Event News
Let’s Play PA 2015 Recap
About the Conference
Let’s Play PA was a 1.5 day conference on video game development held at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology on October 2nd and 3rd. the Pennsylvania-centric event combined a conference and awards show celebrating the efforts of hundreds of talented students, developers, and hobbyists from across the Commonwealth.
Focus
The focus of the Let’s Play PA conference was quite simple; to showcase the talent that Pennsylvania has to offer in game developers and video game educational programs. Pennsylvania is a growing hub of talent, skill, and vision, and this event was designed to highlight our achievements and inspire new and hobbyist video game entrepreneurs.
Event Details
- 148/202 attendees
- 8 Colleges / Universities
- 7 School Districts
- 22 game companies
- 15 exhibitor / attendees
- 7 attendees only
- 23 games presented in the Expo Hall including:
- Qbots
- Redd Scientific from HU’s Video Game Accelerator
- three unreleased games
- 5 panel talks
- Psychology of Game Design
- Postmortems
- Transformative Games
- Funding Sources
- Virtual Reality
- 1 keynote presentation
- Social channels
- Twitter: #letsplaypa
- Livestream: bit.ly/letsplay2015
| Notable Guests | ||
| Aventine Studios | Crazy Hands Studios Games | d’Vinci Interactive |
| JPL Creative | Kiwi Marketing Group | Little Wins |
| Phalanx Interactive | Rhoads & Sinon | Skarlatos Zonarich LLC |
| Skyless Game Studio | Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania | |
| Academic Institutions | ||
| Bloomsburg University | Carnegie Mellon University | Drexel University |
| Harrisburg University | Hussian School of Art | Moore College of Art & Design |
| Pennsylvania College of Art & Design | Villanova University | Susquehanna University |
Expo
The Expo Hall provided hands-on demos from college students, indie developers, and established studios in both digital and tabletop games.
| Expo Companies | ||
| 3 Fright LLC | Alchemedium | Broken Crown Games |
| Dux Nova | Fun to 11 | Fish Potato Games |
| Grimm Bros | Hot Air Raccoon Games | Qbots LLC |
| Rubio Games | Schell Games | Skyless Games |
| Expo Academic Institutions | ||
| Drexel University | Harrisburg University | Moore College of Art & Design |
In addition, Let’s Play PA highlighted pre-release version of games:
- Epic PvP (Fun to 11)
- Qbots (Qbots LLC)
- Dragon Fin Soup (Grimm Bros)
- Fright Show Fighter (3 Fright LLC)
- A Tofu Tail (Alchemedium)
Speakers
The event hosted presentations from local and national speakers who spoke on various industry related topics. They provided insight on the development process, discussions of company culture, tips for building or expanding your company, and the opportunity to pose unique questions related to specific guests needs.
| Large Companies Represented by Speakers | ||
| Ubisoft | Microsoft | Games for Change |
| EPIC Games | Amazon | Founders Institute |
| 343 Studios | ||
| Pennsylvania Companies Represented by Speakers | ||
| Ben Franklin Partners | Elsevier | Fun to 11 |
| Grimm Bros | Schell Games | Skyless Games |
| Microsfot | ||
Networking
Whether you’re a college student looking for your first full-time job or someone who is looking to meet the right people for your next project, come mingle with people from inside and outside of Pennsylvania, all of whom share the same goal of wanting to make awesome interactive experiences.
Awards Show
Attendees were able to vote on what they thought the best products or experiences were when sampling the different games in the Expo Hall. There was also a competition where developers submitted games that they have created within a specific time frame and were judged to determine which were the best. The results of these two activities were revealed at the Awards Show which served as the conclusion of the event.
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