Set sail for IWOCon, a playable pirate themed indie game convention

The traditional event promotional cycle for releasing an independent game has been thoroughly thrown off keel by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has restricted how people can gather and how they can travel.

There have been many attempts to capture the feel of the gaming convention for players and developers alike, and IWOCon joins the crew of organisations offering a treasure trove of independent games in a playable digital space.

The "convention" which is accessible through the Steam store, is a playable set of islands with a pirate theme feature trailers and links to around 200 independent upcoming and available titles.

Much like the themed islands made popular by games such as Second Life, you can travel between a number of different spaces each featuring different games and collectibles such as coins or hats.

The execution of the world looks really appealing if you're standing still, which you will be most of the time if you're viewing screenshots or a trailer so that isn't a problem, but as soon as you move around the frame rate drops and input lags quite a bit.

Don't try to swim though as you'll plummet to the briny depths. Or maybe give a try as it's actually pretty fun.

There is a lot here to explore and for the most part it replicates the experience of walking through a convention hall, stopping when something catches your attention.

There are onscreen prompts which take you directly to more information about each game however that takes you out of the game into another app so you'll be ALT-Tabbing back and forth.

You can install the IWOCon game for free on the Steam Store now or head to the IWOCon website for more information.