behind-the-scenes footage and interview clips with the 2025 video yearbook documenting moments and orgs key to 2025 NYC game dev!

Crowdfund

• Death City by Polyhedra Games is a chaotic and action-packed dark occult goth punk urban fantasy tabletop RPG.

• [Coming Soon] Cozy Beach by LunaBeat is a wholesome multiplayer fishing game

Pre-Order/Wishlist

• Beastro by Jason Corace and Matteo Uguzzoni is a team-based trick-taking game with hidden roles where you have to figure out who is in your team with and outsmart the others, collecting as many tricks as possible for your team.

Demos

• Name of the Will by Zeitgeist Studio is a daylight horror narrative adventure where you navigate a masked cult.

• Stars of Icarus by Muse Games latest is the latest starship combat game from the team behind Guns of Icarus, featuring nail-biting online PvP ship-based combat where teamwork is all you can rely on.

Early Access/Beta

• The Hilltop Funeral by BROKENCIGS & Fumigawa is a chaotic co-op journey of coordination and catastrophe with two pallbearers and a disatrous funeral route.

Launched

• Frogmageddon by Frog Mage Udon & Sunset Dreamland is a Bullet Heaven-style survival game where the more evil snakes you defeat, the larger your frog army grows (to the hundreds!).

• A Call from Under the House by Party Crasher Studios is a short point-and-click Lovecraftian adventure game where the player must investigate a house suspected of cultish activity.

• Zohran's Run by Cait Camelia, Kaif Gilani, Keanan Pucci, Christopher Kovalik Gandhi, Sophie Abromowitz, Anup Kishore, Adriano Valle Hernandez, Patrick So, Kyle Brown-Watson, Sophie Abromowitz, Ryan Lam, Nadia Taylor Riddick, Noah Cutwright, Matthew Hamilton-Roux, Music by CHiPS, Russell Matney, Ashley Chen, and Marissa Koors is a story-driven and snake-inspired arcade game featuring New York City's mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani!

• Foolish Mortals by Inklingwood Studios is a cozy, story-driven, point & click adventure game of the merry & macabre.

• Bounty Star by DINOGOD is an over-the-shoulder 3D action game that marries mech combat and customization with farming and base building.

• Perfect Liar by eightworks allware is a modern juke-em-up / a speedrunner's purgatory/a bite-sized dose of cortisol.

• Possessor(s) by Heart Machine is a fast-paced action side scroller with combat inspired by platform fighters and a story told through dangerous characters set in a deep world ready for exploration.

• Children of the Night by Victoria Setian and Savanna Ganucheau is mini prequel game introducing protagonist Mina Murray, the cast, and world of upcoming YA horror graphic novel, Children of the Night.

Ongoing Initiatives

• Applications to join GUMBO are open! GUMBO is a non-profit collective of indie game creators located in Dumbo, Brooklyn formed to inspire and motivate each other, stay current in the indie game makers community, and expand an already amazing skill-sharing network.

• In support of Wonderville, consider becoming a member on WithFriends to help to keep the arcades working and pay for parts and maintenance!

• ANNY Exchange is a Talent Connect Initiative for Animation Nights New York. Want to participate and be added to the database of Animation Talent from all around the world? More info here

• Animation Nights New York (ANNY) is always accepting submissions for Animated Short Films, AR Animation Experiences, VR animation Experiences, and Interactive Media (including Video Games). More info here

• Coexist Gaming is a subscription-based gaming lifestyle company that provides an inclusive ecosystem for community, culture, connection and opportunity. Including a gaming lounge, optimized networking experiences and accessible resources for Devs, find out more and become a member here!

• Support the Game Devs of Color Expo's mission to uplift marginalized voices in game development by signing up for their monthly Ko-fi subscription! Your support ensures ongoing grants, events, and community programs.

• Support GUMBO on Patreon for exclusive digital content, free event access, and more!

• The New York State Digital Game Development Program is designed to accelerate and attract economic development by offsetting some production costs associated with producing digital games in New York State.

• Urban Arts teaches digital game design as a pathway to college and career by offering after-school programs, career prep, school partnerships and more. Learn about their various programs for students and teachers here!

• The City of New York Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment "Made in NY" Logo Program provides qualified digital gaming companies with the ability to use the City's "Made in NY" logo in their game's packaging, title screen and/or game website.

Unless otherwise noted, events are (probably!) free to attend. Follow @GameDevNYC for event alerts. Contact [email protected] to add your org's events.

Tuesday, November 18th

Animation Nights New York (ANNY) at The Gutter Spare Room! - ANNY is a monthly screening event and annual festival featuring a curated program of animated short films from all around the world.

Wednesday, November 19th

Pitch + Plate w/Women in Games NYC - an evening celebrating Women in Games and share what they're working on in a supportive, inspiring space, with time to mingle, eat, and connect.

3DNY: Sponsored by EPIC GAMES @ Lucky Jacks! - 3DNY is a Networking community for the Architectural Visualization & Visual Effects industries, with speakers and time to chat, enjoy & have a drink with old & new friends in the industry.

Thursday, November 20th

Gaming Business Models: Why Everything Feels Like a Live Service Now - Gaming Pathways @ CCNY Presents Guest Speaker Demetri Detsaridis

Saturday, November 22nd

GameMaker x Wonderville Meetup - Game Maker, Wonderville, and Shattered Journal Games have teamed up to host a meetup in NYC.

No Quarter 2025 - The annual playable exhibition where four newly commissioned works from leading artists working across games are debuted returns to Brooklyn!

[boshi's place x TXTbooks] Game Manual Jam in-person workshop! - Imagine and co-create a game manual for a game that doesn't exist(yet?) at boshis place!

Sunday, November 23rd

Animation Nights New York (ANNY) Virtual Events - ANNY is a monthly screening event and annual festival featuring a curated program of animated short films from all around the world.

Tuesday, November 25th

Wonderville's Last Tuesday of the month PLAYTEST - Come to Wonderville to playtest in production games! If you're a developer, bring your game! No signups required.

Wednesday, December 3rd

NYC Indie Games Social - A monthly gathering for indie game devs of all stripes to mix and mingle in a casual, relaxed setting.

Thursday, December 4th

NYC Indie Dev Night - Join Playcrafting at OS NYC, where local developers showcase their latest projects!

Sunday, December 7th

Boston FIG - The Boston Festival of Indie Games showcases digital and tabletop games, selected from hundreds of submissions from indie game developers.

Wednesday, December 10th

NYVR - A community meetup with people interested in the development and application of virtual reality technology.

IndieGameBusiness® Deep Dive: Mastering the Art of Pipeline and Production - Join IGB for a virtual, one-day event unpacking the ins and outs of indie game production.

Saturday, December 13th

Festival of Games - A Holiday Gaming & Shopping Event For the Whole Family! Happening at the Cradle of Aviation in Long Island. CLICK HERE to be a vendor!

Monthly 2 Hr GameJam Club: Sword of Moonlight - This month join Wonderville in using Sword of Moonlight to make King's Field levels in under 2 hours. Good for beginners and experts.

Tuesday, December 16th

Wonderville's Last Tuesday of the month PLAYTEST - Come to Wonderville to playtest in production games! If you're a developer, bring your game! No signups required.