A new venue designed to host indie video game makers and interactive art named ‘Wonderville,’ is coming to the soon-to-be former space of Secret Project Robot (1186 Broadway). The masterminds of Wonderville are the good folks from DBA Arcade, which spawned in 2013 from the legendary ‘punk warehouse’ Death By Audio music venue in Williamsburg. Founder Mark Klebak launched a new crowdfunding campaign to raise $70,000 toward opening costs with over $20,000 raised with 25 days remaining.
Up to this point, these games have only shown up at festivals and short-term pop-ups as physical installations meant to be played by a group of people in a public space, and then they disappear. But no more! Wonderville will house independent games as a permanent home for these modern treasures. The space will also host tournaments, playtest nights, board games, comedy, live music and rotating art installations and exhibits….
Wonderville builds on the foundation of Death By Audio Arcade, which collaborates with game developers and teaches them how to cut and paint wood, solder electronics and assemble physical installations for video games. Most game designers are used to making games to be played at home on a computer, but by showing games in public spaces, these designers also learn how to make great social arcade games.
We also host talks and panels and invite local artists to showcase games at public events. Since 2013, we’ve built over 20 custom arcade cabinets and we’ve been featured at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, MAGFest, World Maker Faire New York, South By Southwest, PlayNYC and Low-Level Festival. We’ve been a transformative organization for people looking to learn more about doing hands-on projects in an increasingly digital world.
Secret Project Robot is still open while exploring the possibility of a new location and is hosting events through the end of April as of now.