TOKYO INDIES PRESENTATION

I spent two weeks in Tokyo, and honestly, I fell in love with the city. It is lively, beautiful, convenient, and surprisingly pleasant to live in despite its enormous size. What I especially appreciated was the people: they were friendly, considerate, and always willing to help.

I visited many of the city’s famous tourist spots, including Akihabara. To be honest, I found the area a little overrated. It felt like a typical large Tokyo district with a particularly high concentration of shops and somewhat more anime-related content than other parts of the city. I still do not fully understand why it attracts so many tourists, although I may be judging it too quickly since I only spent one day there. It also felt a bit dirtier than other areas I visited.

That said, Akihabara does have plenty of arcade halls and hobby stores. You can find almost everything for building and painting models and miniatures there: Warhammer 40,000, Gundam, Ma.K., Tamiya, and many other brands and series.

However, the main purpose of my trip was not only to relax and explore Japan, but also to showcase my game, GUN RAT, at Mogra Bar. Mogra is a bar and event venue that hosts different parties and gatherings. On September 16th—my birthday—I attended Tokyo Indies, a meetup for game developers.

I showed GUN RAT at one of the open tables. It was an informal presentation: there was no registration or official booth, and anyone could bring their project and show it to other attendees. Paul McCann, one of the event organizers and an experienced game developer, tried the game. He liked many aspects of it, was impressed by what he saw, and showed genuine interest in the project.

As more people arrived at the bar, some noticed the game and came over to try it. Everyone who played it seemed to enjoy it, especially the visuals and animations. This presentation was a meaningful milestone for me because it was the first time I had ever shown my game publicly.

I have also applied to an American game festival. If my project is selected, I will be able to showcase it there as well. I really hope it works out. For now, I need to keep developing the game: I want to add more interesting mechanics, features, locations, and enemies to GUN RAT.