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Gamedev.js Warsaw #13 with js13kGames

A few days ago, on Tuesday October 15th we had our thirteenth Gamedev.js Warsaw meetup, and so a special edition dedicated to js13kGames 2019 was held that day.

The js13kGames competition is popular outside of Poland, but for the past couple of years I’m trying to make it at least recognizable to some in my own country. That’s why I couldn’t miss the opportunity to take over thirteenth edition of our local Gamedev.js Warsaw meetup when I had the chance.

Recap of js13kGames 2019

The evening started with my rather short summary of what happened in 2019 for the js13kGames competition.

I was highlighting the new additions like Web Monetization category, new validation bot, new voting system, and expressed my hope for more changes in the coming years.

The meaning of life

Next was Rafał Ruciński talking about his game Space Wizard Toast Spinning and the meaning of life.

He went through some of his lessons learned and conclusions about the competition he had over the years.

Wild West of gamedev

Third talk was both Michał Budzyński and Staś Małolepszy going full into Wild West theme of their game Backcountry, wearing cowboy hats and ponchos.

They explained Good Luck, a very interesting tool they used to develop their game which can’t be called game engine, and is perfect for js13kGames as you can keep the parts you need and remove the unused ones.

Quiz with prizes

After the talks we went for the traditional quiz (using Kahoot) with prizes, this time js13k themed - questions were rather easy, as usual.

Beside compo t-shirts and Firefox plushies in the quiz itself you were able to get our stickers, but also gadgets: CDs from last year and bottle openers from this one.

They were quite popular and started to disappear right away.

Pizza, drinks, VR games

After the official part ended we moved to the dining area, grabbed pizza with drinks, and chilled talking about all things gamedev.

It was also an opportunity to try WebXR entries from the js13kGames competition on an Oculus Quest device, thanks to Mozilla.

At some point we had a line of people waiting to try it, and all those who did really enjoyed it.

Summary

It was our first time at WeWork Grzybowska 62, given Codility moved out of their former office at Dobra, and they (our good friend Tomasz Wesołowski to be exact) are helping us organize everything.

Most of attendees stayed for at least 1-2 hours after the official part ended to casually talk with each other, which I think is awesome. We don’t have huge crowds at our meetups, but the community around it is really great.

See you all next month!