Having never so much as attended a gaming conference, finding out that we’d been selected to exhibit Interference at DreamHack Anaheim was equal parts exciting and terrifying. It meant that a bunch of people would have a chance to experience the game we’d been working on for nearly 2 years for the first time, and it also meant that we’d have a little under 2 months to whip up an updated demo and handle all the logistics of setting up a booth on the other side of the country. So, okay, maybe it was slightly more terrifying than exciting.
But once we had everything wrapped up and we arrived in Anaheim with our demo and all our booth decor in tow, the excitement really took over. Neither of us are particularly outgoing, but it quickly became surprisingly easy to shed that anxiety and talk to people about the game. Seeing the interest in people’s faces when we gave the elevator pitch and getting their genuine positive feedback to playing the demo really helped to break down some of the imposter syndrome we’d been dealing with along the way. Huh, okay, so people do actually seem to enjoy playing this game, maybe a few people actually will play it when we release it!
Perhaps the most rewarding part of the whole experience was meeting other devs and learning more about their projects and processes. We’d come to learn from Twitter and Discord that indie game development is a strong and supportive community, but getting to experience that in person with a bunch of other devs all dealing with the same anxieties and successes that we’ve been experiencing the last 2 years really made that clear. And on top of that, every single game we saw or played impressed in some way. We’ll give a special plug to some of our booth neighbors — Chromatose, Adventures of Chris, and Inscryption will all be day one purchases — but we can honestly say that if any of the DreamHack Anaheim Indie Playground games catch your attention, check them out because they are all worth playing.
When it was all said and done, we were both thoroughly exhausted, physically and mentally, and we’re both still getting our sleep schedule back on track a week later. But I don’t think either of us would trade that experience for all the rest in the world, and we’re so thankful that we had the opportunity to go out there and preview Interference to the world. Here’s hoping it won’t be the last time!
And if you’d like to experience Interference, check out our Steam page and wishlist the game for updates! Who knows, there may be a new demo in the future…