We got accepted into the Casual Connect conference, and received sponsorship offer for a free booth and accommodation! The only thing we need to do is decide whether to fly down all the way to Singapore!
Having not really gone on much holiday from developing Cell Surgeon for 3-4 years, and never been to Singapore before, this was a perfect excuse to go!
We spent a whole week in Singapore, exhibiting at Casual Connect for 4 days. Our “free accommodation” was a backpackers hostel nearby, a room with 4 bunk beds = 8 people sharing one room. The best thing though was everyone was a game developer!
Every morning all us indies will hop on the bus to Sentosa Exhibition Centre, where we then trap ourselves in the most orange lit room you’ll ever find yourself in. There, we will present our game to various game publishers and media.
Unlike a normal consumer expo, Casual Connect was more for connecting developers to publishers and other services. Since we weren’t really looking for a publisher (nor does anyone want to publish us because our game’s already released), it was mainly great to see the indie scene outside of Australia’s.
The quality of indie games from the international stage was high! Over the course of 4 days, we met alot of friendly developers, and shared our stories of indie life, which surprisingly we are all on the same boat, no matter which country we come from.
What inspired me most was the indie spirit, that we would invest so much time / money flying to different countries and trying to get our game out there, all whilst living frugally and avoid spending the last of our savings. The things we do for our babies…
Met and befriended alot of awesome and friendly developers that literally has come from all different countries. Pakistan, India, Russia, Italy, France, Germany, Singapore!
After the 4 days, we spent the remaining days of the week being a tourist, visiting all the attractions, and enjoying cheap food at Hawker Centres!
$3-4 dollar meals! Hell yeh! Heres some random tourist photos 😛
Overall it was definitely a memorable experience. A nice little “holiday” treat for finishing our game, and still remain in close contact will all the developers that we now call friends!
InJoyLabs 