GeekNights is live at PAX West 2022! If you're looking for the promised slides from the panel, today is your lucky day. As promised, these have links to the other talks we referenced!

Losing
Sunday, Sept 4th
12:30pm PT
Sasquatch Theatre (Sheraton, Level 2)

Winning is good, and losing is bad. We strive to win, and this is the basis for most of the games we play. Challenges are binary: we either overcome them, advancing the story, or fail, and must try again. But, what if we were to toss this conventional wisdom aside? Do we really only have fun when we win? Have you ever had that moment in a game where epic and total failure was the most memorable part? What kinds of games would arise if we strove to make losing, instead of winning, the point?

GeekNights will be live at PAX West 2022!

Losing
Sunday, Sept 4th
12:30pm PT
Sasquatch Theatre (Sheraton, Level 2)

Winning is good, and losing is bad. We strive to win, and this is the basis for most of the games we play. Challenges are binary: we either overcome them, advancing the story, or fail, and must try again. But, what if we were to toss this conventional wisdom aside? Do we really only have fun when we win? Have you ever had that moment in a game where epic and total failure was the most memorable part? What kinds of games would arise if we strove to make losing, instead of winning, the point?

GeekNights will be live at PAX East 2022!

Atari Game Design
Thursday, April 21st
7:00pm ET
Bumblebee Theatre

Game design is a wide subject. The best approach to mastering it is to focus on the fundamentals, and what better place to do that than with Atari 2600 games? Join us for a deep game design analysis of classic competitive Atari games like Outlaw, and how their core concepts extend to modern games. When you can literally count the pixels with your eyes, and the code will fit in your calculator, the core principles of good (and bad) design become starkly apparent.

We (or more likely just Rym) will be live at PAX Unplugged 2021 with a new talk! We did a pilot version of this years ago at MAGFest, and this is the "real deal" version.

Rare Game Mechanics
Friday December 10
1:00pm ET
Crab God Theatre

Note that we will not be attending PAX otherwise. Rym will only be in town for the panel on Friday. So for once, we can't say "come find us in tabletop!" because we simply won't be there. We expect to have full video and slides to share, likely before the end of PAX Unplugged itself that weekend!

The GeekNights Newsletter is not new by any means, but it has now been moved to a new platform. If you were already subscribed, you are still subscribed. However, I do plan to start doing it again in the near-ish future. If I wasn't, why would I have gone through all this effort to move it? If you want to receive future installments, now is your chance to get on board.

To subscribe, simply head on over to our new micro-site newsletter.frontrowcrew.com. Not only can you subscribe there, but you can also browse the newsletter archives. Enjoy.

As you all know, we have presented at a lot of PAXes. In fact, we've never missed a single PAX in the US since 2008. Over 13 years, 36 PAXes, and 58 panels, PAX is a huge part of our lives. We even flew to Australia twice for the first two PAXes down under. Giving a panel at PAX is something we look forward to every year, and every PAX.

We will, regrettably, not be attending or presenting at PAX West 2021.

We are not yet in a post-COVID world. The Delta variant is spreading fast. Not enough people are vaccinated. Frankly, it's too soon for a PAX.

Our official appearance policy is very simple, and we encourage you to consider it for your own personal safety. We will not attend or perform at any convention where masks or social distancing measures are required.

This is not because these measures are not effective. They are extremely important. It is because, as long as such measures are prudent and necessary, it does not seem safe or wise to attend any large indoor gathering. Especially conventions.

Stay safe, stay healthy, be careful, and we hope to see you again at a future PAX! But please, do not risk your health or safety for any convention no matter how much you miss them. It's just too soon, and the near future is too uncertain.

GeekNights will be live at PAX Online East 2021!

Atari Game Design
Saturday July 17th
1:45pm ET
PAX2 Twitch Stream

This is all new content! We did a version at PAX East 2016 that focused on multi-player games, which you can watch on youtube, but this time we're focusing on single player Atari games. When you can literally count the pixels with your eyes, and the code will fit in your calculator, the core principles of good (and bad) design become starkly apparent.

We will be in the PAX Discord to answer questions and chat during the talk. Hope to see you there!