We’re only weeks away from the sixth annual Fantastic Arcade, but let’s kick things off early with a special JUEGOS RANCHEROS preview! Join us this Thursday, September 3rd, at 7:00PM at Austin’s North Door, as JUEGOS RANCHEROS presents three games coming to this year’s Arcade.

[ RSVP FOR THIS EVENT AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE! ]

This year’s Fantastic Arcade will include over thirty games from around the world, curated by JUEGOS RANCHEROS and freely playable for the entire duration of the Fantastic Fest, located at the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse from September 24th through October 1st. We’ve also brought in some amazing developers to develop six brand new games that will exclusively premiere at this year’s Arcade.

On top of that, we’ll be holding special panels, tournaments and other Arcade-specific events from September 28th through October 1st, but you can get an early look at three of these games at this week’s JUEGOS RANCHEROS meetup. The three games shown will be:

Flywrench, by Nidhogg creator Messhof: Just released on Steam after years of anticipation, Flywrench is a game about piloting an abstract morphing bird-spaceship through a complex web of colored lines accompanied by an electronic music soundtrack curated by the world famous, Daedelus.

Circa Infinity, by Kenny Sun: Coming soon to Steam, Circa Infinity is a brain-melting circular platformer with a pulse-pounding soundtrack by Jack + Jim Fay.

Höme Improvisåtion, by The Stork Burnt Down Games: Out now in early access on Steam, Höme Improvisåtion is the world’s most fun (and accurate) furniture assembly experience. Build alone or with your friends to create the beautiful furniture of your dreams!

All of the games will be playable Thursday, September 3rd, at 7:00PM at North Door, 501 Brushy Street, Austin, TX 78702. The show is free and open to all the public, so come join us as we drink, play and meet the people changing the way we think about games!

What better way to spend a Thursday night than playing three new & super amazing Austin-developed & -published videogames? Join us this Thursday, August 6th, at 7:00PM at Austin’s North Door, as JUEGOS RANCHEROS presents Tiger Style‘s Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon and two games published by Finji: Feist & Panoramical.

[ RSVP FOR THIS EVENT AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE! ]

While all three games showcased on Thursday have been featured at JUEGOS RANCHEROS meetups and/or prior Fantastic Arcade lineups, all three are returning in actual, final, awesome form.

Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon — developed here in Austin by Tiger Style and being released for iOS & Steam on the same night as our meetup — is a game in which you play as a clever arachnid explorer, mastering your web crafting skills with a combination of action and planning as you solve each of Spider’s seven enigmatic puzzles.

Just released by Austin publisher Finji & developed by Switzerland’s Bits & Beasts, Feist is a lush and visually striking action-packed game in which you outwit a sprawling forest full of secret danger and fierce creatures.

And finally, first featured as a surprise addition to Fantastic Arcade 2012, Fernando Ramallo & David Kanaga’s Panoramical is just on the cusp of its final release, co-presented by Finji & Polytron. We’ll be debuting this latest version of the interactive musical landscape anthology, in which you immerse yourself in a series of synaesthetic alien vistas, like an ambient disco-god controlling your own tiny universe.

All of the games will be playable Thursday, August 6th, at 7:00PM at North Door, 501 Brushy Street, Austin, TX 78702. The show is free and open to all the public, so come join us as we drink, play and meet the people changing the way we think about games!

Every month, as part of the regular monthly meetings of JUEGOS RANCHEROS, we do a very casual & chatty rundown of the ten or so games from the previous month for the audience, to give people — especially those outside the indie community itself — a look at what they may have missed. The featured games are both local and global, and both indie and, on occasion, a bit-bigger-budget — what binds them together is simply that they’re all amazing.

In keeping with the tongue-in-tobacco-packed-cheek tone, we call these run-downs A Fistful of Indies, which are presented here for your reference.

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Hey developers: is there a game you’re considering submitting for this year’s Fantastic Arcade? Here’s your two-week warning that submissions will be closing July 13th, so get yours in sooner than later!

The 2015 edition of Fantastic Arcade will again take place at Austin’s South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse & Highball lounge, this time during the second week (from September 28th through October 1st) of the accompanying Fantastic Fest film festival.

Shortly after the July 13th deadline, members of JUEGOS RANCHEROS will begin selecting games to showcase during Fantastic Arcade from your submissions. All of the games selected will be accessible to both festival attendees and the general public, for free, in a casual atmosphere of camaraderie and love for games.

If you’d like to submit a game, you can do so by accessing this form before July 13th. We look forward to playing all of your submissions, and especially to seeing you all in September for this year’s Arcade!

What’s it like to play a game that takes place in half-hazy childhood memories? Join us and find out this Thursday, July 2nd, at 7:00PM at Austin’s North Door, as JUEGOS RANCHEROS presents the world’s first look at Loren Schmidt‘s Strawberry Cubes, a low-fi & glitch-heavy game that lets you explore reconstructed & recollected spaces around your grandmother’s house.

[ RSVP FOR THIS EVENT AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE! ]

Best known for both the IGF 2010 Excellence in Design finalist Star Guard or the more recent Realistic Kissing Simulator, produced in collaboration with Jimmy Andrews, Schmidt has of late been producing multiple new works thanks to the continued support of fans on Patreon.

We’ll be showing a number of those newer games, including Strawberry Cubes (far easier to get a real sense of in motion, as above), the arena-shooter Murder Simulator v. 666, as well as an early look at Schmidt’s latest collaboration with Austin artist Katie Rose Pipkin, which itself includes what almost definitely must be the world’s first moth generator, seen below.

All of the games will be playable Thursday, July 2nd, at 7:00PM at North Door, 501 Brushy Street, Austin, TX 78702, along with a short presentation on the games on display. The show is free and open to all the public, so come join us as we drink, play and meet the people changing the way we think about games!

Ever thought about taking things a step further with a canine friend? Then join us Thursday, June 4th, at 7:00PM at Austin’s North Door as JUEGOS RANCHEROS presents Hot Date, the world’s first game about speed-dating a series of sincere but highly opinionated pugs.

[ RSVP FOR THIS EVENT AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE! ]

Just released by UK developer George Batchelor, and already taking the dog-lover/game-lover venn-diagram-overlap by storm, Hot Date puts you in the hot seat across the table from a prospective match and gives you a couple minutes to pry out their likes, dislikes, and hopes for the future.

Don’t like who you’ve been paired with? Suddenly reached a dealbreaking impasse about jazz? Hang in there, swig another drink, and a new date will be just around the corner.

Hot Date will be playable Thursday, June 4th, at 7:00PM at North Door, 501 Brushy Street, Austin, TX 78702, along with some other assorted & related works! The show is free and open to all the public, so come join us as we drink, play and meet the people changing the way we think about games!