Art & Gaming

Welcome to my blog where I am occasionally sharing the learnings from my work in game development, research and art production!

[gameartistry]

4 conferences in 10 days….. 

After a weekend of rest, I have taken a moment to reflect on what has been an intense yet rewarding few weeks, attending four different conferences back-to-back across two countries: IndieDevDay in Barcelona, Leadership Day by IGDA Finland, Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki, and W Love Games.

This year was especially significant as W Love Games had a booth at IndieDevDay, shared with IGDA, where we introduced the WLG Indie Alliance and upcoming programs for indie developers. The energy was absolutely incredible with three days of insightful talks, countless indie games on display, and valuable discussions with peers from across the industry. I was honoured to host a panel featuring amazing women in the industry - Anna Guxens, Elena Flores and Suzanne Freyjadis, and participate in another panel alongside Carolina Bonnin, Eulalia García and Alexandra Vo.

With little time to catch our breath, we headed back to Helsinki to prepare for Finnish Games Week—a brand-new event in the Finnish gaming scene that has been years in the making. But what exactly is Finnish Games Week?

Finnish Games Week: A Milestone for the Nordic Games Industry

As the Chairperson of W Love Games and Lead Organizer of this event, I am incredibly proud of our team initiating the first-ever Finnish Games Week. Our vision was to create an event that would provide a variety of opportunities for game developers, whether they were looking to advance their businesses or grow individually within their careers. To achieve this, we collaborated with IGDA Finland and Steel Media, merging three of Finland's major gaming events into a single, impactful week.

The result? A carefully curated, five-day program designed to meet the diverse needs of developers, creators, and professionals across the gaming industry. Finnish Games Week kicked off with Leadership Day by IGDA Finland, aimed at industry professionals and future leaders. It was here that many meaningful connections were made, laying the foundation for what would be an incredibly successful week. Following that, Pocket Gamer Connects Helsinki took the spotlight for the next two days, offering a business-centric focus with networking opportunities for companies looking to grow in the global market. Finally, we wrapped up the week with W Love Games—a hybrid event that saw over 1k participants worldwide. This final event was all about a dev-to-dev approach, offering talks, workshops, and mentorship designed to provide practical knowledge in a safe and inclusive space for developers to share their stories and expertise.

What is next?

I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved with Finnish Games Week, and we would not be able to do so without our team of volunteers, speakers, workshop facilitators, mentors, partners and sponsors. Big shoutout to Supercell, MiTale, Suomen pelinkehittäjät ry, Metaplay, Fingersoft, Game Makers of Finland, IGDA Finland, Brazil Embassy in Helsinki.   The response has been overwhelming, and we are already starting the preparations for Finnish Games Week 2025. If you would like to get involved or host a side event, don’t hesitate to reach out—we are open to new ideas and collaborations!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped make this week a success. Finnish Games Week is just the beginning, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds as we continue to grow this incredible community. Stay tuned for the 2025 announcements and upcoming plans! (These awesome friendship-bracelets were made at W Love Games party hosted by Supercell, big thanks to their team for making such a memorable evening! 💜)

[gameartistry]

Crowdfunding... Where to even begin?

Crowdfunding is a very popular alternative for financing the project you are working on, and we see many successes in the field of game development. In this series of blog posts, we wish to share our experiences, good and bad, and our learnings, hopefully helping other developers that are considering taking the crowdfunding path.

There are many crowdfunding platforms available, so how to pick the right one? Let’s start with a few basics, since it is about your product just as with any outreach strategy:

▪ Defining your product – what is it really about, who would love to have it?

▪ Access – is it digital, physical, both? How can people get it?

▪ Why would anyone care – how does this help/inspire/entertain your ideal user?

▪ Our skillset – can we pull off what we are promising? The crowd is way less forgiving than investors/publishers, remember that!

As you can see, this basic set of questions is no different to any other business practices you have been doing so far, even explaining to your friend who might not be in the same field what you are working on and how you see the potential of your product! We have seen that crowdfunding however requires a bit more depth when you interact with your potential audience. Many marketing experts have their usual mantra of collecting emails, social media presence blablabla, and even if you do everything they say each step of the way, you still see no growth in user engagement, newsletter signups, followers, which can be so draining as you have already put in so much effort (possibly money as well even if you count on organic growth) and see no results…. With these blog posts I will be touching upon these and quite many other questions that will help you determine how to tackle crowdfunding strategies for your work.

So, let’s start with the product – why crowdfund this product?

I already touched upon the fact that the crowd does not  easily forgive; they can be forgetful in the long run and not really remember you with the next product you go out with, especially with a new brand name, but they will keep their grudge if they were not happy with the outcome of what was promised. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE the power of the crowd and word of mouth. That said, it is all about communication; if you communicate any issues that you are facing, such as delays in production due to lack on material on the market (in the case of physical products), or even your own personal mistake, the crowd will understand if you communicate in good time and with full transparency. Do not think that you can trick the crowd - just be honest no matter what. We are all humans and make errors, and personal mistakes are inevitable: communicate that, tell them how things are and even if they are disappointed they will not be angry or start a grudge.

Defining your product, what it really is about, does not have to be the usual “overachiever’s pitch” because of two reasons:

1. Is it really that unique and innovative, something this world has never seen before – come on, is it really???

2. Communication – does your audience appreciate it and in what way? Does it reflect their interests/needs? How to communicate frequently enough to not become annoying?!

This is one of the most common struggles especially among younger developers, so convinced they actually have an idea that no one has ever had before (riiiight….) that they oversell to their target audience, which may result in either a backlash reaction, or “this is too complicated, I don’t get it” reaction… To avoid these two mistakes, define your product  true to its form and to what  it can provide to the people who are the right interest group, speak their language not “bizdev” language, because they do not care about your company, they care about the product that they want to have for the same reasons that you are making that product in the first place! Remember that the product and its audience must make 360’ loop where the product reflects the audience, and the audience reflects the product, especially if you are dealing with a zero-marketing-budget.

This is why crowdfunding is a good tool to really speak to the audience of the product that you are making, as it is meant for them, and they are meant for it! But which platform to choose for this communication is way harder than you expect… This is where the initial research comes in; there is no need to go all crazy about it but just think of the product and the audience – where are your people? Is it Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Gamefound, etc? Are you a backer at any of these platforms, do you know anyone from your friends that are? If you do, talk to them, ask them why they use it and how they find these projects they back!

In our case, Kickstarter is a nerd den, especially for physical products like board games and books, of  which we are backers ourselves and know the audience rather well. Truth be told, I am so active that I am forbidden to buy more books or board games at the moment until I can arrange more shelf space for it (good point dear family, challenge accepted!). For the art book we wanted to make Kickstarter ticked these initial points, so we pursued that path. Now, it is not possible to run a Kickstarter campaign from Finland, which is SUCH A PAAAIN! Yet, there are ways to work around it, such as finding a trusty partner from a country that is eligible to make it work. This of course means there are a lot of scammers that you need to be aware of and avoid, and the only way to do it is to talk to the community of creators and simply listen to their experiences and see which partner was a good choice for them, and which one was not. It is really important that you have a partner who is not just an account in some other country, but a partner who shares your values and understands your passion for this project – take your time in finding that right partner, do not rush these things!

If you have any questions on these few starting points I spoke of, please feel free to comment below or ask them directly by email, I am happy to provide answers if I am able, and if not, I am sure someone from my community will have good points for you! In the next post I will be covering the challenges in setting up the campaign and how long the whole preparation may take. If you wish to receive this directly to your email, feel free to subscribe here. In case you are curious, you can check our ongoing Kickstarter campaign for the artbook, C.L.A.Y. - The Moving City!

[claymancer]

“You are the scion of the Elbéar tribe and your father, the chieftain, is dying.”

Welcome to this series of blog posts about the world of C.L.A.Y. – The Last Redemption! In it, we will talk about various aspects of the world and what you can expect to find during your time with the game. The intention isn’t to spoil the story (and in fact there won’t be much talk about the story!): rather they will be appetizers, a way to whet your appetite in the long wait for the finished game. In order to maintain some of the mystery of the world, not everything in these blog posts will necessarily be entirely true. They do represent what you, the player character, would know about the world – although written in a way to be more accessible to the casual reader. Still, go into it with a dose of scepticism, and expect to be surprised.

——————————–

The City In the game, your tribe is a native inhabitant of what the outside world calls the Moving City. The City is alive in the most literal sense: it is built out of the titular Clay, programmable smart-matter that is capable of forming into anything, and inside that Clay lives an ancient, inhuman intelligence. For reasons unknown, the City is constantly expanding, erecting new districts and building new roads according to some unseen master plan. Clay, however, cannot replicate: whenever the City runs out of material, it begins to cannibalize the oldest parts of itself. And so, the City moves, material surging from one end to the other in a seemingly endless cycle. To the outside world, the City is like an unnatural disaster. Its edges swarm with autonomous drones and crawler bots, clearing the way for the buildings themselves (or helping with the process of disassembling old districts), and they are not kind to any ‘trespassers’ they come across. Whole communities find themselves forced to evacuate or risk getting swallowed by the City as it approaches. Many have tried to fight back, but to little effect: how do you fight buildings, roads and parking lots that appear overnight, slowly snaking their way across the countryside? To the people outside the City, waking up one day to find a skyscraper on the horizon is a very real fear – especially as it is joined the next day by another, and another, until your fields are paved over, your game scared away, and what remains of your forests are filled with drones cutting down trees, burning away grass, and killing anyone who dares to try to stand up to them. That, at least, was the way of the Moving City before you were born. About twenty years before the start of the game, the City for no apparent reason came to a halt. Its perimeters are still closely guarded, the drones not letting anyone in(or out), but the City itself has become dormant. In the decades since, nature has moved in, growing over the half-finished districts where it could, streets becoming meadows and empty stacks sinking into the ground. But the City still lives, and dreams: buildings disappear or appear overnight, the internal geography of the City remains in constant flux, and in the Center, construction of the great Crescent is never-ending. And now, the shamans augur a change. A return, perhaps, to the old ways – or something else? Whatever it is, you will have to prepare if you are to become the next chieftain of your tribe. 

[claymancer]

Here we go!

Welcome to the official blog by developers of “C.L.A.Y. - The Last Redemption”! We are MiTale, an indie gamedev team from Finland, with huge passion for narrative-driven experiences and utilizing gaming technologies in variety of scientific and educational fields.

C.L.A.Y. – The Last Redemption is a story-driven rpg, set several generations after the collapse of civilization. The survivors of the apocalypse live in tribal societies and tell stories of the day the cities came alive and devoured all who lived in them.

The apocalypse was caused by C.L.A.Y, a ubiquitous AI-enhanced smartmass that was used to build, enhance or modify nearly everything in the pre-apocalypse; whole cities were built with it, as were drones, vehicles and weapons. No-one expected the AI that controlled the mass would learn to hate humanity.

In the post-apocalypse, C.L.A.Y. lives on both as a curse, in the insane clay golems that hunger for human blood, and as a blessing, as some have learned to control it through ritual and alchemy.

We are having weekly Twitch streams by Natasha Skult, feel free to join her art production process LIVE on Wednesdays from 6PM EEST!

[gameartistry]

@daretolearnfin conference today and showing our #speechtherapy solutions at Smart Learning Environments for the Future before my talk 🤓 #gamification #gamedev #seriousgames #edugames #6aika (at Kulttuuritehdas Korjaamo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2oRLArBgvT/?igshid=1io02ci228kzz

[gameartistry]

On today's agenda - #PVE2019FI and making #impact with #gamingindustry and topic of "violence in games" which is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! @IGDA stands for zero tolerance to any type of violence and takes this matter with high priority! #gamedev #standtogether #makechange #igdafinland (at Finlandia-talo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2ivG7Vh_aH/?igshid=yvtqlctz7idv

[gameartistry]

Even with flu i had a great time at @angrybirdsmovie tonight in Helsinki 😍 such an amazing work, well done @rovio 🥂 . . #angrybirds #angrybirdsmovie2 #movienight https://www.instagram.com/p/B06cktFBi4J/?igshid=jrnqkj63ee5r

[gameartistry]

I am super proud of how things are developing for upcoming #conference W <3 GAMES and now #igdafinland Mentor Cafe is open for sign ups! (more info available at www.wlovegames.com) https://lnkd.in/epXtiWG #games #event #finland #conference #newcohelsinki #igdafinland #mentor #mentee #ganedev #wig (at Turku, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0rGWHihUQ3/?igshid=1j5u9ul6yse6v

[gameartistry]

This is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE look how pretty it is! Got our #wedding pictures by @sonjasphoto 😍 . . #beauty #photooftheday #instacool #weddingphotography (at Turku, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0levLTh7Ch/?igshid=m019xjqdbyef

[gameartistry]

@turkugamehub community love this fine Wednesday 🤩 . . #turku #turkugamehub #lovemywork #gamedev #fazer #share #sharingiscaring #community #energized (at Turku, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0k8EN3Bn6l/?igshid=3mkiloywrtqy

[gameartistry]

#whitenightsconference day 2 going strong 💪did not expect so many people interested in #edugames and #gamification and event is a blast, super happy to have @mitalegames part of @playfinland area 🕹 . #gamedev #edtech #startup #mitale #juhannus (at Saint Petersburg, Russia) https://www.instagram.com/p/By7c4S7hXBN/?igshid=gzi958wb6165

[gameartistry]

@snowfallgamedev game Moomin Match & Explore is GAME OF THE WEEK on @playhatch 🎉🤩💥 #moomin #gamedev #keeprocking https://www.instagram.com/p/By4eYTphokV/?igshid=rntrfas6et9d

[gameartistry]

Today at @gamesfactoryfi presenting some of our products from @mitalegames 🕹 Sanalanka Adventures and My First Calendar are tailored tools for speech and language learning while Quantum is Magic game is made in collaboration with QPlay team from @universityofturku and @aaltouniversity 🤓 Come and try them out 🙌 . . #edtech #learning #edugames #speechtherapy #quantumgames #impact (at Khel'Sinki, Etelä-Suomen Lääni, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByzqvTeBZs_/?igshid=li7qz7jvctfk

[gameartistry]

EXCITING times 💥@petter.skult and I are finalizing first version of #edugame for @legendsoflearning for #math learning of solids and nets 👨‍🏫 here is a #sneakpeek to our main character, a brave #knight on his #journey 🕹 . . #gamedev #RedNettleStudio #edugames #education #learning #teacher #teachersofinstagram #legendsoflearning https://www.instagram.com/p/ByiCh4tBTuf/?igshid=bldse9gwes9s

[gameartistry]

Sunday? Nice wether? Relax? Naaah NOT US, this hectic week still continues with business trip to Stockholm and meeting our client for VR/AR solutions 😎 At least it is always great to be on Viking Line ship and enjoy archipelago 🛳 . . #startuplife #norestforthewicked #gamedev #mitalegames #vr #mixedreality #ar #vikingline #cruise #trip #bizdev #archipelago (at Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByfS33ZBKqm/?igshid=1g3yildvwyt8n

[gameartistry]

It arrived 😎 my kid confiscated #oculusquest and now I might get my turn when school starts in autumn 🤣🤣🤣 new generation of #gamedevelopers in the making 😅 well... anyway have to do some #gamegraphics meanwhile... those won't get ready by themselves and deadlines approaching 😂 . . #parenting #oculus #vr #weekend #instacool #gamedev #worthit (at Turku, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byc93Qchc-9/?igshid=tgzqbyd8lua7

[gameartistry]

Work hard party harder 🥂 amazing end of the day with Block Party by #Fingersoft, thank you all for an amazing event, time for a night train towards #Turku 🚂💃 #hillclimbracing #gamedev #party #bizdev #fridayevening #train #nightynight (at Oulu, Finland) https://www.instagram.com/p/Byav2V3hVGe/?igshid=l2m292t5go7z