PlayAway

24 Jan 2021 Playaway Speakers

Shay Thompson

Mon 22nd Feb, 19:15 – 20:00 (GMT)

Shay Thompson is a presenter and video producer working in the games industry. Shay previously hosted McLaren’s Shadowcast and appeared in other McLaren Shadow Project related content on YouTube. Outside of that, Shay has also hosted panels and podcasts for Bafta and is currently appearing on the BBC Sounds podcast, Press X to Continue.

Twitter: @moods_jpg

Instagram: @moods.gif

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24 Jan 2021 Playaway Speakers

Dan Pinchbeck

Tinderbox Collective

Speaker (Panel)
Game Design Panel
Mon 22nd Feb, 19:15 – 20:00 (GMT)

Dan co-founded The Chinese Room as an experimental mod team back in 2007, releasing their first commercial title, the cult Dear Esther in 2012. He went on to lead the team to produce three more multi-award winning, internationally renowned titles: Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture and So Let Us Melt. Since joining the Sumo family in 2018, TCR has released the technicolour adventure Little Orpheus, currently nominated for 2 DICE awards. Dan has a PhD in first-person shooters, which just goes to show it’s possible to get a PhD in anything these days.

Website: thechineseroom.co.uk
Twitter: @chineseroom

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24 Jan 2021 Playaway Speakers

Jon McKellan

Tinderbox Collective

Mon 22nd Feb, 19:15 – 20:00 (GMT)

Speaker (Panel)
Game Design Panel

With over a decade of experience in the industry, working on genre-defining games such as Alien: Isolation and Red Dead Redemption 2, Jon formed his own studio No Code with business partner Omar in 2015. Since then, Jon has been the studio’s creative director, writer, and artist on their two critically acclaimed and BAFTA-winning games Stories Untold (2017) and Observation (2019). Having started out in User Interface design and Motion Graphics, Jon’s stories and vision merges his old role with his new, building exciting and surreal narrative experiences that often center around UI driven technology.

Website: nocodestudio.com
Twitter: jon_nocode | _NoCode

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24 Jan 2021 Playaway Speakers

Jane McGonigal

Tinderbox Collective

Mon 22nd Feb, 18:00 – 19:00 (GMT)

Keynote Speaker
Jane McGonigal Keynote: Fireside Conversation & Q&A

Jane McGonigal, PhD, is the Director of Game Research + Development at the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, California. She is the author of two New York Times bestselling books: Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World and SuperBetter: The Power of Living Gamefully. Her TED talks on how games can make a better world have more than 15 million views. She has advised companies including Disney, Mattel, Nintendo, Riot Games, Activision and EA on how to create games that build real skills and help players develop emotional and social strengths they can use in their everyday lives. She is also the inventor of SuperBetter, a game that has helped more than a million players recover from symptoms of depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and traumatic brain injury.

Website: janemcgonigal.com
Twitter: @avantgame

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22 Jan 2021 Playaway Speakers

James Morwood

Tinderbox Collective

Wed 24th Feb, 13:00 – 16:00 (GMT)

Speaker (Workshop)
Zine-making & Interactive Art Workshop with James Morwood of Biome Collective

James loves experimenting with strange and playful creations as a member of Biome Collective as well as one of the game makers at Bit Loom who recently released their debut game PHOGS!.

James has also organised regular Zine Jams including jams at A Maze. festival in Berlin, Arcadia festival in Dundee and an orange-based ‘Marmalade’ jam at Feral Vector in Hebden Bridge along with the amazing Claire Morwood. Throughout 2020/2021 these have become Virtual Zine Jams with an emphasis on relaxing in your own space and participating without a video call.

Website: biomecollective.com
Twitter: @jctwizard | @zine_city | @biomecollective

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5 Mar 2020 2 days to go, Playaway Events, PlayAway Games & Music

Live Music Show + PlayAway Party!

Tinderbox Collective

Fri 5 Mar, 19:00 – 21:30 GMT

PlayAway Party + Live Music Show (Zoom Event)

19:00 (GMT) – Tinderbox & Friends:

Jed Milroy
The False Economy
The Jellyman’s Daughter

20:00 (GMT) – Special Guests:

John “Slide20XX” Smith
The Gamba Geek

20:30 (GMT) – PlayAway Party

Music, Games, Open Mic & End of Festival Celebrations!

*Please note, Chipzel was previously advertised as the headline act but sadly has had to cancel performing at the festival due to family reasons. We wish Niamh and her family all the best.

As a result we will now be getting together for the Live Music Show on Zoom (instead of Twitch). Please register for the event and we will send you the Zoom link!

Join us for the closing night of Tinderbox PlayAway Festival with an amazing line-up of live music, games & end of festival celebrations!

Book Your Ticket

Tickets are free / by donation

Play the PlayAway Team Awards Game:

PlayAway Team Awards

Join us for the closing night of Tinderbox PlayAway Festival with an amazing line up of live music, games & end of festival celebrations!

About this Event

We are gathering an almighty line-up of live musicians to celebrate the end of the Tinderbox PlayAway festival! Join us for the closing night PlayAway Party!

*Please note, Chipzel was previously advertised as the headline act but sadly has had to cancel performing at the festival due to family reasons. We wish Niamh and her family all the best.

As a result we will now be getting together for the Live Music Show on Zoom (instead of Twitch). Please register for the event and we will send you the Zoom link!

Jed Milroy
Adventure Folk pioneer, veteran of legendary ‘Whisky River Boat Band’ and Assistant Director of Tinderbox Collective. Jed toured extensively with psychedelic rockers ‘The Aliens’ before making a dignified escape into the world of Bluegrass to join Scottish 7 piece, ‘Southern Tenant Folk Union’. Expect a foot stomping mix of Americana and Traditional Celtic music. Banjo, guitar, vocals.

Facebook: @jedandjo

The False Economy
Esther Swift has travelled the world extensively with her music making and embraces many different influences in her virtuosic harp playing, composing and song writing. She writes songs about her homeland of Scotland, drawing on her folk roots and taking inspiration from nature and the people she meets along the way. An eclectic blend of jazz, folk, classical and everything in between Esther will share with you her stories and musical experiences from around the world.

An improvising saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Matt Wright is one third of the new music ensemble Sink, whose theatrical live shows and improvisational work continue to inspire audiences and artists alike. Recent achievements include five star reviews for their latest Fringe show and completion of their soon to be released third album ‘Popupocalypse’. Since 2012 Matt has been making his own bespoke tuned percussion, manufactured from discarded gas canisters. Matt is also the co-founding Director and Producer of the Pianodrome, the world’s first amphitheatre made entirely from upcycled pianos.

Website: www.estherswift.co.uk
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=esther+swift
Facebook: estherkateswift
Soundcloud: estherswift
Bandcamp: estherswift.bandcamp.com

Website: www.theplughole.org | www.pianodrome.org

The Jellyman’s Daughter
Scottish band The Jellyman’s Daughter lands squarely in the middle of a crossroads between bluegrass, post-rock, folk and soul, managing at the same time to sound not a whole lot like any of those genres. Emily and Graham write their songs together with a focus on doing something new, mixing their intimate vocal harmonies with wild and visceral cello, driving guitar and sweet mandolin, complimented brilliantly by banjo (Jamie Francis) and double bass (Herbie Loening).

In 2018 The Jellyman’s Daughter released their new album, ‘Dead Reckoning’. It represents a marked step forward in maturity, depth and scope for the duo, achieving 5 stars in multiple publications and inclusion in Popmatters’ ‘The 20 Best Folk Albums of 2018’.

The past couple of years have seen the band tour extensively around the globe, playing prestigious festivals from Scotland’s own Celtic Connections to Australia’s Port Fairy Folk Festival.

Website: www.thejellymansdaughter.com
Instagram: @jellymansdaughter
Facebook: @jmdmusic
Youtube: @jellymansdaughter

John “Slide20XX” Smith
John Hamilton Smith V (aka, Slide20XX) is a composer who decided to write music for video games at the age of 13 and hasn’t stopped since. His work has appeared in Against Gravity’s VR title “Rec Room,” a Princeton affiliated massively multiplayer neuroscience game named “EyeWire,” and crowd-controlled music-based video games designed and shown at the Red Bull Music Academy in Madrid, Spain and MIT’s festival of arts and technology, Hacking Arts. His most recent work has included the soundtrack for Calico, a game about magical girls running a cat cafe, and music for a pair of anti-racism PSAs created by Cartoon Network series, Steven Universe. He also works as composer, sound designer, and creative director for his game company, Games Without Words.

Website: http://slide20xx.com
Twitter: @slide20xx
Instagram: @slide20xx

The Gamba Geek
Águeda Macias is a Brazilian viola da gamba player, arranger and composer passionate about fusing modern music, particularly video game music, with Renaissance and Baroque aesthetics. Her main platform is her YouTube channel, where she posts videos of her singing and playing the viola da gamba, luteguitar, recorder and harpsichord under the pseudonym The Gamba Geek. She is a member of video game music collectives Coin Ops. and Gamelark Records, contributing regularly to albums and EPs. Currently she lives in Germany, where she specializes in Early Music at the University of Arts Bremen.

YouTube: @thegambageek

Instagram: @thegambageek

Twitter: @thegambageek

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5 Mar 2020 2 days to go, Playaway Events, PlayAway Games & Music

Games Composer Panel

Tinderbox Collective

Fri 5th Mar, 18:00 – 19:00 (GMT)

Panel Talk (Zoom Event)
Games Composer Panel

Panelists:
Nainita Desai (Telling Lies)
Guy Jackson (Sea of Solitude)
Tess Tyler (PLAYNE: The Meditation Game, LEGO® Worlds, Dead and Buried)

Chaired by: Jenny Nelson (Scala Radio)

Join media composers Nainita Desai, Guy Jackson and Tess Tyler in a discussion with Jenny Nelson on their careers and journeys in game music.

Jenny Nelson
Jenny Nelson is Programme Manager at Scala Radio, the UK’s newest classical music and entertainment station. She produces a range of specialist music programmes including Mark Kermode’s film music show (Saturday 1-3pm) and The Console with Luci Holland (Tinderbox/Scala Radio), the only weekly show devoted to games music on UK national radio (Saturdays 5-6pm, repeated on Sundays 10-11pm).

Website: jennynelson.co.uk
Twitter: @nelsonjenny

Nainita Desai
Nainita Desai, is an Ivor Novello Awards, BIFA nominee, BAFTA Breakthrough Brit, and the IFMCA Breakthrough Composer of 2020.
Her recent projects include Oscar nominated and BAFTA and Cannes winning feature documentary ‘For Sama’, and ‘The Reason I Jump’, the Sundance winning feature. Other recent credits include: BBC drama series, ‘Unprecedented’; Netflix’s most-watched documentary, ‘American Murder: The Family Next Door’; the hit Netflix India series ‘Bad Boy Billionaires’; and the acclaimed interactive video game ‘Telling Lies’, released by Annapurna Interactive. She is currently working on games for Half Mermaid and Silver Rain Games / Electronic Arts.

Website: nainitadesai.com
Twitter: @nainitadesai
Facebook: facebook.com/nainita.desai
Instagram: www.instagram.com/nainita_desai
IMDB: imdb.me/nainitadesai
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/soundology

Guy Jackson
Based in London, England, Guy Jackson is a composer who specialises in highly emotional, crafted, layered musical compositions, amalgamating acoustic and electronic sounds and encompassing both classical and ambient genres.

His work is perfectly suited to the silver screen, enhancing and supporting the mood and tone of a broad variety of visual content.

Website: guyjacksonmusic.co.uk
Twitter: @guyjacksonmusic

Tess Tyler
Tess is an award winning Bristol, UK based composer for the screen. She made her orchestral recording debut at Air Lyndhurst Studios in London with her score for the video game Steampunk Riders. This work being one amongst many for orchestra, Tess has recorded her music with the likes of the London Session Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, The Budapest Art Orchestra, and The Bratislava Symphony. In 2017, a medley of her orchestral scores has been showcased in famous concert halls across the United Kingdom as part of the Heroes and Legends Tour with the Bournemouth Symphony. In October 2018, Tess worked with the composer, songwriter, and musical innovator Imogen Heap. Together they developed a project entitled, The Life of A Song, and as a result Tess composed, performed and produced on the highly successful single, Marble.Tess continues to write music for the screen, as well as a recording artist. In 2020 she debuted her first LP, ‘_fractals’.

Website: tesstyler.com
Instagram: @tesstylermusic
Twitter: @tessmakesmusic

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Our Games Composer Panel is supported by:

Scala Radio is an entertainment radio station playing classical music in the UK. Playing familiar masters from Mozart and Holst to surprising new works from living composers like Karl Jenkins, Rebecca Dale and Thom Yorke, join us as Scala Radio brings classical music into the 21st century. Scala Radio is available on DAB, on our website and on our Scala Radio App.

W: scalaradio.co.uk
T: @ScalaRadio
F: ScalaRadioUK

Game Music Connect was created by James Hannigan and John Broomhall to celebrate and explore the amazing music and sound design of video games and the extraordinary talent behind it via an insightful series of conversations, lectures and case studies from around the world.

W: gamemusicconnect.com
T: @WeAreGameMusic
F: GameMusicConnect

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5 Mar 2020 2 days to go, PlayAway, Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events, PlayAway Games & Music

Zoom Obscura Showcase – Works in Progress

Tinderbox Collective

Fri 5th Mar, 14:00 – 15:00 (GMT)

Mini-talks & Demos (Zoom Event):
Zoom Obscura – Works in Progress
Challenging cultures of video-calling through creative intervention

Artists/Speakers:
Ilsa Pouwels, Michael Baldwin, Bea Wijshijer, Paul O’Neill, Martin Disley

Challenging cultures of video-calling through creative intervention: A series of short talks and demos from five artists who have been experimenting with a range of creative and technological ideas to subvert your normal experience of Zoom!

Zoom Obscura is a project that enables us to playfully negotiate our own presence and our own value in the spaces of online video-calling. We bring together artists, academics, hackers, designers and creative technologists to develop critical interventions that make the problematic workings of these technologies legible to wider audiences while empowering users to experiment with, and control how their personal data (visual, audible, text input) manifest in online spaces.

Join us for a preview of the wonderful works in progress that Zoom Obscura has funded, with support of the Human-Data Interaction Network+ and Creative Informatics

Artists/Panelists:

Ilsa Pouwels
Ilse is currently at the Umeå Institute of Design working on her graduate thesis. Focusing on creating interventions that explore and challenge the relation we have with our technologies, undermine through design. Before, she spend time at Tellart and LEGO as an interaction designer. As a designer she is trying to take up challenging problems of merging the physical and digital for societal contexts. With a heart for exploring new technologies through prototyping, approaching them from a different angle to bring a little magic to the world.
http://www.ilsepouwels.nl

Michael Baldwin
I am an American composer whose current work focuses on ways of composing experiences within and through background sociomusical activities. This work has thus far involved audiences and performing musicians listening to audio guides that lead them across discreet sonic, choreographic, and emotional terrains in parallel with musical performances and interpersonal interactions in concert settings.
https://michaelbaldwin.online

Bea Wijshijer
B. Wijshijer is a research-based artist working within digital media and video installation. Wijshijer utilizes online trends and subcultures to deconstruct mediated intimacies and personas on digital platforms. Informed by acceleration aesthetics, their work plays with excess and artifice to interrogate the ways in which late capitalism affects our digital lives. Wijshijer received their BFA in Printmaking from OCAD University in 2017 and an MFA from the University of Waterloo in 2020.
https://www.shrimpychip.net/

Paul O’Neill
Paul is an artist and researcher based in Dublin, Ireland. His practice and research is concerned with the implications of our collective dependency on networked technologies and infrastructures. This discourse is reflected in his academic background, he holds an MSc Multimedia from Dublin City University and an MA in Digital Art from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. Paul is currently completing a PhD which focuses on media art practices that critique and subvert techno-solutionist narratives and histories.
https://aswemaysink.com/

Martin Disley
Martin is an artist, researcher and creative technologist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His work interrogates computer vision systems by manifesting their internal contradictions in image, video and sound. Martin was recently artist-in-residence at the National Library of Scotland and his work has exhibited at the V&A Museum (Dundee, Scotland), Summerhall (Edinburgh, Scotland), The Centre for Contemporary Arts (Glasgow, Scotland), Guterhallen Gallery (Soligen, Germany), Sala Aranyo (Barcelona, Spain) and Kunstencentrum Vooruit (Ghent, Belgium).
http://www.martindisley.co.uk

Foxdog Studios
Foxdog Studios, Lloyd Henning and Peter Sutton, are computer programmers turned live performers. They create comedy shows that put the audience in control of interactive games and DIY gadgets. Their live show, “Robot Chef”, was a sell-out at the Edinburgh Fringe and had viewers cook sausage and beans by controlling a robot on their phones (a highlight being firing a hotdog from a cannon).

The pandemic has turned their stage shows into interactive online pieces, streamed live weekly on Twitch, including “Escape The North” which was featured as part of the Guardian’s coverage of comedy streaming.
foxdogstudios.com

Zoom Obscura Team
Zoom Obscura is led by researchers from the University of Edinburgh (Pip Thornton, Chris Elsden and Chris Speed), Durham University (Andrew Dwyer), and Kings College London (Mike Duggan), and is in collaboration with Edinburgh-based art & music collective Tinderbox Collective and curator Hannah Redler-Hawes.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/zoom-obscura-works-in-progress-tickets-141494653317&#8243

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4 Mar 2020 2 days to go, Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events, PlayAway Games & Music, PlayAway Workshops

Intro to Pure Data & Interactive Sound Workshop with Yann Seznec

Tinderbox Collective

Thu 4th Mar, 18:00 – 20:00 (GMT)

Workshop (Zoom Event)

Intro to Pure Data & Interactive Sound with Yann Seznec

Price £10/£5 (conc)

If you are on low income please get in touch at admin@tinderboxcollective.org to ask about free spaces

In this interactive workshop with sonic artist Yann Seznec, we’ll be introduced to the basics of getting started with visual programming language Pure Data, and its power for interactive audio.

Suitable for anyone interested in creative technology, completely new to design, and experienced designers with an interest in learning new tools.

To take your digital making further, check out our Bitsy One-Day Game Jam on Tues 2nd March too!

For ages 16+

This workshop is held via a Zoom Call and spaces are limited – please register to attend

You’ll need:

A computer or laptop

Access to internet

Pure Data downloaded to your computer: puredata.info

Headphones

–

Yann Seznec

Yann Seznec is an artist whose work focuses on sound, music, physical interaction, games, and building new instruments. Recent projects include residencies at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Floating Cinema in London, Playable City Lagos, and Timespan in the Scottish Highlands. He has performed at The Roundhouse London, Mutek Montreal, Melbourne Recital Hall, Liquid Rooms Tokyo, Köln Philharmonie, Fak’ugesi Johannesburg, and more. Much of his work involves building custom instruments such as musical pigsties, slinky instruments, candle-based sound installations, electromechanical mushroom spore reactors, and more.

He is founder of BAFTA-winning creative studio Lucky Frame. In December 2015 he received the British Composer Award for Sonic Art for his 2014 Edinburgh Art Festival work “Currents”.

Yann has been Game Designer in Residence at the MICA Game Lab in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2019. This residency runs until August 2021.

Website: yannseznec.com
Twitter: @yannseznec

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4 Mar 2020 2 days to go, Playaway Events, Playaway Game Design, PlayAway Games, Education & Wellbeing

Games & Empathy Mini-Talks

Tinderbox Collective

Thu 4th Mar, 13:00 – 14:00 (GMT)

Mini-Talks (Zoom Event)
Games & Empathy

Speakers:
Marina Diez (3 of Cups Games)
Alastair Low (Lowtek Games)
Natalie Schmidt
Nida Ahmad

Series of short talks from specialist game designers about cultivating empathy and improving accessibility in games design.

Marina Diez
Marina Díez is a Spanish award-winning game designer based in London, UK. She’s the CEO and Creative Director at Three of Cups Games, a games studio based in London. Besides, she is the lead game designer of Dordogne at Un Je Ne Sais Quoi Studios and game designer for Me-säätiö in Helsinki, Finland.

Marina will be talking about finding your voice as a professional with special attention to her role as an emotional game designer and how she approached her

work starting there.

Website: marinadiez.carrd.co
Twitter: @ninfa_dp

Alastair Low (Ally)
After working as an artist in the games industry for 7+ years Ally finally took the plunge to start his own indie studio Lowtek Games. His work explores making fun, retro, challenging, dyslexia friendly games.

Ally is on the board of the SGDA (Scottish Games Developers Association) helping to organise game jams and play parties and also used to help run Dundee’s local makerspace.

Lowtek Games has had a strong focus on retro games and is working on tools to help games be more accessible to dyslexic players. Ally is dyslexic himself and wants to help make change happen.

Website: lowtek.games
Twitter: @wallmasterr
Facebook: lowtekgames
Artstation: lowtek

Natalie Schmidt
Natalie is a writer and game designer based in Los Angeles, CA. Having studied both dramaturgy and game design at Carnegie Mellon University, Natalie specializes in narrative design and script development for multi-media storytelling. She’s designed small-scale TTRPGs, and her previous narrative work for Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute explored human-AI decision-making via branching interactive stories.

She is particularly passionate about meaningful representation of BIPOC within the TTRPG space, as well as accessibility of design within interactive entertainment. Natalie is currently working freelance, as well as on several personal projects.

Websites:
natalie-schmidt.wixsite.com/portfolio
medium.com/@s.natalie25

Nida Ahmad

Nida is a UX Designer with a focus on creating playful user experiences with accessibility and psychology in mind. She has worked on Warhammer Combat Cards and currently an upcoming social MMO. She is an advocate for integrating UX processes into game development, having spoken at industry conferences and was nominated for the Game Dev Heroes Awards as a result. She is also a mentor for students studying games, was a reader for the BAFTA Young Game Designer Awards and is on the founding team of POC in Play, who strive to increase the inclusion of POC in the industry.

Twitter: @NidaAhmad_

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3 Mar 2020 PlayAway Ar & Vr, Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events, Playaway Game Design

Virtual Reality (VR) Mini-Talks

Tinderbox Collective

Wed 3rd Mar, 13:00 – 14:00 (GMT)

Virtual Reality Mini-Talks

Speakers:
Jung In Jung
Paul Blackham
Brian Allen (Bearharmmer Games)
Thomas Kildren (Fletcher Studios)
Andy Antoniou (Furry Tail Dragon)

Game designers and creative technologists working in the field of Virtual Reality will demo and talk about their work in a series of 5-15 minute fascinating mini-talks, exploring the range and creative possibility of VR as an interactive artform.

More info coming soon!

Jung In Jung

Jung In Jung is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher. Her work focuses on the playful and intimate relationship with sound, movement, and interactive technology. She has presented her work at various international conferences and festivals. In 2019, she joined the research centre InGAME: Innovation for Games and Media Enterprise based in Dundee, Scotland as a research and development fellow. Her research interests lie in interactive engagement, experimentation with different senses, accessibility, diversity, and inclusivity. Currently, she is involved in several projects from InGAME such as developing and testing a new Text-to-Speech plugin for dyslexic players with Lowtek Games and running the Experimental Games Lab with the partner organisation Biome Collective as a Brain Trust.

Website: www.junginjung.com

Twitter: @junginjung_

Paul Blackham

I am a game artist and research assistant at InGAME. My skillset predominantly focuses on 3D modelling and texturing, but I also work in rapid prototyping of interactive media. I joined InGAME after completing a Professional Masters in Games Development at Abertay University. My experience in a variety of additional areas, such as shader programming and pipeline tool development allow me to work holistically on prototypes or assist in projects wherever needed.

Website: paulblackham.co.uk

Twitter: @mrPaulBalckham

Brian Allen
Independent Unreal Engine VR Game Developer, prior Producer/Product Manager at Studio Roqovan, Gameloft, Gamehouse Canada, and Spinmaster.

Originally from Toronto, Canada but moved to Edinburgh two years ago.

During his talk Brian will showcase virtual reality action RPG (role-playing game) combat & exploration.

Website: Steam
Twitter: @bearhammergames

Thomas Kildren
Hi. I’m Thomas. I’m a stay at home dad; and I’m making a VR game based on the drawings of my kid.

He’s on the autism spectrum and doesn’t talk much – but he really likes to draw. The game is a 3rd person platformer centered around exploration, helping others and solving problems. If the game takes off – I want to donate part of the proceeds to autism awareness and acceptance.

–

Thomas ‘Fletcher’ Kildren is a creative powerhouse from NYC, now living in the gritty Rust Belt. Trained as an illustrator, he made the jump to digital as a Photo Editor at the New York Post. He soon taught himself other disciplines like 3D modeling & animation. VR development has been his biggest achievement, as its the culmination of all his previous disciplines & his fervent hope is that ‘Booper, Get Home!’ will be the launch of his game dev career. He is currently juggling game dev while being a stay-at-home dad tending to a wife, 2 boys and a neurotic housecat.

Website: fletcherstudios.net
Twitter: @thomaskildren

Andy Antoniou
Designer and founder of FurryTailDragon

Andy designs games and immersive experiences with inclusivity at the forefront. He is also an award-winning generalist, creative consultant and director – working across several creative industries. Andy has most recently delivered for the likes of Sky, Nat Geo and Johnson & Johnson.

M is a VR “sitting-simulator” in which snippets of memories are discovered when light and shadows come to life. Orphaned shadows can be picked up and then become physical objects, which are used to alter a fragmented and abstract environment.

This mini-talk will explore some of the ways in which M’s demo was built with accessibility in mind, to make a better VR experience.

Website: FurryTailDragon.com

Twitter: FurryTailDragon

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2 Mar 2020 Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events, Playaway Game Design, PlayAway Workshops

Introduction to Bitsy Workshop: Making Games with Small Tools – with Claire Morwood (Biome Collective)

Tinderbox Collective

Tue 2nd Mar, 09:30 – 12:30 (GMT)

Workshop (Zoom Event)

Introduction to Bitsy Workshop: Making Games with Small Tools – with Claire Morwood (Biome Collective)

Price £10/£5 (conc)

If you are on low income please get in touch at admin@tinderboxcollective.org to ask about free spaces

Play the 16 games made!

PlayAway Jam Bitsy Games

In this workshop with game designer and co-founder of 3-Fold Games Claire Morwood (Biome Collective), we will be introduced to the basics of game design, the history of small digital tools, and set off on making your own Bitsy game!

Suitable for anyone interested in creative technology, completely new to game design, and experienced game designers with an interest in learning new tools.

During the day, Tinderbox is also running a Bitsy One-Day Game Jam! This is open to anyone (whether you attend the workshop or not) to join and share your games.

For ages 16+.

This workshop is held via a Zoom Call and spaces are limited – please register to attend

About Bitsy:
Bitsy is a free-to-use online/browser-based game-making tool created by Adam Le Doux, that allows you to make small games & interactive pieces without programming. You don’t need to download anything to run Bitsy – you’ll just need to have this page open during the workshop to work on your own game:
https://ledoux.itch.io/bitsy

You will need:
A computer or laptop
Access to internet

Claire Morwood
Claire is a self-taught programmer, artist, game designer, and member of games & digital art community Biome Collective. She works freelance as well as on her own personal projects, and has a number of creative interests including pixel art, claymation, programming and developing in Unity.
She is particularly interested in games that promote exploration, personal and diverse narratives, and non-violence. She is also a big fan of small tools such as Bitsy, and their accessible nature. She has run events and game jams (such as Fuse Jam), which aim to provide open creative spaces for people to play and collaborate. Claire’s most recent project is Before I Forget with her company 3-Fold Games, a narrative exploration game about a woman living with dementia.

Websites: shimmerwitch.space | 3foldgames.uk
Twitter: @shimmerwitch

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If you have booked a space for the workshop, please read this Guide from Claire in advance:

Get Setup With Bitsy Guide

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2 Mar 2020 Playaway Events, Playaway Game Design, PlayAway Workshops

Bitsy One-Day Game Jam! & Let’s Play with Zoë Sams

Tinderbox Collective

2Mar_TinderboxPlayAwayGamesFest_BitsyJam

Tue 2nd Mar, 9:00 – 20:00 (GMT)

Casual Game Jam – Taking place all day on itch.io
Bitsy One-Day Game Jam! and Let’s Play with Zoë Sams

FREE – TAKE PART HERE

Play the 16 games made!

PlayAway Jam Bitsy Games

We’re inviting everyone around the world to join us in getting creative with game design using Bitsy!

Throughout the day we’ll be making and sharing games here.

We’ll announce a theme in the morning, and will end the jam with a Twitch play-through of the games submitted at 7pm with Let’s Player Zoë Sams.

Schedule:

09:00 – Jam starts! Sign up on Itch.io

09:30-12:30 – Bitsy Workshop – see more & signup below!

18:00 – Deadline to submit games on Itch.io

19:00-20:00 – Livestream with Zoë Sams (Twitch)

Introduction to Bitsy Workshop
From 9:30 – 12:30 we are also holding an Introduction to Bitsy workshop with game designer Claire Morwood – if you’re new to game-making or Bitsy, then this is a great event to join to learn more!

Please register for the Bitsy workshop if you wish to attend as spaces are limited.

We can’t wait to see what you make!

About Bitsy
Bitsy is a free-to-use online/browser-based game-making tool created by Adam Le Doux, that allows you to make small games & interactive pieces without programming. You don’t need to download anything to run Bitsy – you’ll just need to have this page open during the workshop to work on your own game:
https://ledoux.itch.io/bitsy

FREE – TAKE PART ON itch.io HERE

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1 Mar 2020 Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events, PlayAway Games & Music, PlayAway Workshops

Artificial Images: An introduction to art and machine learning

Tinderbox Collective

Mon 1st March, 15:00 – 16:00 (GMT)

Talk + Q&A (Zoom Event)

An introduction to art and machine learning.

An exploration of generating and creating art with machine learning, with artist and AI researchers Derrick Schultz and Lia Coleman.

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Derrick Schultz

Artificial Images is the art practice of Derrick Schultz. Utilizing cutting edge machine learning technology, his work explores multisensory perception, generative abstraction, and the future of ecology.

In addition to creating his own work, Derrick also teaches machine learning to artists, designers, and image makers. Artificial Images courses combine small group personal instruction with a digital community from across the world.

Website: artificial-images.com

Twitter: @dvsch

Instagram: @dvsmethid

Lia Coleman

Lia Coleman is an artist, AI researcher, and educator. She makes art with AI and teaches others how to do it.

Lia teaches machine learning art at Rhode Island School of Design, as well as classes through Artificial Images. She has spoken on AI art at NeurIPS, New York University, RISD, Mozilla Festival, Gray Area, and Partnership on AI. Her writing on AI and new media art has been published by Princeton Architectural Press and Neocha Magazine. Lia holds a BSc in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is an alumnus of the School for Poetic Computation in NYC.

Website: liacoleman.com | linktr.ee/liacole

Twitter: @Lialialiacole

Instagram: @liacole7

Our Creative Technology strand is sponsored by:

Creative Informatics supports creative individuals and organisations in Edinburgh and South East Scotland to do inspiring things with data. Find out about their funding and development opportunities at creativeinformatics.org

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1 Mar 2020 Playaway Events, PlayAway Games, Education & Wellbeing

Fostering an Engaged Community Virtually and Beyond Panel with SGDA

Tinderbox Collective

Mon 1st Mar, 13:00 – 14:00 (GMT)

Fostering an Engaged Community Virtually and Beyond Panel with SGDA (Zoom Event)
Scottish Game Developers Association (SGDA) Panel

Panelists:
Susie Buchan (Arcadia Fest)
Beverley McMillan (BAFTA Scotland)

Chaired by: Jaime Cross of Scottish Game Developers Association (SGDA)

Other events with the SGDA:
Virtual Play Party!
Fri 26th Feb 19:00 (GMT)
(Twitch Livestream)

Go here to find out more

Go here to watch the stream on the night: twitch.tv/tinderboxplayaway

Join Jaime Cross of the Scottish Game Developers Association (SGDA), Creative Producer Susie Buchan, and Beverley McMillan of BAFTA Scotland discussing building & engaging online and real-world communities inside and outside of games.

Susie Buchan
Susie Buchan is Creative Producer who works across games, art and beyond in both physical and digital spaces. She is a member of Biome Collective and most recently co-produced Arcadia Night 2020 – an evening of online micro-talks, game demos and discussions from leading game designers and thinkers from across the industry.

Twitter: @susepicious | @arcadia_fest twitter

Beverley McMillan

Beverley is the Learning and Events Producer at BAFTA Scotland and is responsible for programming, producing and delivering both industry and career starter events for Scotland’s film, game and television industry. Beverley manages BAFTA’s Learning and New Talent programme in Scotland and has developed new talent initiatives such as Career Close-Up and leads on the Guru Live Glasgow festival for new entrants.

Website: Bafta.org/Scotland

Twitter: @baftascotland

Facebook: @baftascotland

Instagram: @baftascotland

Jaime Cross
Sound designer, musician, audio lead at Team Junkfish and SGDA Board Member.

Twitter: @speedyjx

Scottish Game Developers Association
The Scottish chapter of the IGDA has proudly worked to serve developers around the country since 2011, and are one of the most active chapters in Europe.

Website: scotgamedev.org
Twitter: @scotgamedev

Are you a game maker?

The SGDA are also bringing their yearly Play Party to the festival!

Join us for a live Twitch hangout showcasing locally made games on Friday 26th Feb – and if you’re a game-maker yourself, submit your games to join the playlist!

You can showcase any project made at a game jam during the past 12 months – whether at Global Game Jam 2021 or any game jam in 2020.

If you make your own games – send them to us for a chance to appear in the SGDA Virtual Play Party on Friday 26th Feb!

Games can be submitted to the SGDA here

Find out more about the event here

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27 Feb 2020 Playaway Events, Playaway Game Design, PlayAway Games, Education & Wellbeing, PlayAway Workshops, Uncategorized

Youth Workshop – Introduction to Game Design and Reimagining History!

Tinderbox Collective

Sat 27th Feb, 2pm-3.30pm

Youth Workshop – Introduction to Game Design and Reimagining History!

with Tinderbox Collective, Claire Morwood & National Galleries of Scotland

For Ages 10-16
Note: You will need a computer or laptop for this workshop

Play the game made at the workshop!

Escape the Labyrinth of the King

Learn the basics of game design through reimagining old pictures from the National Galleries of Scotland!

The workshop will take place in Zoom and will involve a mix of creative writing, storytelling and designing a game using Bitsy, a simple 2D game design programme.

Note: You will need a computer or laptop for this workshop

Tinderbox Collective run a range of music and arts projects and workshops with young people.

Claire Morwood is a game designer and member of Biome Collective in Dundee.

The workshop is part of a project and upcoming exhibition called “Ruined” (12th June – 29th Aug 2021, Scottish National Portrait Gallery) which invites you to re-invent Scottish history by imaginatively ‘mashing-up’ paintings in the Scottish art collection. You will be in a time-machine of multiple video projections, in a set of ruins, where the shocking events and ghosts from Scotland’s past appear before your eyes!

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26 Feb 2020 Playaway Events, Playaway Game Design, PlayAway Workshops

Virtual Play Party! With SGDA

Tinderbox Collective

Fri 26th Feb, 19:00 – 21:00 (GMT)

Livestream (Twitch)
Virtual Play Party!
[Live – Watch on Twitch]

Send in your games to the SGDA to be shown as part of the Livestream!

With the Scottish Games Developers Association (SGDA)

This event is a livestream held on Twitch – you don’t need to register to attend, but if you’d like to receive an email reminder for it, please register for a space and we’ll let you know nearer the event.

Go here to watch the stream on the night: twitch.tv/tinderboxplayaway

Other events with the SGDA:
Fostering an Engaged Community Virtually and Beyond Panel with SGDA
Mon 1st Mar 13:00-14:00 (GMT)
(Zoom Event)

Go here to find out more

Join the SGDA and friends for a livestreamed series of mini playthroughs, featuring local game developers and the games they made at the recent Global Game Jam

Tune in on Twitch to see the creators play through their games and show you what it’s about, while you hear about the process of making games in a game jam.

And audience members will get the chance to vote on their favourite, with the winner receiving the SGDA Community Award!

For ages 16+

Are you a game-maker?

If you make your own games – send them to us for a chance to appear in the Play Party!
Games can be submitted to the SGDA here

You can showcase any project made at a game jam during the past 12 months – whether at Global Game Jam 2021 or any game jam in 2020.

The deadline for submissions is Monday 22nd Feb ahead of the livestream showcase on Friday 26th Feb.

Fostering an Engaged Community Virtually and Beyond Panel with SGDA

More info & registration here

Scottish Game Developers Association

The Scottish chapter of the IGDA has proudly worked to serve developers around the country since 2011, and are one of the most active chapters in Europe.

Website: scotgamedev.org
Twitter: @scotgamedev

View all events on Eventbrite

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26 Feb 2020 Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events, PlayAway Games, Education & Wellbeing, PlayAway Workshops

Tinderbox Makerbox: Electronic Crafty Kits & Workshop for Young People

Tinderbox Collective

Fri 26th Feb, 16:00-17:00 (GMT)

Free Kits & Optional Workshop (Zoom Event)

Sign up to receive a free Tinderbox Makerbox electronic crafty kit, plus join an optional workshop if you’d like to build the kits with us!

The Tinderbox Makerbox kits are exciting and creative ways to explore the basics of electronics and make something fun in the process!

Sign up to book a free kit for children & young people aged 18 or younger, completely free of charge, while our stocks last.

If you’d like to, you can also join our workshop on Fri 26th where you can build your kit with someone, ask any questions, or just show-off your creation!

The workshop is held via a Zoom Call and spaces are limited – if you’d like to attend the workshop, please register so that we may send your kits in time.

Workshop Age: 10 – 16 years

Available kits:

Jingle Baubells (for ages 8+)

Make a sound-making decorative robot!

Note – these kits were originally festive themed but they can be decorated however you like.

Glowed Up Gloves (for ages 12+)

These kits include sewable electronics for making gloves that light-up when the fingers touch.

You can choose which kit you’d like and if you’d like a space at the workshop when registering.

To find out more about the kits go to:

tinderboxcollective.org/jingle-baubell-instructions

Kit warning:
Please note that these kits contain small parts that are choking hazards for small children, including a ‘coin cell battery’ (3V CR2032) that can be very dangerous if swallowed. Please also be aware that the battery holder is not lockable so the battery is easy to insert and remove even when the kit is assembled.

If you have booked a space for the workshop:

If you have a Jingle Baubells Makerbox you will need these things for the workshop:

One device to join the Zoom call workshop
Glue
A pair of scissors
Bluetack
Your Jingle Baubells kit

If you have a Glowed Up Gloves Makerbox you will need these things for the workshop:

One device to join the Zoom call workshop
A sewing needle
A pair of scissors
Your Glowed Up Gloves kit

If you have any questions please let us know at admin@tinderboxcollective.org

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25 Feb 2020 Playaway Events, PlayAway Games, Education & Wellbeing, PlayAway Research in Games

Beyond Parasocial Interaction: Speed Dating with Ghosts

Tinderbox Collective

Thu 25th Feb, 20:00 – 21:00 (GMT)

Beyond Parasocial Interaction: Speed Dating for Ghosts

with Gabriel Elvery

Zoom Event: Talk & Let’s Play

Have you cared for a virtual pet, mourned a favourite character, or agonised over which video game character to date? If so, this event is for you! This talk, followed by interactive gameplay, will explore our emotional attachments to imaginary characters and consider their implications on our relationship with technology.

Suitable for anyone interested in creative technology, completely new to game design, and experienced game designers with an interest in learning new approaches and critical theories.

Content Warning: Contains frank discussions of death and its consequences, both seriously and with intentional humour.

For ages 15+

This is a talk and interactive Let’s Play, held via a Zoom Call. The audience will be given the opportunity to join in with the Let’s Play via the chat function.

Gabriel Elvery

Gabe is an LKAS PhD funded researcher at the University of Glasgow and Vice Editor of Press Start Journal. Gabe is researching the effects of Fantasy in single-player, narrative-driven video games. Their project will explore whether its effective use facilitates affective engagement with digital fantasy worlds and whether this digital affect has the potential to impact the emotional wellbeing of players in their off-screen lives. Gabe’s research will develop a new kind of reader reception theory by investigating whether literary analysis of video games has practical applications and corresponds with the experiences of players. The end result will make available a fuller understanding of the affordances, implications and impact of the Digital Fantastic.

Website: digital-fantastic.com
Twitter: @DigiFantastic

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25 Feb 2020 PlayAway, Playaway Creative Technology, Playaway Events

CI Lab 15: Just the ticket – Performance, Payment and Data

Tinderbox Collective

Thu 25th Feb, 18:00 – 20:00 GMT

CI Lab 15: Just the ticket – Performance, Payment and Data
with Creative Informatics

Note: This event is being run by Creative Informatics and has a separate booking system. Book a ticket here.

Throughout 2020, live events and festivals were forced to either cancel their plans or move online as venues and performance spaces across the UK and beyond closed their doors in compliance with Covid-19 restrictions. As events moved online, so did audiences, providing new challenges around audience engagement and ticketing for live events producers, who could no longer offer traditional tickets sold through a box office, for a limited number of physical seats.

At a time where content creators stream live on YouTube and Twitch without selling any tickets, relying on advertising, subscriptions, digital gifts and donations to generate income, how can event producers engage online audiences, who often expect creative content to be free and available to enjoy at any time convenient to them?

Join the Creative Informatics team to hear from theatre and festival producers including Edinburgh International Book Festival, Traverse Theatre and Civic Digits Theatre Company, ticketing provider CrowdEngage, and Resident Entrepreneurs Scottie and Centrline, as we consider what ‘tickets’ and payment for live events and performance might look like in the future.

Note: This event is being run by Creative Informatics and has a separate booking system. Book a ticket here.

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