Ravenswood Events Center will host the third annual Chicago Indie Game Showcase on Sunday, with the one-day convention expanding to all three floors of the venue, according to Block Club Chicago. The showcase began in 2024 as a gathering of about 200 people and has grown into a local event for independent video games, tabletop projects and Chicago developers.
The showcase, held at 4021 N. Ravenswood Ave., is organized by Indie City Games, an entirely volunteer-run local nonprofit, according to Block Club Chicago. The event brings together game enthusiasts of all ages to spotlight local video game developers, tabletop gamers and artists, and this year's lineup includes roughly 50 games, more than double the inaugural showcase's count of about 20. Organizers say the showcase usually sells out, and this time they expect to double or triple their previous sales numbers.
From Pilsen Gallery To A Three-Floor Takeover
The first Chicago Indie Game Showcase was held at Vault Gallerie in Pilsen in 2024 and drew about 200 attendees, according to Block Club Chicago. The 2025 edition moved to Hairpin Arts Center in Logan Square and attracted roughly 700 people. This year’s use of all three floors at Ravenswood Events Center marks another increase in the event’s footprint.
Attendees can expect game demonstrations, local artist displays, guest speakers and tattoo services, with some programming divided by ticket tier. Floor passes cost $35 and VIP passes cost $95. The Block Club Chicago report says tickets are also available at a 15% discount with the code dumpsterdiver. The event coincides with the 24th annual Ravenswood ArtWalk, which features outdoor markets and live music.
Ravenswood In The Planning Context
The event is also taking place within Chicago’s industrial-corridor planning framework. According to the Chicago Department of Planning and Development, the city’s 26 industrial corridors contain about 12% of its land. A 2018 department presentation also recorded concerns from Ravenswood businesses that they sometimes applied for licenses only to learn that their category was not allowed under the applicable zoning classification.
A Broader Creative-Use Context
The available planning material provides context but not a comprehensive account of how Ravenswood’s industrial and commercial properties have been reused for arts, design and public events since the framework-planning process. The showcase is distinct from Ravenswood ArtWalk, which the Greater Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce says has showcased the neighborhood’s arts community since 2001. Attendance at the showcase and its expanding game count offer one measure of the independent scene’s reach. Another is educational investment: Columbia College Chicago reported that its School of Design, in partnership with REACH Pathways, received a $75,000 Illinois Innovation Voucher grant for a student-led game-development project.
A Volunteer Effort Behind The Scenes
Indie City Games, founded in May 2010 and reestablished in its current form in 2023, is led by Jonah Lillioja, CJ Messam, Matt Eriksen, Seb Galvez and Les Garcia, the article states. Beyond the showcase, the volunteer-run nonprofit hosts meetups, open mics and game jams throughout the year and raised about $30,000 on Kickstarter in 2025, according to Block Club Chicago.
“Games are a great social unifier,” Galvez said, according to Block Club Chicago's reporting, adding that events like the showcase can deepen people's bond with the city and their living space. The nonprofit cannot offer people jobs, but it plans to help attendees establish game studios or personal creative practices. Its Discord community has grown from 300 people to over 2,200 members since 2023, and organizer Matt Eriksen has said the space should feel like an old-school forum where people can engage with each other, per a report from Block Club Chicago.
Chicago's Deep Gaming Roots
Chicago's grassroots game community exists alongside a larger commercial gaming legacy: Chicago is home to NetherRealm, the studio behind the Mortal Kombat franchise, and Jackbox Games, according to Block Club Chicago. NetherRealm's roots trace back to Midway Games, a company founded in 1958 whose headquarters moved from Franklin Park to Chicago after 1988, according to Wikipedia. Jackbox Games, meanwhile, released smartphone-as-controller party games starting in 2014, with comedy-writing roots tracing back to Second City, per the same source.
Local physical spaces continue to feed that ecosystem. The Lair, a casual co-working and events space, opened this summer in Albany Park near the Kedzie Brown Line stop, while Night City has a physical space in Logan Square and is run by David Antognoli, an assistant professor of game design at Columbia College Chicago, according to Block Club Chicago. Chicago Game Lab operates a physical space in North Center as well, per Chicago Makes Games, rounding out a network of community hubs that support playtesting and collaborative development outside of commercial studios.
Familiar Faces Returning To The Floor
Among the developers returning to the showcase is Keith Thomas, a Tri-Taylor resident and software engineer who has created games for nearly two decades and has shown his game Dock King at the Chicago Indie Game Showcase every year, according to Block Club Chicago. His continued presence reflects the kind of grassroots continuity Indie City Games has tried to build into the event since its earliest days at Vault Gallerie.
State policy has also shifted in favor of Illinois game developers. Illinois' production tax credit is 35%, and the program runs into the 2038-2039 timeframe. That regulatory backdrop sits apart from the showcase itself, but it underscores the growing institutional attention on an industry that a 2020 Entertainment Software Association study found already supported 8,112 jobs and generated $1.3 billion in annual economic output in Illinois, according to PR Newswire.
