An Indie Game Arcade Has Opened at Elsewhere

Sick of playing the same old Konami games at Barcade? Till March 3, East Williamsburg venue Elsewhere is hosting an arcade of indie games created by local developers. So go on, stop pumping quarters into the Contra machine and try out some Witchball.

Most of the ’80s-style cabinet games that have been installed in Elsewhere’s second-floor Skybridge Project Space come from the Death By Audio Arcade, a roving series of “artcade” games that grew out of the bygone Williamsburg music venue. (Mark Kleback, who hand-builds the cabinets in conjunction with indie game developers, started the DBAA collective when he was living at Death By Audio in 2013.) You may have seen some of them at places like Babycastles, or at events around town. Partical Mace, where you swing particles at your enemies, has been such a fixture at Silent Barn that local band Aye Nako even named a song after it.

Other DBAA games currently at Elsewhere include Volleygon, a 2-on-2 game where polygons play volleyball; Powerboat Italia ’88, a speedboat racing game; and Video Freak, an artier game featuring analog video effects and guitar pedals. There are also some games from other developers, like Exposure (by local outfit Sheep’s Meow) and the 5-player Dobotone (by Buenos Aires-based Videogamo).

You can stop in to play the games anytime during happy hour (5pm to 7pm), but you may want to visit on these particular nights: On Saturday, Feb. 17, Ebru Yildiz will display her photos of Death By Audio and sell copies of her book, We’ve Come So Far; on Feb. 18, Allen Riley, the artist behind Video Freak, will set up an analog video installation while Bashlite plays. Next Thursday, there’ll be a showcase of 8-bit games in Elsewhere’s bar, The Loft.

The games are free, but DBAA encourages you to rsvp and, while you’re at it, maybe even chip in for a membership good for discounts at the aforementioned events and others.