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From a sword in a stone to a game of competitive potion-brewing, each of these one-of-a-kind alt.ctrl.GDC 2020 games has a remarkable origin story -- read all about 'em in these Gamasutra interviews!

February 21, 2020

3 Min Read

As you finalize plans for attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next month, organizers want to ensure you don't overlook a very unique part of the show: the alt.ctrl.GDC showcase!

This eclectic array of offbeat, unique, and just plain interesting alternative controllers is open to all GDC 2020 attendees and will make its seventh appearance at the conference Wed-Fri, March 18th through 20th in the Moscone Convention Center. 

Each of these one-of-a-kind games has a remarkable origin story, and the Gamasutra team have been publishing a series of interviews with this year's alt.ctrl.GDC participants that shed light on where their creations come from and how they're built.

They've already covered about half of the 20+ games in this year's showcase, with more on the way, so make time to check them out before GDC arrives next month. Expect to learn more about what to see at GDC this year, where these remarkable games came from, and how you might apply lessons learned by their creators to your own work!

Wataru Nakano x MIYAZAWORKS' The Sword and Bruce and Box 

The Sword tasks players with guessing weights to correctly (and heroically) pull a sword from the stone, and Bruce and Box needs them to hide and keep themselves covered up with a box.

Cursed!

Cursed! is a game of competitive magic potion making, with players battling for the spellbook and cauldron in order to cure themselves of some nasty afflictions.

Milk! That! Cow!

Milk! That! Cow! is a ridiculous cow-milking showdown where players need to pull udders to tap buttons, filling up a bucket which another player must collect the milk in. 

Guilty Smells

Guilty Smells tests players' sense of smell, having them act as a food-sniffing dog seeking to hunt down those "guilty" of bringing foreign influences into American life.

Ozone

Ozone puts a pair of players in gas masks, tasking them with communicating problems about their partner's breathing apparatus without being able to speak.

Kaleida

Kaleida tasks players with shooting down incoming ships, but does so through turning the universe with a crystalline controller that feels right out of an alien starship.

Twined

Twined tasks players with working together to jump higher and higher while they're tied together, using communication and separate sliders to reach new heights.

Each of these interviews offers a unique perspective on a remarkable game, one of which may win the coveted alt.ctrl.GDC Award at the Independent Games Festival ceremony during GDC, with judging taking place on-site!

No matter who wins, all GDC 2020 attendees who stop by the alt.ctrl.GDC exhibit will have the chance to play all of these inventive and innovative games using unique, one-of-a-kind controllers. -- and it may be your only chance to do so! 

GDC 2020 runs from Monday, March 16th through Friday, March 20th. This will be the 34th edition of GDC, and now that registration is officially open, you'll want to take a look at the (ever-expanding) session schedule and your GDC pass options -- register early to lock in the best price!

For more details on GDC 2020 visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent company Informa Tech

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