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Read the press release here.

Indie Video Games Festival Making East Coast Debut in Astoria

By Jeanmarie Evelly | February 12, 2013 12:04pm

ASTORIA — Game on.

A gamers paradise is heading to Queens this weekend, as the country's premier independent video games festival takes over the Museum of Moving Image.

IndieCade, an annual L.A.-based event that's been dubbed "the video game industry's Sundance" by The Los Angeles Times will make it's East Coast debut at the museum on Friday, kicking off three days of gaming workshops, presentations from industry experts and plenty of hands-on chances to play.

“IndieCade is thrilled to bring the Museum audience and the city at large a living, breathing, playing, walking, talking, game-jamming exhibition featuring the cutting edge of this innovative field," IndieCade founder Stephanie Barish said in a statement.

According to the IndieCade website, its organizers wanted to bring the festival to New York in response to a boon of game development coming out of the East Coast.

"Some of our favorite games have come from indies living on the East Side," a description of the New York event reads. "It’s like IndieCade’s sarcastic, all-black-wearing cousin."

Visitors will get a change to play 20 new video games that were featured in IndieCade’s October 2012 festival competition or compete in a classic arcade tournament with ten games featured in the museums ongoing "Spacewar! Video Games Blast Off" exhibit.

Other highlights include a kids-friendly game making workshop, lectures and presentations by gamers and industry experts, plus a competition where students and faculty from New York University's Game Center and Parsons The New School for Design will square off to design and create a game in just an hour.

“New York is a key hub for independent games with a strong, deeply engaged community of designers, educators, artists, and writers," Jason Eppink, the museum's digital media curator, said in a statement. "There’s no better time than the present for IndieCade East to happen.”

IndieCade East will take place from Feb. 15 to 17 at the Museum of Moving Image in Astoria, at 36-01 35th Ave. More information and ticket prices can be found here.