BostonFIG | Polygamer

Polygamer #20: Sarah Como of Zephyr Workshop

Posted on April 22, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Sarah Como is the Chief Operating Officer of Zephyr Workshop, developer of tabletop game A.E.G.I.S. and computer game Flora Fiora. Zephyr was born amidst Sarah’s recent education in the game design program at Becker College, which landed her on the PAX East panel "Full-Time Student, Part-Time Indie", in which she discussed juggling these dual roles. Since graduation, Sarah has become active in all aspects of Boston’s indie game scene, including working as PR manager for the Boston Festival of Indie Games (BostonFIG) and consultant for Green Door Labs.

In this episode of Polygamer, Sarah and Ken talk about the value of having a formal education in game design; the lasting appeal of board games in a digital age; best practices for Kickstarter crowdfunding; the role of geography and networking in getting your projects off the ground; and the occasional need to "lawyer up" before embarking on a new venture.

Download the audio edition of this interview below or from iTunes, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spoke, Overcast, Pandora, Pocket Casts, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, RadioPublic, or the Internet Archive. Click past the jump for links to resources mentioned in this episode.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:12:50 — 34.2MB) | Embed

Polygamer #16: Fiona Cherbak on hiring and retaining women, GDC & BostonFIG

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Ken Gagne

Fiona Cherbak is a human resources and staffing specialist with a storied career in the entertainment and games industries. At this year’s Game Developers Conference, she will moderate the panel "Turning the Tide: Hiring and Retaining Women in the Games Industry". In this exclusive preview with Polygamer, Cherbak discusses how and where in the pipeline to effect change in the industry’s gender diversity; how to create work environments that are appealing and safe for women; and whether changing an industry’s gender ratio is "disruptive".

Cherbak is also one of the founders of the annual Boston Festival of Indie Games, or BostonFIG, and shares her motivations to start this event and how it’s grown since its 2012 inception.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 49:43 — 25.8MB) | Embed

Polygamer #08: Chris Barney on games for social justice

Posted on October 22, 2014 by Ken Gagne

Chris Barney is a game developer who sees games as an engine of social capital. As a maturing medium, video games have the potential to reinforce, shape, and influence societal norms and values toward sexism, racism, upward mobility, and other constructs. How do video games do this, and how can game developers balance this responsibility to their audience with the responsibility to their shareholders? Can video games truly make us violent? Can a single video game change the world? Reprising his BostonFIG presentation on "The Nature and Purpose of Games: Toward Social Justice", Barney speaks on these topics, answering many questions while raising others.

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Podcast: Download (Duration: 55:18 — 28.9MB) | Embed