PixelPop 2019 – The Ground Floor of Experimental Gaming

PixelPop 2019 marks my third time at the gaming festival, and my second time that I have covered officially for Black Nerd Problems. It’s one of my favorite events to attend for a variety of reasons. The fact that it’s in my adopted hometown of St. Louis. The fact that it’s an inclusive space that makes a concerted effort to make sure that its attendees feel comfortable. But mostly, it’s a very passionate community who want nothing more than to share their creations with other passionate folks. As someone whose primary gaming focus can be a little bit myopic (okay, maybe I’m very very myopic), it sometimes feels weird attending. But the instant I get my press badge, wrist band, and pronoun button, there’s something about it that just makes the anxiety fade away. Between the wide variety of talks and panels on the Main Stage and the wonderful menagerie of games and game-like experiences in the Expo Hall, I guarantee you could have found something to latch on to whether you were an aspiring game dev or gamer. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Z3rzZHFsA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Experimentation For All Carol Mertz, the Executive Director of PixelPop, talks about how the last three years PixelPop has focused on becoming a festival that embraces the “experimental side of games.” This was omnipresent in the Expo Hall. The tables featured board games, tabletops, and video games that cross and transcended conventional genres. We should talk immediately caught my eye with its unique ta…