Organizations & Communities
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Bit Bash
Chicago’s first Indie Games festival celebrates games that create social play, feature alternative controls, or promote community diversity.
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Chicago Game Lab
A members-driven community for project work and collaboration with special focus on game development and creative and technical disciplines.
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Chicago Loot Drop
A charitable organization that unites gaming and nerd communities to do good around Chicagoland.
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Chicago Unity Developers Meetup
A user group for devs working with the Unity 3D game engine.
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Chicago Video Game Law Summit
Our city’s premiere video game law related event featuring academic panels and debates.
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DMoC Play | Test
Annual community event! A hands-on opportunity for the public to test in-development games, provide feedback, and celebrate Chicago’s thriving game and design communities.
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Experimental Game Dev Group
Meetup catering to aspiring game developers that further the boundaries of play.
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Game Dev Industry Night
A monthly social gathering for game developers of all disciplines and proficiencies. Ask for a Discord invite!
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IGDA Chicago
Local chapter of the International Game Developers Association focused on improving the games industry.
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Indie City Games
A monthly forum for Midwest-based developers learning, playtesting, and talking about indie games. Extremely active Discord! Also runs the one-day con Chicago Indie Game Showcase aka C.I.G.S.
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Indie Video Game Developers Association
Independent game developers, students, and fans welcoming amateur and professionals who create and play video games. Meetups last 2 hours were you can build great relationships with other developers and creators.
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Night City
Community-based game development, exhibitions, and educational resources.
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VGA Gallery
This non-profit seeks to increase cultural appreciation and education of video games through exhibition, study, and sale of art.
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Weston Game Lab
The Weston Game Lab at the University of Chicago features a classroom, studio space, and open work areas for collaborative design and development games that produce social impact or experiment with form.
Helpful Resources
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Business Toolkit by Vlambeer
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Chicago Arcades
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Chicago Video Game Studios
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Game Accessibility Guidelines
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Indie Boothcraft
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Job Board for Chicago Devs
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The Video Game Library
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Video Games Made in Chicago