I Get to Play Dreams

Eight years.

It’s unreal to think about. I mean, that’s a lot of years. That’s two full Olympic cycles. That’s two full US Presidential elections. That’s the majority of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Actually, Indie Gamer Chick opened three weeks before Captain America: First Avenger if you’re one of those people who now track time by super hero movie releases. It’s a long time. Of course, from my perspective, that time flew right on by. That’s what tends to happen when you’re having the time of your life.

A lot has changed over these last eight years. I’ve changed. Gaming has changed. Indie development has come so far. Imagine telling 21-year-old me on July 1, 2011 the heights some of these developers would reach. Billion dollar acquisitions. Developing franchise games for Nintendo. Being E3 showcase titles. I’d probably not believed it. Here we are, eight years later, and those statements still sound unbelievable. Yet, they’ve all happened. And they’ll continue to happen. Because, right now, we’re living in the Golden Age of Indie Games. That’s how history will remember this era. I’m doing my best to not take the position I’ve found myself in for granted.

I’ve had so much fun being Indie Gamer Chick for these last eight years. I’ve experienced so many games that I know I’d likely never played if I hadn’t found myself reviewing them. I don’t love them all, but always at least try to admire the drive and desire to get them out there. But, when I do love them, it’s a feeling so incredible that I often spend days trying to express it as a review and still walk away feeling like my words come up short. When you realize that the game you’re playing is someone else’s life-long dream coming true, it’s special. And these days, I get to experience that a lot more often than I could ever have imagined. It’s a treat. It’s an honor.

The most exciting part is that we’ll all be seeing a lot more of that in the future. The tools to create games have never been more accessible, and the ability to distribute those games has never been easier. While we all get hyped for incredible trailers or the latest tent-pole franchise releases, the games that excite me most are the ones I’ve never heard of. They’re games that will trace their origins to a young person holding their first controller, their imagination running wild. That’s what I get to do. I get to play people’s dreams. We all do. How lucky are we all?

And so, thank you to everyone, my friends, my fans, and indie developers everywhere for the best eight years of my life, and for all the amazing years of playing dreams yet to come.

-Catherine Vice
June 30, 2019