In May 2021, the Israeli government’s military campaign into Palestinian territory resulted in widespread destruction, displacing over 70,000 Palestinian civilians and resulting in over 250 Palestinian deaths, including 66 children. The humanitarian crisis inspired game developer Alanna Lynayre to start an Itch “co-op bundle,” selling her game and others’ to raise money for United Nations relief efforts.
What started as a dozen or so games from friends quickly grew into a huge undertaking of over 1,000 titles, including major indie hits, and ultimately raised over $900,000.
Hear Alanna talk about the escalating logistics of the bundle, what she learned running it, and how it shifted focus to shine a light on a Palestinian game developer whose game depicts the incredible struggle in the region.
The founder of Toadhouse Games (“Good Lookin’ Home Cookin’,” “Call Me Cera”) and an advocate for mental health in video games, Alanna Linayre (she/her) focuses on sustainable development practices and encourages healthy attitudes that improve the lives of both gamers and game developers.
What is one of the best ways to motivate someone to do something they don’t want to do but they should do? By turning it to a game! We’re creating Fitment, a mobile game that provides snack size workouts that you can do anytime and anywhere, including from your couch! In this session, I want to show how we use techniques found at other tech startups - product development frameworks, customer research and psychology- to shape our game.
I was a mechanical engineer for Silicon Valley who has led teams to develop novel tech and products in record time. I have recently quit my job and returned back to the Twin Cities to go full time on our small game studio, Glossbird. I am a self-taught game developer and designer, I use a combination of C# and Playmaker in Unity to create my games. I am a huge advocate of no-code tools for prototyping. I hope my story motivates you to keep working on your game.
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