GDC 2019 – Parties

Here’s a summary of some GDC 2019 parties and events based on my experience, hope it’s useful for someone planning their next GDC journey! You can also see my summary from last year.

For each one, I tried to categorize it under a type and rated how nice it was for me. This year I didn’t hit as many parties like last year, but still had great fun.

Polish GameDev Party

• Type: Game Showcase, Networking
• Sponsors: Lots of Polish GameDev studios, Polish Game Industry Conference, Indie Games Poland Foundation.
• Venue: Alloy Collective (Coworking)
• Access: Free, Requires Invitation
• Free Food: Yes
• Free Drinks: Yes
• Rating: 5/5

Check out cool games made by Polish companies, eat amazing Polish food, drink lots of Polish Vodka and beer. What could go wrong?

Oh, snap, it’s just Monday. 😛

IGDA @ GDC Networking Event

• Type: Game Showcase, Networking
• Organizers / Sponsors: IGDA, Dell
• Venue: Children’s Creativity Museum
• Access: Free
• Requires Invitation: No
• Free Food: Yes
• Free Drinks: Yes
• Rating: 5/5

Great venue with lots of fun activities, good food and drinks, and lots of networking opportunities in a talk-friendly space.

Indiepocalypse

• Type: Game Showcase
• Organizers / Sponsors: Game Jolt, Devolver Digital, Good Shepherd and DreamHack
• Venue: 715 Harrison (Club)
• Access: Free
• Free Food: No
• Free Drinks: No
• Rating: 2/5

Some good games there, but not as many as last year? and definitively too packed and loud, so it was hard to actually check out the game, let alone talk with someone.

PowX8

• Type: Dance Party – Chiptune
• Organizers: 8bitSF and Monobomb Records
• Venue: DNA Lounge
• Access: $19
• Free Food: No
• Free Drinks: No
• Rating: 5/5

If you like chiptune music you cannot miss Pow. Great DJs and a cool atmosphere, nice merch from underground DJs. Awesome performances. I missed the separate “chill room” from last year where you could relax for a bit while listening videogame OSTs, but the main stage was definitively better and full of energy.

Celebrating Latinx in Gaming 2019

• Type: Networking
• Organizers / Sponsors: XBOX
• Venue: Minna Gallery
• Access: Free
• Free Food: Yes
• Free Drinks: Yes
• Rating: 4/5

Good for networking, nothing really mind-blowing. There were some cool activities tho (like a photobooth?) and some swag from XBox. Always a good chance to meet fellow Latin american developers.

Roguelike Developers @ GDC 2019

• Type: Networking
• Organizers: Temple of The Roguelike
• Venue: Yerbabuena Gardens
• Access: Free
• Free Food: No
• Free Drinks: No
• Rating: 5/5

Amazing meetup of the roguelike developers community with devs of influential roguelikes freely available to talk, and many roguelike enthusiasts talking about their projects. Hope the organizers can keep the meeting happening in upcoming GDCs!

Zynga

• Type: Networking
• Organizers: Zynga
• Venue: Zynga San Francisco
• Access: Free
• Free Food: Yes
• Free Drinks: Yes
• Rating: 4/5

I somehow missed taking some pics this year. It was more packed than last year extending into Zynga’s arcade basement. Nice food and drinks, music a bit too loud to talk so actual networking was hard, there were fun games around too.

Marioke @ GDC19

• Type: Karaoke Party
• Organizers: Sing Marioke
• Venue: Encore Karaoke Lounge
• Access: $20
• Free Food: No
• Free Drinks: No
• Rating: 2/5

The venue was not very good this year, it was too narrow and small, and didn’t have a properly elevated stage. The hosts were not very fun, or maybe I was just not in the mood. Plus, there was no additional fun stuff being displayed (like in 2018). So it really felt like a setback.

AltCtrl Party

• Type: Game Showcase + Networking
• Organizers: GitHub, Particle, Oculus, SuperHot, Gametheory.co
• Venue: Minna Gallery
• Access: Free
• Free Food: No
• Free Drinks: No
• Rating: 5/5

Although the venue was a bit packed thru the night, the game selection was great and the music had just a good volume to be able to talk with people while still getting in a videogame mood.

Closing Party at The Foundry

• Type: Videogame Party
• Organizers: Showdown Entertainment
• Venue: Folsom Street Foundry
• Access: 18$
• Free Food: No
• Free Drinks: No
• Rating: 4/5

Great space to play videogames (modern and retro) with your friends, in giant and tiny screens. Sadly I don’t have friends that do this kind of thing, so I was mostly checking other people play.

Some parties I missed because of conflicting schedules:

• Pocket Gamer Party
• Kongregate Party
• Github Party
• Latin American Gathering at GDC

Also, that.party was cancelled, seemingly because of conflicts between the organizers.