Yes, this is something that has not yet appeared here on this website. It is an experiment, of sorts, that might change form as time goes on. If and how largely depends on you, dear reader.

It is supposed to be an overview of what’s currently happening in the Swiss game developers scene: who is doing what, where the interesting articles are and where people meet.

And for that, I need your help, too. Tell me what you are doing. Tell me what games you release. Tell me what talks you give. And most of all: tell me what matters to you.

This is how all of us, as the Swiss game developers community, will profit the most.

So, let’s jump right in, shall we?

What has happened

Highlight of the past week, of course, has been the IGDA chapter meeting on Monday, the 28th of November. Not only have we been introduced to Paysafe Cards, but we also got treated to a nice presentation on game sound design by Chris Polus – who then went on to battle against Red Ochsenbein in a battle of epic proportions. Check out their web-sites, if you have business for them!

Gbanga introduced a new side quest called Priceless Information, upping the number of available side quests to seven. Priceless Information fosters collaboration, with a secret letter (priced at initially 1000 CASH) that has to be passed on from player to player. Will the players be able to work together? We’re looking forward to the statistics …

Fitting the upcoming onslaught of christmas, Bitforge released a new advergame for Coop called Starflight. Their first 3D game produced entirely in-house has you catapulting an angel into the sky and letting it collect stars. Starflight is available for iOS and Android.

If you prefer a more critical view on the world, you might consider Buy!Bye! by Stefan Spieler and Marc Gruber, currently students at the game design programme at the ZHdK. Defeat your opponent in this fast-paced 2-player iPad game by having more dexterous fingers – therefore becoming part of the 1%.

And 20 Minuten ran an interview with Yann Le Tensorer (article in German), managing director at Ubisoft Thalwil, who is currently building up the core team, discussing some of the reasoning for opening shop in Switzerland and how he hopes politics will foster the development of the game industry in Switzerland.

Everything else

Want to make sure your input gets heard? Complaints, ideas, suggestions? You can tell my on Twitter. Or you can write a mail at kaspar@xeophin.net.

Also check out the list of Swiss Game Developers I’m curating on Twitter – and make sure you get added!