Boston Festival of Indie Games

Game On This Weekend!

My brother’s birthday is actually this weekend, so I decided that this week’s post should be about something that he truly enjoys. In fact, if you’ve ever had the opportunity to meet my brother, you probably wouldn’t have a lot of trouble figuring out what today’s post is about. However, since there’s a pretty good chance that you haven’t actually met him, I should probably just say that today’s post is about gaming. And, if you’re looking for an opportunity to indulge in some video games, board games, and card games this weekend, there are a couple of events in the Boston area that you will definitely want to check out.

First, if you’re a Minecraft fan or you really want to learn the basics of creating video game mods in Java, the Minecraft Modding Workshop at Parts and Crafts in Somerville may be the event for you. This is because the Minecraft Modding Workshop, which is scheduled to take place from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. every Saturday for the next four weeks is designed to teach you how to use Java to program your very own Minecraft mod. This four-week series will teach you to how to write and rewrite Java source code to create mods with new blocks, items, recipes, and more. For more information on the Minecraft Modding Workshop and/or to register for the event, which is $80 for the entire four-week series, please visit the Parts and Crafts website or the Parts and Crafts Registration Page.

Please Note: You do not need to know Java to take part in the Minecraft Modding Workshop, but some knowledge of computer programming and the ability to read and type are required.

Secondly, if you’re looking for the next great game that no one’s ever heard of, you should definitely head over to the MIT Johnson Athletic Center tomorrow. This is because the MIT Johnson Athletic Center is hosting the Fourth Annual Boston Festival of Indie Games from 10:00 A.M. to 8:00 P.M. on Saturday, September 12, 2015. This event will give you the opportunity to see and/or try out over 45 new tabletop games and over 55 new video games all from independent developers. The festival will also give you the opportunity to see a live musical performance by the Videri String Quartet (who are known for their video game-oriented musical arrangements), a keynote speech by Susan Gold (creator of the Global Game Jam), and an awards ceremony. For more information on the Boston Festival of Indie Games or Boston FIG for short, please visit the Boston FIG website.

Photo credit: blakespot / Foter / CC BY

Back-to-School Events and After-School Programs

Now that’s it been a couple of weeks since all of kids have gone back to school, you may be looking for something to entertain your kids or, at the very least, keep them out of trouble for a little while once the school day is over. Fortunately, there are a number of one-time events and ongoing programs that are sure to keep your kids busy this weekend and possibly beyond. In fact, there are a couple of programs this weekend that are specifically designed to help students unwind, explore new things, and ring in the new school year. As a result, if you’re looking for something for your children to do this weekend or looking for something to keep your kids busy all year long, there’s certainly no shortage of things to choose from.

First, if you and/or your kids are big fans of gaming, you may want to check out the Boston Festival of Indie Games. The Boston Festival of Indie Games, which is held at MIT’s Johnson Athletic Center in Cambridge, is a nonprofit festival that features a variety of tabletop games and video games from independent developers. This festival will allow you to see over 50 new video games, over 40 new tabletop games, attend a variety of panels on game design, learn about game design in a classroom setting, and a whole lot more. For more information on the Boston Festival of Indie Games and/or to register for the event, which is scheduled to take place from 9:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. tomorrow (September 13, 2014), please visit the Boston Festival of Indie Games website.

Secondly, if you’re a college student looking for a way to meet new people and/or you’ve always loved a good party, CollegeFest may be exactly what you’re looking for. This is because CollegeFest, which is being held tomorrow (Saturday 13, 2014) from 11:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. at Fenway Park, is one of the largest back-to-school events in New England. This festival/party will give you the opportunity to meet thousands of college students while you listen to music from a variety of great bands and get free stuff from just about every business under the sun. For more information on CollegeFest, which is completely free to attend this year, please visit the CollegeFest website.

Finally, if you’re looking for an ongoing program to keep your kids busy all year long, here are some of the major programs that are available just about everywhere:

1. The Girl Scouts of America is a nonprofit organization that has been teaching girls ages 5 and up a variety of life skills since 1912. The average Girl Scout meeting (and there is typically nothing average about these meetings) will include activities that explore topics such as animals, arts and crafts, business, computers, cooking, community service, dancing, first aid, health, manners, music, nature, science, storytelling, and a whole lot more. Girl Scouts also offers each girl the opportunity to engage in a number of local, state, and national events that include camps, camping trips, hiking trips, ice cream socials, sleepovers at museums, and more events than I could ever hope to list here. For more information on the Girl Scouts of America, to find a troop near you, and/or to find the information that you need to start a troop of your own, please visit the Official Girl Scouts of America website.

2. The Boy Scouts of America is a nonprofit organization that has been teaching boys ages 7 and up a variety of life skills since 1910. The average Boy Scout meeting will include activities that explore topics such as arts and crafts, cars, camping skills, community service, communications, engineering, first aid, metalworking, music, nature, physical skills, science, woodworking, and a whole lot more. Boy Scouts also offers each boy the opportunity to engage in a number of local, state, and national events that include camps, camping trips, hiking trips, pinewood derbies, rainwater regattas (think pinewood derby with sailboats), and too many other events to list here. For more information on the Boy Scouts of America, to find a troop near you, and/or to find the information that you need to volunteer, please visit the Official Boy Scouts of America website.

3. The YMCA, or Y for even shorter, is a nonprofit organization that has provided youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility programs for people of all ages since 1844. The programs offered by the Y can vary widely from area to area, but most Y’s offer academic enrichment programs, child care, early learning programs, family activities, leadership programs, swimming, sports, and a whole lot more. The Y also has camps with specialty programs and a number of advocacy, community service, and social service programs. For more information on the YMCA and/or to find a Y near you, please visit the YMCA website.

Photo credit: JD Hancock / Foter / CC BY

Friday Fun: A Not So Scary Weekend

It’s Friday the 13th and many people are already crossing their fingers in the hope that nothing catastrophic will go wrong today. In fact, the more superstitious amongst us may be giving deep consideration to the dilemma of whether they should stay home and hide from the world in front of their TVs or carry a number of lucky charms to defend themselves from the chaos that may ensue on this “jinxed” day. However, if you’re one of the people that’s just looking for something to do after the day is over or you think the whole Friday the 13th thing is something to scare children and people that suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia (the fear of Friday the 13th), there are a couple of events you should definitely check out this weekend.

First, if you love big musical events, Mix 104.1 is hosting MixFest this weekend at the DCR Memorial Hatch Shell in Boston. This music festival will feature four bands, including Gavin Deshaw, the Backstreet Boys, Of Monsters and Men, and the winner of Mix 104.1’s “15 Seconds of Fame” contest. The festival will also feature a special area just for kids so that you can listen to the music without your kids driving you crazy. Best of all, the whole event is absolutely free unless you really just have to have VIP seats in which case you’ll probably have to win them. For more information on this year’s MixFest, which begins Saturday at 4pm (gates open at 1pm), please visit the Mix 104.1 website.

Secondly, if you’re more interested in gaming than big musical events or your kids are demanding something they can play, you may want to check out the Boston Festival of Indie Games. This festival, which is hosted by MIT, features over 25 independent board games and over 65 independent video games that you can play, vote on, and, if you so choose, purchase. In fact, the festival will not only give you the opportunity to play a whole bunch of games for free but will also give you the opportunity to attend a concert for a $25 fee that features music from well-known video game groups, including Bastion’s Darren Korb, Control Group, DJ Cutman, deadbeatblast, and last but certainly not least, the Video Game Orchestra. For more information on the festival, which begins at 10pm on Saturday, please visit the Boston Festival of Indie Games website.