A VERITABLE MENAGERIE of WHAAAT!?
Our fifth annual festival of weird games, alternative interfaces, mind-blowing talks and more. Featuring Everest Pipkin, plus themed arcades, hands-on workshops, and the return of the all-you-can-eat cereal bar*
*cereal bar not guaranteed to have anything beyond Count Chocula and Boo Berry
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. Board games to soothe your soul. Brought to you by
Stellar Factory.
VIP Arcade
Giant Skeleton passholders get an early peek at this year's amazing
arcade
Opening Remarks
The Whaaat!? Team stands in front of you and tries to keep their cool while telling you about the day's events.
Whaaat!? Arcade
Did you say you want to play games? Like a ton of games? Like really new and weird and bananas games? No? Oh then you
definitely don't want to go down to the ATLAS BBX basement. Check the full
games listing for more details!
Group Games
A bunch of people in an auditorium playing some extremely wacky experimental live-action multiplayer games? Sounds dumb. I'd rather sit by myself and eat a fig newton. AS IF!
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!
Everest Pipkin Retrospective
A super special arcade featuring wonderful web-based games made by this year's very special guest,
Everest Pipkin. You're going to want to see these.
Aaanglercade
What's more Boulder than fishing? Videogames about fishing!
11AM - 3PM
ATLAS 113 BTU Lab
The Whaaat!? Student Showcase
A selection of games from the very talented ATLAS student body's brains.
12PM - 1PM
ATLAS Lobby / Boulder Area
Lunch Break / Game Lunch
You get a glunch! And you get a glunch! Everybody gets a glunch! Board games and food. A tried and true combination
Everest Pipkin Talk
Special guest
Everest Pipkin will blow your mind. That's a guarantee. You can take it to the bank. The bank for blown minds.
Crowd Controller
An extra special experimental game where the entire audience is the controller. It will work flawlessly. And then we'll all speed run Neon White.
Closing Remarks and Giant Skeleton Raffle
The Whaaat!? Team stands before you exuberant yet exhausted and tries to coherently sum up the magic of the day while you impatiently wait for the all-important raffling of the giant skeleton. (you are 100% responsible for carrying that thing home. Best of luck!)
This year's keynote is not one to miss! Everest Pipkin is a game developer, writer, and artist from central Texas who lives and works on a sheep farm in southern New Mexico. Their work both in the studio and in the garden follows themes of ecology, tool making, and collective care during collapse. When not at the computer in the heat of the day, you can find them in the hills spending time with their neighbors— both human and non-human.
Did somebody say games!? No? Okay, sorry it must have been our stomachs rumbling after seeing how delicious all of this year's games look.
And there's even more in the game-buffet than ever! Nom! Nom!
Instead of fishing for fish, why not fish for information. Literally.
Explore and document dreamlike landscapes inspired by the Atuel River Valley of Argentina
Take the bait, and play this fishing game with a sinister undercurrent that will leave you hooked.
An idle fishing game for your desktop
Jump in the station wagon and take the kids down to Walleye World!
Henry only has half a head but can control any object within their reach. Feels like a fair trade.
An RPG in claymation. Even I am confused by this one.
Someone asked you to fish at the forbidden Shinto shrine. You probably shouldn't do it. You did it anyway, didn't you?
It's like shooting fish in a barrel, a barrel that's been exploded right over your head.
It's baaaaaack! The CU
Media Archeology Lab curates an amazing vintage videogame exhibition for Whaaat!? Featuring some vintage consoles and favorite classics from years ago, 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 Vectrex!
You're just going to have to go with us on this one. Trust us.
A shooter. But with a camera. With the power to reshape the world.
You're a car, but instead of wheels you have legs!
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!
All events at Whaaat!? will be in the
ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder. Paid parking can be found in the nearby Euclid lot (underneath the CASE building), and free parking within walking distance can often be found on the Hill, west of Broadway
*we bought a 12 foot skeleton from Home Depot. We plan to pose it around the festival, and then raffle it off to one VIP ticket holder. You're welcome.