Copenhagen Game Collective – an experimental games collective

We’re going to the Maldives – first days

By Patrick on April 18th, 2013

Read about the background of this trip here.

The last couple of days we have been settling in. Getting to know the “island time” and meeting local people and Amani’s family. All very nice people.

I got to play a game with the locals that they claim is the predecessor of the other games in the same variant. The game is called Ohlvalhu Gondi and is a type of Kalaha/Mancala and is played sea shells called cowrie. The cowrie used to be their currency, so playing this game would have an element of gambling involved. The cowrie is also depicted on their really beautiful paper money as a legacy of their history.

Spilbar 9000 – a talk in Aalborg – and AAAARGH!

By Patrick on March 16th, 2012

While everybody was at the Game Developers Conference in SF, having fun and receiving awards, we were also having fun with a talk about prototypes and experimental games. We were invited by Shareplay to give a talk about our work. The talk was titled “from protoype to production”. Shareplay is a transmedia venture interested in the development of the future media sector. That means they have some capital for thing like this. Which is pretty good for Northern Jutland and the gaming scene there.

The actual location for the talk was in a bar called Viva La Revolution. It was kind of a small and cozy setting, which led the mind towards a small smoke filled underground NYC comedy club. Perfect setting for showing experimental and ridiculous games. And of course, there was beer, which also helps to set the mood. In that sense, it really differentiates itself from the Copenhagen version of the Spilbar, which is more geared toward formal talks and professional networking. The Spillbar 9000 takes another approach and creates a more casual environment that should help the networking. It was even more evident, since, as mentioned, it was during GDC. So they audience was mostly students and less people in the game industry.

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Cool stuff in Copenhagen

By Patrick on February 24th, 2012

Last week some of us were at a couple of events that gave us the feeling that Copenhagen is a cool and thriving city in regard to indie games and interactive installations. It also gave us renewed energy and motivation to create our own events to further expand the game culture and to have some interesting and different parties.

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The wild rumpus #2 and Monkey See, Monkey Mime

By Patrick on February 1st, 2012

Tomorrow; Thursday 2nd February 2012, a – to put it in their own words - unique nights out of crazy, exuberant, social and sometimes physical gameplay is happening in East London. I, of course, am talking about the Wild Rumpus. If you are in the neighborhood, please feel free to check it out, since it is free and some interesting games are being showcased there.

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SUPERBUTTONKOALAPARTY

By Doug on September 9th, 2011

We’re co-throwing a big party in Hilversum, Holland next week, as a part of the DiGRA conference!

There will lots of music and games, including a live performance by legendary turntablist/illustrator Kid Koala. Awesome! And we’ll be exhibiting five of our own party games, including a public debut of two new games – Egg Party and Pillow Time.

More info here.

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A Social Active Game Experience

By Doug on May 31st, 2011

Our friend Adam Henriksson at the Umeå Institute of Design is writing/making a thesis project about social interaction in games. He actually flew all the way down to Copenhagen for our Arcade Boat party to shoot some footage.

This week he edited this beautiful two-minute trailer! So inspiring, we’re so honored to be a part of it. Give it a watch:

And congrats to Adam, who apparently just won a “best project” award for the thesis! Well deserved.

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Arcade Boat Photos

By Doug on May 31st, 2011

Earlier this month we threw a crazy party/exhibition on Illutron, an art boat in one of Copenhagen’s harbors!

We had a blast! We’ll try to upload some video soon. Meanwhile, here are some nice photos by our friend Johan:

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Lau & Doug vs. Gamereactor – Round Three

By Doug on May 31st, 2011

At Nordic Game Indie Night, Lau and I also did another video interview with our friends at Gamereactor. Yup, we played the fool, yet again:

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Nordic Game Conference 2011

By Doug on May 23rd, 2011

Man, Nordic Game Conference 2011 was a blast! We had our hands full this year. In addition to throwing our 2nd annual Nordic Game Indie Night (NGIN) party and exhibition, we also curated the brand new Indie Track this year.

Indie Night was packed this year. The lecture hall was so crowded that we couldn’t even fit everyone! I suppose we’ll have to get a bigger room next year. Growing pains aside, it was great to see so much interest in the regional indie scene. After all, that’s really the whole point of the showcase – to call attention to all the rad things that indies are doing here in the Nordic countries.

Here are some photos of Indie Night, courtesy our friend Zo – ii:

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Arcade Boat 2011

By Doug on April 29th, 2011

Together with Illutron (formerly known as Half Machine), we’re throwing a Spring party!

What: Merriment and local hand-crafted indie games
Who: Us, the Copenhagen Game Collective!
Where: Illutron, Alliancevej, Teglholmens Østkaj 43, Copenhagen (map here)
When: Saturday, May 14, 4pm till late

Why? Because the only thing better than playing videogames is playing them on a BOAT!

Facebook event page here.

Over the last year, we’ve had the opportunity to showcase our games all around Europe and North America. Now, we’d like to throw an exhibition here at home, to party with our home crowd and to show Copenhagen what we’ve been working on.

We’re teaming up with Illutron, a “collaborative interactive art studio” based on a big ol’ barge in the Copenhagen South Harbor at Teglholmen. Formerly known as “Half Machine,” Illutron throws some of the best exhibitions and parties in Copenhagen. We’re very excited to join forces!

Don’t worry, the ship is anchored by shore, so you’re free to come and go whenever you like. Yes, it’s all the way down in Sydhavn, but it will certainly be worth the bike/train ride. Get directions here.

We’ll be showing B.U.T.T.O.N., Where Is My Heart, Johann Sebastian Joust!, Monkey See Monkey Mime, and more. As far as I’m aware, this will be the very first public demo of the soon-to-be-finished Where Is My Heart build. Awesome!

And who knows, we might even bust out some crazy folk games!

Make sure to bring cash if you want to buy beer. Or feel free to bring your own booze. Weather permitting, we may also set up some grills, so feel free to bring your own grillables/dinner too.