The most fun a person can have while horizontal isn’t on a bed, it’s on a board. At least, you might have heard that argument made by some of the the board game aficionados that took part in the second annual Board Game Jam this past weekend. You definitely would have heard it from Dave [...]

Video game enthusiasts from around Toronto and beyond gathered this weekend for GamerCamp LV3, which took place at a number of venues downtown. Now in its third year, GamerCamp provides a variety of events such as workshops, competitions, socials, and movie screenings in an effort to celebrate and spread the word about the many wonders [...]

This past May, Cassie Creighton wanted to tell a story. Not any story, mind you, but one of evil lemons, rainbow portals, and unicorn-pony hybrids. And with the help of her father, Cassie’s story began to take shape. It was called Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure, and was released as an online Flash-based game: the musings [...]

Every year tons of people show up to Fan Expo in costume. Some are amazing; many are not, but are at least still charming in their way. We were deeply impressed by a Strong Bad who stayed in character by lounging around and telling all the “ladies” to admire his “rock hard abdominals.” (Which he [...]

Not that these mousepads from a previous Fan Expo aren’t very, very special in their own way. Fan Expo is back once more. The annual comic/sci-fi/horror/anime/game convention is now the largest nerd convention in Canada and is widely recognized as one of the most important conventions in North America. This year it moves to the [...]

A new program to support women wanting to make their first video game will be starting up in Toronto next month. The Difference Engine Initiative was started as a joint effort by indie game collective Hand Eye Society, Ryerson University, and the Toronto International Film Festival to draw more people from under-represented groups in the video game industry into the community—and will initially focus on women. Over six weeks, attendees will hear from professional game creators, learn basic game design, and be guided towards completing a first project, says coordinator Mare Sheppard. “No programming experience is needed,” she adds. “If you’ve completed a project in a creative medium, you’re equipped to get this stuff done.”

If you’ve shuffled into the basement of Union Station recently to blow off steam on play-shooting and silver balls, you've been greeted by a faceless sign and windows covered in white paper. Not a good omen, especially as arcades across North America continue to flatline. NYC’s legendary Chinatown Fair closed down, and a few years back Toronto’s own Funland came face-to-face with its kill screen.

mesh organizer Stuart McDonald revs up the crowd. The sixth edition of mesh, “Canada’s web conference,” wrapped up yesterday evening after two days and more than 20 sessions tackling the web and the ways it is changing how we live. The conference spanned four themes—society, media, marketing, and business—and explored issues such as the evolution [...]

Toronto can stand a little prouder as the release of the homegrown iPad game Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP cements the city’s growing reputation as a hotbed for independent gaming. Sworcery is a weird, artistic game—described in the App Store as an “exploratory action-adventure with an emphasis on audiovisual style”—with roots in point-and-click adventures. Players [...]

From June 11–20, Torontoist is exploring the best and most promising of Luminato’s many offerings. The cast of Best Before. There are performers, but no actors. There are observers, but no audience. There is a script, but no planned story. In other words, it is a play, but also a game. Mixing traditional theatre productions [...]

If you were strong enough to have eschewed the allure of last week’s Torontoist Gamercamp preview piece because you don’t like playing video games, congratulations! Your resistance allowed you to miss out on some pretty sweet cupcake action on Saturday. Way to go! On the other hand, for those of you gamers who wanted to [...]

Mark Rabo and Jaime Woo share a hearty laugh over the mad ass-whooping they’re going to unleash upon all who dare to oppose them. Photo courtesy of Jaime Woo. If snacks and unlimited arcade freeplay are relevant to your interests, you might want to read on. This Saturday (and on Ossington, no less), there will [...]