154: Gathering Community with Ben Rausch and Anja Venter (Playtopia)
The Secret Lives of Games · Nick Suttner
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Show Notes
Doug and Rob are joined by Stephanie Boluk (UC Davis) and Patrick LeMieux (UC Davis) chat with Ben Rausch (Team Lazerbeam) and Anja Venter (Free Lives) about the Playtopia Festival for Indie Games & Immersive Arts that they help organize. They discuss some of the Festival's origins, the logistics of producing in-person games events, the state of alt-control/arts-focused games events around the world, the relationship between South African culture and Playtopia's structure, the importance of showing the new generation how to create these spaces, the balance of growing and maintaining a festival community, and more!
Audio edited by Dylan Shumway
Discussed in this episode:
Playtopia Festival https://playtopiafestival.co.za/about/
Shroom and Gloom https://teamlazerbeam.itch.io/shroom-and-gloom
Jamming to map creative scenes and practices by Anya Venter https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02681102.2023.2281423
A MAZE Festival https://2026.amaze-berlin.de/
The future of public game arts festivals and non-commercial games culture by Robert Yang https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/02/the-future-of-public-game-arts.html
Draknek New Voices Puzzle Grant https://grants.draknek.org/
Don't Get Your Hopes Up https://store.steampowered.com/app/3795490/Dont_Get_Your_Hopes_Up/
boshi's place https://boshis.place/events/
Glitch City https://glitch.city/
Blood on the Clocktower https://bloodontheclocktower.com/?country=US
Pro Jank Footy https://store.steampowered.com/app/3621330/Pro_Jank_Footy/
Plum Road Tea Dream https://store.steampowered.com/app/3206340/Plum_Road_Tea_Dream/
Plum Road Tea Dream (Performance) https://plum-road-tea-dream.com/#performance
Dressmaker https://store.steampowered.com/app/4019220/Dressmaker/
Cozy Lives Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cozylivesgames/reels/
Free Lives Discord https://discord.com/invite/freelives
Sex with Friends https://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/app/3407070/
Wee Boats https://store.steampowered.com/app/3578080/Wee_Boats/
Relooted https://store.steampowered.com/app/3255890/Relooted/
Cadence https://store.steampowered.com/app/362800/Cadence/
Starfriends https://starfriends.online
Playtopia 2025 Showcased Games https://playtopiafestival.co.za/games-2025/
https://secretlives.games
https://discord.gg/tslog
https://www.patreon.com/tslog