WildChords at IGDA Finland April Gathering

Bring out your guitars! For many people it was just another Tuesday night in Helsinki, but game lovers know better. Old and new friends alike found their way to Bar Cuba to converse, relax, and participate in sudden brainstorms.

After most of the visitors had settled in the stage was claimed by Ovelin, the melodious sponsor of the evening. Cristoph Thür, co-founder and CEO of Ovelin, was so kind as to entertain us with a few words and a demonstration of their acclaimed iPad game WildChords. The innovation of WildChords is to learn to play the guitar the fun way through gameplay objectives. Be afraid, Guitar Hero.

Ovelin donated visitors a few drinks and a guitar pick, and one especially cozy corner of Cuba was reserved for those who wanted to try the game for themselves. Evening was not short of wildlife as Ovelin´s exotic mascot Carsten the Crocodile was also present, ready to pose for the multitude of cameras.

We had 140 human visitors and one crocodile. Maybe in the next IGDA gathering we will hear live guitar music from one of you? Thank you to everyone and see you in May!

  Photos by Stuart McQuade

Gangs of Boomtown at IGDA Finland March Gathering

Drawing by Jussi Simpanen

Howdy partners!

Another successful IGDA gathering brought Wild West to the heart of icy Helsinki! Evening's Western theme had inspired many outstanding costumes ranging from sheriffs to bandits. We were thrilled to see that so many of you had succumbed to our whimsy and dressed up for the occasion!

The evening was action packed. Digital Chocolate offered a few rounds of drinks and gave out Gangs of Boomtown soundtrack CDs. Head of Digital Chocolate Helsinki Studio, Kaj Häggman and Gangs of Boomtown Producer Miika Tams talked about the production of the game and shared some latest news from Digital Chocolate office in Ruoholahti. We also had a video link to Punit Soni from Google+ who is managing Games and Mobile products at Google. He greeted IGDA Finland crowd and the whole Finnish game industry all away from San Francisco, US.

Gangs of Boomtown was released as promised, and when you combine that with great conversation and live country music it comes as no surprise that the event attracted a crowd of 216 game enthusiasts.

A big thank you to Digital Chocolate for sponsoring the evening, and an equally sized thank you to all who participated. See you next time!

More photos: March Gathering 2012

IGDA Finland March Gathering & Release Party!

And the hero rides off into the sunset…

BAM! BAM! On 13th of March Gangs of Boomtown will occupy Cuba bar. So get ready for some serious saloon brawling, spineless townspeople, the evil villains, unbribable sheriff and the duel to end it all!

What happening on Tuesday?

Drink tickets and Gangs of Boomtown soundtrack for first 200!

7PM door are open and DJs start to play 8.30PM Presentation; Digital Chocolate and Google 9.30PM live Country Music!

Digital Chocolate's Gangs of Boomtown release party will take place at the IGDA Finland March Gathering. We will have wild west action packed evening! The team behind the game will be present along with some sheriffs and cowboys. Digital Chocolate sponsors a couple of rounds of drinks and there is a band playing country music! Whohoo! Surely an evening not to be missed!

Play the game on Google+: Gangs of Boomtown. The dawn is also just breaking for Google+ as a gaming platform. Digital Chocolate and Google will share early settler experiences on how to round gamers into your circles on Google+.

IGDA Finland March Gathering / Gangs of Boomtown release party Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 7PM Cuba Bar, Erottaja 4, Helsinki Finland (map: http://igda.fi/?page_id=5)