Freeplay Independent Games Festival is hosting two days worth of workshops this year with a special workshop on the Sunday before the festival. Workshops range from improv games and zine making to shaders and colour grading in games. Each workshop goes for two hours, and is hosted by some fantastic and experienced people. Our workshops are designed to be introductory and beginner friendly; no prior coding or design knowledge is required.

The Sunday 5th workshop hosted by TAG is FREE and takes place at Carlton Gardens.

Thursday workshops are $10 each and take place at Library at The Dock’s Performance Space.

Friday workshops are $12 each and take place at Kathleen Syme Library’s Training & Learning Space.

Space is extremely limited. Purchase your individual tickets before they all run out!

TAG: Traditional Aboriginal Games

Carlton Gardens, North of Melbourne Museum

Sunday 5th May @ 10:30am–12pm

FREE

Freeplay in partnership with RMIT Games have invited the lovely folks from TAG (Traditional Aboriginal Games) to host a series of Indigenous games for us to learn and play at Carlton Gardens. Come along, and join us for a range of physical games, or just relax on the grass and say hello to fellow Freeplay attendees. The games will end at 12pm, but feel free to stick around and chat with friends.

Sign up for the games below, space is limited, and the event will run rain or shine.

Easy map pinpointing the meeting location: https://twitter.com/free_play/status/1123493837517799424

HOST: TAG

Workshop: Improv & Games

Library at The Dock, Level 2, Performance Space

Thursday 9th May @ 10:30am–12:30pm

In this workshop we’ll introduce you to various theatre games and exercises from the improv comedy tradition. The goal is to work on breaking down interpersonal barriers, getting comfortable with spontaneity and feeding our creativity through physical and social play. It will also be lots of fun!

HOST: Melissa McGlensey

Workshop: Zine Making

Library at The Dock, Level 2, Performance Space

Thursday 9th May @ 1:00pm–3:00pm

We can use zines – DIY self-published and made booklets or leaflets – to avoid creative burnout, and take us out of our usual creative sphere into another one. Hop away from your computer, and get ready to cut, paste, write, draw, fold, and leave this workshop with your very own zine, and hopefully incorporate less pressure surrounding finished or polished projects in your chosen creative field.

HOST: Gemma Mahadeo

Workshop: Small Business Round Table

Library at The Dock, Level 2, Performance Space

Thursday 9th May @ 3:30pm–5:30pm

Maize Wallin & David Haidon (MEAA) facilitate and informative round table discussion on starting and running a small business in game development. With speakers from LDB Group Accounting, Co-Ops NSW, Media Entertainment Arts Alliance, and more. We will discuss financials, work environment, productions practices, business opportunities, and more.

HOST: Game Workers Unite Australia

Workshop: Shaders in Games

Kathleen Syme Library, Level 2, Training & Learning Space

Friday 10th May @ 10:30am–12:30pm

Shaders are the recipes all modern computers follow to draw pixels on your screen. They’re also an exciting visual art medium with a very unique set of constraints. Come and learn about the basic ingredients that go into shaders and then have fun concocting your own. No prior knowledge is required.

HOST: Ian MacLarty

Workshop: Bitsy Game Making

Kathleen Syme Library, Level 2, Training & Learning Space

Friday 10th May @ 1:00pm–3:00pm

Bitsy is a little game editor for little games, free and accessible via the web. Don’t be fooled by its size, as Bitsy has the potential to make powerful and moving games. In this workshop we’ll be creating tiny games, tiny stories, and tiny worlds in Bitsy. Bring along all your feelings.

HOST: Cecile Richard