The Amatryx Lab is really excited to share an episode of Gayming Podcast, the podcast for Gayming Magazine, that Cody got to be a part of! This episode celebrates 35 years since CM Ralph published Caper in the Castro, a foundational queer game released as “charityware” during the AIDS crisis. Huge thanks to Robin and Miabyte for hosting Cody, and to Adrienne Shaw who recommended them for it!

This summer the Amatryx Lab is working on finishing and publishing Trans Folks Walking, our game that has been in development, and on laying the groundwork for our next big project: Gaming in the Rust Belt, focused on game design, gaming cultures, and regional history in the Rust Belt region. We will be conducting reading and playing groups this summer, and let us know if you’d like to get involved in some way!

Please join us for an Amatryx game night on Tuesday, 4/9, from 6-8 PM in CFA 286. This game night will feature feedback and discussion of Tansy Xiao’s VR work—Tansy is an artist in residence in Buffalo right now, and was also part of the Creativity in the Time of Covid-19 exhibition last August. After the feedback session we will be playing Detroit: Become Human together as part of ongoing discussions of the lab’s next project that we’re calling Gaming in the Rust Belt, focusing on game content, culture, and production in Rust Belt settings, including Buffalo.

Please join us for the next Amatryx game night on Tuesday, March 12 at 6 PM in CFA 286, featuring in-progress work by Madison Ford (please see attached flyer). After the presentation and discussion, we’ll be playing Mario Party and Mario Kart games on the Nintendo Switch together. 

With apologies for the very short notice, the first Amatryx Game Night is tomorrow, Feb. 27 at 6 PM in CFA 286. This game night will feature a short info session about the Amatryx Gaming Lab & Studio—what it is, what our projects in game design and game studies are, and how people can join and get involved. Then we will play games made at Global Game Jam 2024, followed by playing Smite (a multiplayer arena battle game) together. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

Please also mark your calendars for the March game night on March 12 at 6 PM in CFA 286, featuring Mario Kart and Mario Party games. Our final game night will be April 9 at 6 PM in CFA 286. Each of our game nights also includes time for someone to share a game or other media project for feedback and discussion—if you have any work you’d like to get friendly and constructive feedback or playtesting for, please reach out to an Amatryx lab member!

Thanks to everyone who attended and supported Global Game Jam 2024’s site at UB, co-hosted by Buffalo Game Space, Amatryx, Department of Media Study, UB Game Dev Club, and the UB Center for the Arts! With generous support provided by UB Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, Dunkin Donuts, and the Mellon Foundation.

This was the first Global Game Jam held in Buffalo since 2018, and we were thrilled with the turnout: over 80 people attended, and 23 games were made. The games varied widely in addressing the GGJ 2024 theme of “Make Me Laugh,” from platformers to dating sims to comic card games to a ninja tickle simulator, and it was great to see what people made over the 3 days of the jam. Congratulations to everyone who completed a game, especially for first-time jammers!

We’ll be back to host GGJ 2025, and in the mean time will continue to have a variety of great events, programming, and jams with Buffalo Game Space. The first Amatryx game night of 2024 will take place on Tuesday, February 27 at 6 PM in CFA 286, featuring the GGJ games. Stay tuned for more!

Amatryx is thrilled to co-host Global Game Jam 2024, the biggest annual game jam hosted across hundreds of satellite sites around the world. A game jam is a place where you come together with others and make a game within just a few days—no experience required! This year, the Department of Media Study, Amatryx Gaming Lab & Studio, UB Game Dev Club, Center for the Arts, the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, and Buffalo Game Space are partnering together to host a GGJ site here at UB in the CFA atrium.

This event is open to anyone in WNY—at UB and beyond. Please share with anyone who might be interested, including any students or community members. Pre-registration is required so we can provide food and resources.

Thanks to everyone who joined our final game night of 2023, featuring an interactive audio installation (perhaps a game?) by Tim Georger. After the usual feedback session, we ate pumpkin cookies and some Amatryx swag consisting of pens and coffee mugs was distributed. Please stay tuned for more game nights in the Spring 2024 semester, and let us know if you’d like your work shared for feedback or if you have a fun game idea for our play portion of a game night.

Happy holidays from everyone at the Amatryx Gaming Lab & Studio!

Please join us for an Amatryx Game Night on Tuesday, November 14 at 6 PM in CFA 286, featuring a local multiplayer game by UB Game Dev Club leader Sam France, followed by a fun play session of Baldur’s Gate 3. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. The event will be streamed to Discord, please contact Cody Mejeur for the link at codymeje@buffalo.edu. 

Thanks so much to everyone who joined us for the first Amatryx game night of Fall 2023, featuring Josh Flaccavento and the cosmic horror tabletop roleplaying game, ALL MUST BOW. We had a great time playing it together and discussing it, and you can check out ALL MUST BOW and Bleak Horizons Press here: https://bleak-horizons-press.itch.io/

Our next game night will feature a game by UB Game Dev Club leader Sam France, and will take place on November 14 at 6 PM in CFA 286 and on Discord. Our final game night of the semester will feature a game by Amatryx lab member Tim Georger and be on December 12 at 6 PM in CFA 286 and on Discord. Flyers for both nights to follow!

The Creativity in the Time of Covid-19 exhibition, hosted by Amatryx in partnership with Buffalo Arts Studio, Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Arts Center, and Buffalo Game Space, comes to a close on September 30. The exhibition spaces in Buffalo Arts Studio and Squeaky Wheel remain open until that date during normal business hours: 11-5 PM Weekdays, 10-2 PM Saturdays for BAS; 12- 5 PM Tuesday-Saturday for Squeaky Wheel.

To celebrate the closing of the exhibition, we are honored to host Dr. Tina Rivers Ryan, curator at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, for a closing talk on Friday, September 29 at 5 PM in Buffalo Arts Studio. Please join us if you are able, and help us spread the word!