A CARNIVAL OF GAME-RELATED WEIRDNESS
Whaaat!? has returned from the virtual wilderness! We’re back in-person in November for an arcade and conference packed with phenomenal guest speakers, bizarre games, and experimental interactions. And yeah, we’re gonna have cereal again, too.
Check-in and Cereal Bar
Conference ticket-holders can come early to check-in, get a peek at some of our featured games, meet with the other attendees over coffee and ALL THE CEREAL THEY CAN EAT in the ATLAS lobby
Whaaat!? Tabletop
All day long we'll have a rotating selection of tabletop and experimental games in the ATLAS lobby for you to explore and play with your friends.
Opening Remarks
The Whaaat!? Team welcomes you to this game-filled grand-prix that we've created.
Session 1: Make Tiny Weird Software Please with Nathalie Lawhead
A talk about old computer culture, the early internet, and how creative philosophies of the past digital age are still relevant to us today... why weird wacky things that you can run on your desktop (for no other reason but to have a weird thing running on your desktop) continues to be important. This talk is all about the value of building weird niche software!
Whaaat!? Arcade
This year's collection of games is the best and boldest yet, including some of the weirdest ways to earn Whaaat!?-Bucks, the official base currency of the Whaaat!? economy. Check the full
games listing for more details!
MAL presents That Kid in Your Neighborhood's Basement
Our good friends at the
Media Archeology Lab return to fuel your nostalgia-thirst a special exhibition for Whaaat!? Featuring a nirvana of vintage consoles and classics, this is a rare occasion to play some amazing games including Q*bert, Zork, Contra, GoldenEye and the infamous ET on an original Commodore 64, Apple //c, Atari 2600, NES, N64, Sega Genesis, and Vextrex!
Electric Zine Jam
All day long, experiment and play with the
Electric Zine Maker from alienmelon (Nathalie Lawhead). Best zine gets a special prize!
Animals, Skateboards, and Animals on Skateboards
What do you get when you cross the world's best activity with some of our favorite four-legged friends? Bliss and happiness, that's what! Don't look a gift horse in the grip-tape!
Naaaturcade
The most serene nature-filled game-play session you'll ever experience. A veritable jungle of games.
The Whaaat!? Student Showcase
Come play some of the most impressive games from the ATLAS community of amazing students. You won't want to miss this!
Session 2: No Good Fun ): with Seemingly Pointless
What do we mean when we say something is "fun"? What do we mean when we say that a game is "good"? Hold on to your seatbelts as James and Joe of Seemingly Pointless break down these concepts until fun sounds bad and bad sounds like good fun!
12PM - 1PM
ATLAS Lobby / Boulder Area
Lunch Break / Game Lunch
Conference Attendees can grab a special box lunch from one of the best food trucks in the world,
Grey Duck Eats! While you're at it, why not grab a boardgame to play while you eat with your new besties!
Local Industry Panel GameShow!
Panels are so 2019! This year we're making some of our favorite local designers and developers play a game show. We have no idea how this will go. Double Dare? More like Double Ludem Dare
TinyCade Workshop
Join award-winning game designer Peter Gyory as you work with his new creation, the
TinyCade! Build the game controller of your fantasies!
Session 3: Viral Project Creators Hate Him! (One Easy Trick to Make Weird Internet Shit) with Brian Moore
This one weird trick will have you making weird stuff on the internet that people share. From scooters you scream into, to antisocial networks, to games that show the effectiveness of thoughts and prayers, you’ll come away with a sense of confusion but maybe—just maybe—a tool to help make more dumb stuff.
Session 4: The Controller is Your Mouth with Nicole He
Nicole will dive into the particular challenges of making games with vocal input and show off her not-yet-announced new game!
Closing Remarks
Are you as tired as we are? This is when the ball drops. You won't want to miss it.
Nicole
He
Nicole He is a game developer and creative technologist based in Brooklyn, making unconventional voice technology projects and videogames. She previously worked as a creative technologist at Google Creative Lab and an outreach lead at Kickstarter, and currently teaches at NYU ITP.
Nathalie
Lawhead
Nathalie Lawhead is a solo-dev that makes experimental work on computers ranging from net-art to altgames and art games. They have been making this stuff for over 10 years, so they are very experienced in programming, art, animation, sound design, writing, narrative, composing, and all the things...
Brian
Moore
Brian Moore is a Los Angeles-based, mostly technology-focused creative director who makes weird, fun, and arguably “innovative” projects.
From pull cords that help you escape Zoom calls to real scooters powered by angry screams to Emmy-nominated political commentary video games, Brian’s work is medium agnostic and religiously irreverent.
Seemingly
Pointless
Seemingly Pointless is a very serious, super stylish media studio owned and operated by The Brothers Cox™. We make games, we make films, we make whatever you are paying us to make! Concise and intense, our work has been described as satirical reflections of reality; media with simple concepts and deep implementations. Hope you have enough space on your computer for all these files. stuff for over 10 years, so they are very experienced in programming, art, animation, sound design, writing, narrative, composing, and all the things...
We went all out this year. These games are some of our absolute favorites, and we promise you won't end the day without a giant smile plastered on your face. You can take that to the bank!
The Secret Game Club favorite is back! Everyone team up against coffee cup.
Travel through the Universe and see it from different points of view.
Japan World Cup
Absurdist horse racing in its most bananas incarnation. What did you expect?
Number Cruncher - The Whaaat!? Lab Brats
The one and only place where you can mine for Whaaat!? Coin, the most elusive and bewildering of the cryptocurrencies.
Gear up your caravan, boot up your GPS, spread out your map and head for the depths of Melmoth Forest. As a rookie field researcher, you’ll place cameras during the day, and watch the footage at night, tracking the movements of a scurry of squirrels. Where do they hide their nuts? What puzzling routes do they take? And why do they behave so strangely?
A two-person contemplative experience that explores deep time through the lens of Pando, the world's oldest living organism.
You're a robotic arm on a skateboard. It makes pretty much perfect sense. Why are you even questioning it!?
Grind on bendy straws, kickflip over staplers, and carve killer lines through cardboard and sticky tape parks. You're a SKATEBIRD!
Tony Hawk Pro Skater meets Journey
Presented on two separate screens, players are encouraged to collect objects while avoiding obstacles, but only a single set of controls is offered for the two unrelated spaces.
Intergalactic grappling hook soccer like you've never seen it before!
An exploratory narrative and open world simulation of the life of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau during his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Pond.
Also including...
The ATLAS Student Game Showcase
Featuring some of the best and wildest games out of the ATLAS Institute's Game Design and Development community.
...and many many more surprises to come!
