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A curly haired patron of Bit Bash 2019 at the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago wears a VR headset for VR64, a virtual reality experience for the Commodore 64. A rainbow decorates the right-hand side of the black HMD.
VR64 by 64jim64 started out as a science fair project with his 12-year-old daughter. Last month it was part of Bit Bash at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.

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Indie games invade Chicago’s weirdest museum for Bit Bash 2019

Video games? Just past the German U-boat, hang a left at the coal mine.

By Charlie Hall
Photography by Marvin Cespedes

After a brief hiatus, Chicago’s tightly-knit volunteer team was back last month with Bit Bash, an annual celebration of the global indie game scene. This year the event was produced with the help of a new sponsor, the Museum of Science and Industry.

Also known as MSI, the massive exhibit hall is one of the weirdest places in the city. Inside you’ll find a replica coal mine, a two-story-tall adjustable tornado, a working chicken incubator, and an honest-to-gods German U-boat. So why not add a game called Hellcouch for the weekend?

In total, Bit Bash offered more than 80 interactive experiences, including board games and an art exhibit by the VGA Gallery. The crowd was a glorious mix of ages and demographics, with a smattering of high-profile talent from Chicago’s best indie developers. I even bumped into my old friend Robin Baumgarten, whose award-winning Line Wobbler and Wobble Garden were both on display.

The highlight for me was walking into an amazing space and letting my girls — aged nine and six — run wild. Family favorites included Capy Hoky (where adorable capybaras play a game of ice hockey) and Kick Bot, a game about a wall-jumping robot played on a custom, two-button controller.

Most surprising were the games that attracted my girls the most. My youngest fell in love with GAZE, a game where you hover over a 3D structure with an iPad trying to create specific shapes in the camera from seemingly random lines. Meanwhile, my oldest became entranced with Genesis Noir, an avant-garde art game about jazz and the creation of the universe.

Being there in that space, experiencing dozens of entirely new games shoulder-to-shoulder with other people, felt amazing. Anyone jaded by the endless discourse on social media and inside comment threads owes it to themselves to come to Chicago next year to be reinvigorated, and reminded how joyful games can be.

The event was sponsored by Jackbox Games, VGA Gallery, Aria Technology Solutions, the Museum of Science and Industry Chicago, and the Chicago Foundation for the Interactive Arts. Here’s a look at how it all went down.

A view of the atrium at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry featuring a massive banner for Bit Bash, 2019. “Chicago’s alternative game festival” it reads.
For most guests of Bit Bash 2019, the journey began with a trip up from ticketing to MSI’s massive marble atrium. In addition to a large demo space off the main halls, individual games rotated through the atrium all weekend long.
Three visitors to Bit Bash 2019 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago stand in a dark room around a plywood table covered with springs that look like doorstops. Rainbow LEDs glow inside the installation, reacting to their movements.
Among the games on display in the atrium was Wobble Garden, a project by Robin Baumgarten. The board itself is made up of dozens of springs. Each one is touch sensitive, and by changing to underlying programming Baumgarten is able to achieve different effects, including a rather compelling simulation of flower pollination.
A periodic table-like graphic shows dozens of “Pocket Monsters” against a large black paper background. To the left and right are backgrounds made by colored streamers, with performers holding dolls through the streamers from the other side. Bit Bash 2019
Live Action Pocket Monster Snap is a performative take Pokémon Go, ran multiple times throughout the weekend. It asked guests to use their mobile phones to capture pictures of Beanie Babies.
A person holding a tablet lines up a shot in GAZE. The game board is peach and light blue, with thing foam structures all over. Each one is inscribed with an obtuse black shape. Bit Bash at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. 2019
In GAZE players use a purpose-built app to hunt for shapes in a three-dimensional maze. Only by lining up the black lines correctly — by moving up, down, and around the structure — can they then move on to the next shape.
A woman an two young children laugh at a table inside Bit Bash at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. 2019.
Visitors enjoy a round of SLAMBURGERS!, a wild game about sentient fighting hamburgers by Aidan Walsh. In the background, a full auditorium space was dedicated to Scattershot, a competitive SHMUP that accommodates hundreds of players at once.
Three high-school aged kids listen to a talking sofa while LED lights illuminate them from behind. Bit Bash at the Museum of Science and Industry, 2019.
A team of players puzzle over Hellcouch, an interactive game featuring a possessed sofa that you play with your butt.
A young man at Bit Bash stands inside a dark gallery at the Museum of Science and Industry holding two ping pong paddles in his hand. He’s mimicking an on-screen representation of a deck officer, showing the pilot that his wings are not properly aligned t
In Roger Meatball players take turns recreating some of the first carrier landings in a period biplane. The game includes a robust flight simulation as well as LED instrumentation. The highlight is that another player watches the pilot trying to land from the deck of the carrier on a second screen, and uses semaphore to help them land.
A player waggles a giant spring in Line Wobler at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Bit Bash 2019.
Line Wobbler, a single-pixel action role-playing game, was artfully displayed along the railing of a long winding staircase.
A brightly colored box shows cartoon characters on stage. A display shows similar characters cheering in the audience. Bit Bash 2019 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
One of the more raucous demos was actually in the tabletop area, converted from an old cafeteria below the main gallery. Earworm is a game of musical charades. The catch is you can’t sing, and have to hum the tune instead. The game was designed and produced by a Chicago-based team.
Instructions for Hedge Lord are screen printed inside the wooden game box. From Bit Bash at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. 2019.
Hedge Lord is an exceptionally beautiful hand-made board game produced by Timbrook Toys in Huntsville, Alabama.
A member of the VGA Gallery team makes a sale. Behind them, on display, are art prints from Hidden Folks, Kentucky Route Zero, and Sword and Sworcery.
Chicago’s Video Game Art Gallery participated this year as well, bringing a small traveling exhibit for guests. Art prints were also on sale.
Two players smash at rubber fish, wired up to a red box and attached to a Mac laptop via USB. From Bit Bash at the Museum of Science and Industry. 2019.
Sashimi Slammers is a game about two fish duking it out on the sushi counter. The game is played with a pair of custom, fish-shaped controllers. It was just as much fun to play as it was to watch.

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