Independent game development is, by and large, a solitary activity. Collaborations take place across countries, and even if your team is in the same city, chances are you communicate mostly by email. Consequently, I know other developers mostly by their games.

All that changes once a year at an event simply known as “Mittens.” It was founded eight years ago by a group of indie game developers who knew each other from the internet. Every year they pick a different location to meet and hang out for a week. This year we rented a chateau in France. For 26.

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I run a video game studio out of my apartment. I have three employees, two of whom I’ve been working with since 2005. We’ve never met. They’re in Latvia, the Netherlands, and Japan. My boss, Dave Gilbert, lives in New York City. Right now I’m making him a game with a five-figure budget. I’ve never met him, either.

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