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After 15 years of providing game design, publishing, and distribution services, Indie Games United / 93 Made Games will cease operation.
We've had a wild ride and have enjoyed bringing you great independently designed and published games. We came to this decision after several months of deliberation. Whilst we could continue providing these services, we have a range of other activities that require more of our time, and we didn't want to support the indie market with a half-hearted effort. Therefore, as of mid-June 2023, we will be closing our virtual doors and focusing ourselves on exciting, new ventures. We won't be going out with a whimper, though. Instead, we'll be offering major discounts on all our games if you place an order via our website before midnight on Sunday, 4 June 2023. There's less than two weeks to go so get in quick to secure your amazing deal!
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After a two-year hiatus due to government lockdowns, MOAB, Sydney’s premier wargaming convention returned with remarkable success in 2022. Indie Games United, which hadn’t exhibited at MOAB since 2014, also made a triumphant return. MOAB is held each October long weekend in the heart of the Sutherland Shire at the Sylvania Heights Youth Club. The annual event attracts hundreds of gamers from across Greater Sydney and beyond as well as retail stores and distributors like Indie Games United.  This year, Indie Games United provided something original for convention-goers by vending tabletop games spanning a range of genres, including kids games, party games, fantasy adventure games, pocket games, space combat games, RPGs and many others. MOAB was used to exhibit the company’s newest acquisitions, such as Star Eater from Swordfish Games and Prognosis Death by Flying Man Games. The former being the convention’s best seller along with the 7 KickAss games series created by Michael Richardson.  The convention was also successful for future ventures, with Indie Games United signing with up-and-coming designer Martin Brandel to distribute his inaugural physical title, Cosmos: Empires. Cosmos: Empires is an engine-building card game where players must grow their galactic empire through exploiting their opponents’ economies. Cosmos: Empires releases in January 2023 with pre-orders now available. Join Indie Games United at the launch of Cosmos: Empires at Cancon 2023.  Indie Games United has added an exciting and eclectic mix of games to its catalogue. This includes The Damsel's Tale and Fools Haven (RPG) from Red Genie Games and Fairy, Unicorn, Mermaid, Princess, Kitten (F.U.M.P.K) from Summit Drive Games. Red Genie Games and Summit Drive Games are helmed by iconic game design and development collaborators Alex Wynnter and Ben Hoban. Check out their game The Brigade to see what else they've been up to.    KickAss Games are also back with their newest game, Pyramids! Curse of the Pharaoh. In this game, you take on the role of a wise and faithful Egyptian warrior who must rescue the Pharaoh Osiris from the Pyramid so he can travel to the afterlife. This is another classic game from KickAss Games' lead designer Michael Richardson.  It's our 14th birthday and we wanted to share some interesting and comical facts that you probably didn't know about Indie Games United and 93 Made Games. Join Julia, Anthony and Sean in the video below as they relive some of their greatest hits... and misses. After slashing its way through a dense and fauna-laden jungle, the Indie Games United team has uncovered three new species of games. The first is a thought to be an extinct species from 2010 - Animalacious. Animalacious is the first game ever released by Acious Games, where players are given the persona of an animal and must figure out which animal they are. Players must interpret various clues and watch the reactions of other animals to aid their chances of winning.  The second variant is a more modern creature evolved from Paw and Chow Co's enigmatic card game designs called Pet Royale. In Pet Royale, players use distinctive animal instincts, teamwork and guile to battle and conquer their opponents. May the most bestial team win!  Lastly, Krunchy Games bred Crayne: Fractured Empire is their lab of game design mastery. Crayne is an epic high-fantasy card game with near limitless strategy and replayability. Take on the role of an influential lord commanding ruthless armies to dominate your foes in battle.  Research more about these games on our Brands page or order yours now via our online catalogue.
Indie Games United is excited to announce the addition of three new brands to its line-up - CStar Games, Tin*Star Games and Kickass Games. Check out the games created by these independent designers and publishers on the Brands page and get a first hand look at CanCon 2022! CStar Games is an indie board and card games design and publishing company masterminded out of Sydney, Australia. Run by Peter Cricchiola with the goal of making fun games for fun people. Peter's first published game, Head Chef, will make your mouth water.  Tin*Star Games is an Australian gaming company that specialises in publishing roleplaying games, card games and micro games. Managed by prolific designer Steve Dee, the company has no shortage of titles for all types of gamers. Steve has created the world's first real-time deckbuilder in Baby Dragon Bedtime and well as popular roleplaying games Relics: A Game of Angels and Partners.  KickAss Games is an Independent games company created to help independent game designers to get their great games to market. This includes providing local publishing and manufacturing services for Australian designers. The heart and soul of the company, Michael Richardson, is well-known for his top 7 KickAss games! Zombies! Need More Brains is a recent ghoulish creation from Michael.  SYDNEY – Tabletop games publisher 93 Made Games has announced the launch of its new distribution service dedicated to promoting and selling independently designed and published tabletop games. The new division of its business, Indie Games United, provides a reliable pathway for independent designers and publishers to have their games marketed and sold to a much wider audience. The service will also provide retailers with a broad catalogue of high quality and novel games that would not normally be available through traditional distribution services. “Indie Games United allows us to share our combined decades of experience in the tabletop games industry with emerging and established independent creators,” explained Sean Carroll, Head of Design and Publishing. “We look forward to sharing the lessons learnt and industry connections we have made over the years to help nurture designers and publishers and give their games a home on the shelves of games stores around the globe.” “Through our extensive industry experience in marketing and distribution, the Indie Games United sales team know the ins and outs of providing the best experiences for gamers, designers, publishers and retailers,” said Anthony Condos, Head of Sales and Marketing. “No matter what part of the process we engage in, we at Indie Games United perform with passion and a thirst for excellence.” Besides publishing and distributing tabletop games, Sean Carroll and Anthony Condos have designed and developed a myriad of games including No Fish!, Monster Town and the Viewniverse episodic card games series. Indie Games United will also leverage the pair’s game design talents to benefit other creators via a range of support services provide through the company’s Incubator Program. If you are a retailer, publisher or designer then discover all the benefits of collaborating with Indie Games United by visiting IndieGamesUnited.com. 
 It might have taken a split second for the Big Bang to create the universe (or 6 days for God). However, it took us mere mortals at 93 Made Games five solid years to create the Viewniverse.
You can now traverse the Viewniverse with us by exploring the first four sets from the episodic card game series – Viewpoint Revisioned, Eye vs Eye, Prehistoric Park and The Winking Dead. Discover the Viewniverse at the official website – www.viewniverse.fun. If you’d like Indie Games United to send a team to run a demo of any of the Viewniverse games in your store, then feel free to contact us. We look forward to traversing the Viewniverse with you!  We’d like to introduce you to the official distribution division of 93 Made Games – Indie Games United. When we started the company way back in 2008, our main aspiration was to design enjoyable tabletop games. Pretty simple, right?
Well, we quickly discovered that we had more that we would accomplish and started publishing and distributing games as well. Initially, we started with our own games and then realised that we had much to offer other independent designers and publishers. In particular, we could help to promote and distribute their games alongside our own. Win-win. By the time 2016 rolled around, we had published four of our own games, sold games from over one hundred different indie publishers, travelled all the way from Australia to the US to promote our games and other indie designers at Gen Con Indy, and confirmed our belief that indie designers and publishers make some of the best games in the world. At this point, we had given ourselves two objectives. Firstly, and this was more of a personal ambition, we wanted to completely reboot our most popular game – Viewpoint. We spent five years revising the first game and designing three more sets to go with it. When the design and development dust had settled, we had created the Viewniverse, an expansive and original card game series where every deck is an episode that players explore in an attempt to return the dimension-hopping main characters, the Blinkers, back to their home planet. We achieved this in 2021 with the release of the first four Viewniverse episodes. Secondly, we wanted to launch a tabletop games distribution service that would be separate from our design and publishing activities but still align with our mission to support and advocate for indie designers and publishers. This is why we created Indie Games United. The Indie Games in the title is fairly self-explanatory. However, the essential word is United. Specifically, our aim is to unite independent designers and publishers throughout the tabletop industry with each other as well as uniting them with game stores around the globe. All industry participants, including designers, publishers, retailers, distributors, consolidators, artists, graphic designers, gamers, playtesters, convention coordinators, games club members and so on, have so much to offer each other. It is our job to make it easier for independent designers and publishers to get a leg up by helping them to promote and sell their high quality and novel games. As always, we look forward to the journey ahead and collaborating with indie designers, indie publishers and retailers to make their worlds a little easier to navigate.  It’s been almost 9 years since our very first card game, Viewpoint, was released in September 2009. Since then, we followed it up with its sequel, Viewpoint Reflections, and two other passion projects – Monster Town and No Fish! We think it’s time to introduce Viewpoint to the next generation of gamers and show those who have enjoyed Viewpoint since day one how much better this new version is. And, to continue the theme of vision-related puns, we’ve called the new game Viewpoint Revisioned. Viewpoint Revisioned takes all the great things from the original game and enhances them for an even greater gaming experience. ARTWORK While it wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, the original Viewpoint artwork captured a retro art style suited to games of the era. The artwork for Viewpoint Revisioned, however, transcends all eras and shows how committed we are to producing games that are visual masterpieces. Our illustrator, Kerri Aitken, and graphic designer, Ashley Kenawell, are two of the most gifted artists that we’ve met. Once you feast your eyes on their work, I’m sure you’ll agree.  STORYLINE We introduced gamers to the eye folk in Viewpoint and Viewpoint Reflections; however, Viewpoint Revisioned goes far beyond basic one-eyed characters. Viewpoint Revisioned introduces the Blinkers (Eyenstein, Iris and Hawk) who, after a cataclysmic lab accident, are lost blinking between different dimensions in the Viewniverse. Viewpoint Revisioned is just the first set in an all-new episodic Viewpoint card game series. Each set introduces new worlds and new characters for the Blinkers to encounter. We are fully committed to providing a fun-filled and expansive narrative and have developed the design, storylines and artwork for three additional sets with even more on the way. Check out our website for more information on these Viewpoint episodes. Episode 1: Viewpoint Revisioned Episode 2: Eye vs Eye Episode 3: Prehistoric Park Episode 4: The Winking Dead GAMEPLAY Just as in classic Viewpoint, players collect Viewpoints to help the Blinkers back to their home world of Myclopia. However, from Prehistoric Park onwards, players must meet additional challenges to survive or fulfil alternative goals to win the game. We’ve also designed each set so that it can be played as a standalone episode or mixed in any combination for a deeper, more challenging gaming experience and an even more thrilling adventure. “Will you be eaten by one of Dr Crichton’s creations in Prehistoric Park? Will you survive the Zombeye plague in The Winking Dead?” PRODUCT QUALITY We’re not only bringing players exquisite artwork and action-packed gameplay but we’re also packing it into a product with the highest quality components. Using the lessons learned from classic Viewpoint and our other games, we’ve implemented a lot of intelligent design into what will be the final product. Some product design highlights include:
WHAT’S NEXT? Whilst our illustrator and graphic designer are very busy crafting the artwork and visual style that will showcase Viewpoint Revisioned and the next three sets, we are finalising the rules for all sets, with particular attention being paid to Prehistoric Park, our most innovative design yet. As we move closer to the Viewpoint Revisioned funding campaign in September/October 2018, we’ll be spending more time showcasing how much fun a Viewpoint gaming experience is. This means that we’ll be visiting local game stores/clubs and attending expos to spread the word. If you’d like to join us on our journey, then here’s what you can do… GAMERS: We have Print & Play (PNP) copies of the first four Viewpoint Revisioned episodes on our website. We’d really appreciate you giving the game a play and sending us as much feedback (in person or via our website or info@93madegames.com.au) as you’d like so that we can adjust the rules to deliver the best gaming experience possible. REVIEWERS: Production quality prototypes of Viewpoint Revisioned will be available at the end of August 2018. We’ll be sending plenty of these out to reviewers but, if you have a particular interest in Viewpoint Revisioned, we’d love to hear it so that you can be one of the first to receive a copy. STORES: We want to work with you to help promote Viewpoint Revisioned to your gamers. We’ll be contacting many of you leading up to the launch of Viewpoint Revisioned and asking to come in and demonstrate how exciting a Viewpoint experience can be. If you’d like to get the jump on this exciting new game then feel free to drop us a line on our personal emails (sean@93made.com and/or anthony@93made.com). STAY UP TO DATE
You can be kept in the loop about Viewpoint Revisioned and other episodes via all the regular social networking channels: FACEBOOK (https://www.facebook.com/93MadeGames) TWITTER (https://twitter.com/93MadeGames) INSTAGRAM (https://instagram.com/93MadeGames) TUMBLR (http://93madegames.tumblr.com/) BOARDGAMEGEEK (https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/10997/93-made-games) Or simply stay in contact via email (info@93madegames.com.au) or by visiting our website (www.93madegames.com.au). |
Indie Games UnitedIndie Games United is a retailer and advocate of independently designed and published tabletop games. We collaborate with designers and publishers to provide gamers with unique, high quality and novel games. Archives
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