The Wild and Inventive Games of NYC Video Game Festival 2026
This article features grabs and quotes from referenced articles written by Arthur Damian, thatvideogameblog & NYC.Gov
June 1st, 2026
Munity Games recently showcased Shootlanzer at the annual NYC Video Games Festival on May 9th.
The NYC Game festival celebrates local developers, esports, and interactive media as part of a grassroots initiative of MOME to establish NYC as a global gaming hub. The day long celebration
New York City is home to more than 380 game companies and over 7,900 indie game developers, making it the largest game development hub on the East Coast. To support this industry, the City of NY has committed to building an education and workforce pipeline that is preparing New Yorkers for careers in coding, video game design and city planning, while simultaneously supporting up-and-coming indie developers that are producing “Made in NY” games (those produced 75% or more in NYC). To further these efforts, the NYCVGF will kick off the “NYC Summer of Games”, a citywide calendar of gaming events running May through September 2026 to shine a spotlight on the City’s growing gaming community. - NYC.GOV
Official Press Release: https://www.nyc.gov/site/mome/news/04162026-nyc-video-game-festival.page
Shootlanzer: Battle Record of a Midair mobile soldier
Next, Shootlanzer wowed me with its presentation alone (though its gameplay is also top-notch). Attendees had the option to play the title on a custom arcade cabinet, so you know I had to go old school. A modern shmup, the game has you controlling Leona Almeida, a Mid-air Mobile Soldier. It has some classic trappings like a shot power-up system, but it also has a dodge that activates this temporary slow-motion if you time it just right. Besides the dodging and weaving you’ll do with regular enemies, there are also giant bosses at the end of each stage. These baddies have missiles that will damage you if you don’t destroy them quickly, so there’s always a bit of extra tension during these segments. The bosses are also the perfect time to unleash your screen-filling super move, dealing massive damage. What I also enjoyed were the on-screen prompts to “SHOOT IT!!” regarding the aforementioned missiles, and the “SPIN ON!” to indicate when your dodge cooldown was over and ready to utilize again. There are always so many things to keep track of in a shmup, so it’s nice to have some indicator reminders. You can grab the demo of Shootlanzer over at Itch.io by naming your own price. - Arthur Damian, thatvideogameblog
Full Article Here: https://thatvideogameblog.com/the-wild-and-inventive-games-of-nyc-video-game-festival-2026/
