EAST VILLAGE — An art and technology incubator is showcasing more than 15 indie and experimental video games on Saturday — and visitors are encouraged to stop by and play.
ArtCade Con will turn The Downstairs at La MaMa, a new venue inside the East Fourth Street theater, into a bustling arcade and interactive art gallery, complete with screens that are up to 7 feet tall and 12 feet wide, said Billy Clark, who helped organize the event.
“The types of games that are there, they’re fun [and] they’re different and you get to play them in a social setting,” he said.
The games on display vary greatly in content and platform, Clark said.
“There’s a game called ‘Thumper’ where you’re basically just rocketing down, you’re sort of being propelled down this tunnel of light and in the process just creating these amazing visuals,” he said.
Other games include “Donut County,” a “physics adventure game” where players act as a mysterious hole that sucks in objects in the scene.
There’s also “Panoramical,” which places gamers in “synaesthetic alien vistas” and allows them to control the world’s visuals and sounds “like an ambient disco-god,” according to its website.
And "BADBLOOD", a split-screen game where players participate in a deadly version of hide-and-seek.
Curators and organizations that support independent video game developers and specialize in video games as an art form — like the NYU Game Center, Playcrafting and Babycastles — handpicked the games, organizers said.
ArtCade Con will also include a panel discussion featuring individuals from the “games and art curation spheres.” Additionally, many of the developers and the organizations behind the games will be at the event, giving participants a chance to interact with them, Clark said.
ArtCade Con will take place Oct. 10 from 6 p.m. to midnight at The Downstairs at La MaMa, located at 66 E. Fourth St. Tickets are available online and cost $15 a person with a discounted $5 rate for students and artists.
