From a salvaged retro arcade cabinet with a CRT monitor to a custom community game platform, @frankchiarulli.com and many other Recursers came together to make something that we couldn't have imagined alone:

I had the wonderful pleasure of working on some amazing things this past year that I can now show off! If you attend Super MAGFest 2026, you may be familiar with some of these characters...

Ready to do it all over again? Although Super MAGFest just ended, the wheels are turning and the train is moving along the tracks for our other events

In late 2025 @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social teamed up with @arcadecommons.org to run a game jam called Flip Out - games made using 5 toggle switches. This is the second alt.ctrl game jam following 2024's Lever Up jam. You can play the games made from this jam here: itch.io/jam/flip-out

Between at the @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social went super well too. It was so cool to see gamers play it 24 hours a day. Special thanks to the Indie Arcade team who found and installed a new projector when mine burned out!

Huge thanks to the rest of the @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social team for having me in the space / not giving me too much surprise work in December so I could finish it. And to peeps like @goferboy.bsky.social and @smashriot.bsky.social for being VERY LOUD about how much they loved the game from hour 1!

its post magfest so now I can showoff my Qualia Machine, lovingly built & designed by @blazinkarp.bsky.social inspired by glass teletypes and retro PC from a future that doesn't exist yet. The booth was decorated by me to reflect a cubicle inside an Intellica office. Lots of secrets there too...

Hello Fish Friends it is time for 🎊🐟The MAGFish Awards🐟🎊 Starting off, let's have a round of applause for our BIGGEST FISH: ahem drum roll please and thank you 🥁🐟🥁🐟🥁🐟🥁🐟🥁🐟🥁🐟🥁 SALT HILL (from @smashriot.bsky.social!) with a staggering 57 total meals!! 23 feeds is a lot!!! ON ALL 3?!? how. 1/5

A friendly reminder for any who need to hear it: fish never die! It just doesn't happen, nobody understands it and we stopped trying to? Nothing dies I think????

Of course, always have to give it up for the @arcadecommons.org and @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social people. I've said this during the con, but I've been going to this for 10+ years. To see it go from a little section in the expo hall to becoming one of the main pillars of the con is inspiring.

All of you put years of work into making this grow and it really shows. I am always overhearing people at the con talking about the different cabinets, games, and events from your floor, that attendees love to experience and be a part of, and makes them want to come back each year.

The amount of logistics, ideas, events, and fires you put out is nothing short of incredible. Even though I don't do anything (maybe one year), it's a real blessing to see you grow. Real proud of ya'll.

@mag-indiearcade.bsky.social undefeated

And of course, thank you so much as always to the @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social team for having and supporting us. Their commitment to fostering a space for joy and community inspires us and we certainly couldn't do it without them.

At MagFest with my homie as he's posted up as a hunter with @b0tster.yeag.gay's Nightmare Kart cab

Dyebreaker ready for action! right between two MAGFest heavy hitters, Nightmare Kart from @b0tster.yeag.gay and Nothing Good Can Come of This from Cartwheel Games. halls open in 29 minutes 🙇‍♂️

The Doom Drop cabinet is going strong at #magfest

Hey @magfest.org I'll be on the alt control panel hosted by @emilykoonce.bsky.social at 6PM! Panels 4 - Chesapeake I'll be talking strange controllers with Blake Andrews (currently blasting me in the arcade with horse race test), David Antognoli of Night City Games and John Meister of Super Soul!

Someone in a chicken suit walked out onto their hotel balcony, and everyone in the atrium started chanting CLUCK! CLUCK! CLUCK! Welcome to MAGFest, a video game festival

Happy 20th MAGFest! Come try out #Shootlanzer at the @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social !!

IT TIME (im not ready)

And surprise! A fan favorite, NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS by Michael Consoli is getting a fresh coat of paint, both literally by @chriscariot.bsky.social with new hand-painted side art, and lots of refurbs by Alex Panait, ready to re-emerge @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social !

Did you know we have an annual community showcase @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social ? These include games in all formats from our wider community! This year is one of our best yet, with some real slam dunks:

I'm so excited to be at MAGFest this week! First, I'm performing visuals with Rebecca Sugar's Lonely Magic Tour, Thursday 8:10pm on Mainstage! Then, I'll do visuals for @aivisura.com, Friday 12:00pm at Chipspace! Finally, you can play Between all day and all night at @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social!

Jam organized by @arcadecommons.org and @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social ✨ As part of the jam participants also built their own version of the controller, this is our shoebox version by @sadlilrobot.bsky.social

inventing a fun new game where you get really wasted and put all your kitchen knives on the floor with the lights off. i call it Scary Floor

Installing Orbital, YOGAÏE and Crashboard for Play Day Unwrap Festival that took place in Kortrijk, Belgium last Sunday 🌐🧘‍♂️🛹 Disclaimer: it's not as easy as I make it look... I spend all day setting up everything in there 😅

Y'all did it: Super MAGFest 2026 badges are SOLD! OUT! Super MAGFest badges can ONLY be bought/transferred through our in-house registration system - any others are fraudulent and cannot be honored or refunded. Be vigilant of scams if buying secondhand and use a platform with purchase protection!

The Protomen will debut Act III at Super MAGFest! Performing ALL THREE ACTS, the whole story, in narrative order. One act per night, catch it all over the weekend! Also, badges are almost SOLD OUT, and prices increase on Nov 1! So get yours RIGHT NOW! 🎃 super.magfest.org/registration

AND WE'RE LIVE! Our alt ctrl game jam is happening RIGHT NOW at itch.io/jam/flip-out and on the @arcadecommons.org discord! And any good game jam ofc has a theme to get the creativity flowing and ours this year is....

AND WE'RE LIVE! Our alt ctrl game jam is happening RIGHT NOW at itch.io/jam/flip-out and on the @arcadecommons.org discord! And any good game jam ofc has a theme to get the creativity flowing and ours this year is....

The @mag-indiearcade.bsky.social alt.ctrl game jam kicks off in a few hours! There is still time to join! You can even start working on a game and order parts while you're working on it. A selection of the games will be playable on a custom cab at MAGFest! itch.io/jam/flip-out #gamedev

HOT DANG It's this weekend! Aaaa!

9 days remain before our annual alt.ctrl game jam kicks off! There's still time to get your parts and get in on the action! More info @ itch.io/jam/flip-out

Today is the 23rd anniversary of the... Mid Atlantic Gamers Festival? With help from @magfest.org and @kohler.bsky.social, we've assembled a collection of archival materials that tell the story of the first MAGFest event from 2002! archive.gamehistory.org/folder/198d0...

WE'RE DOIN ANOTHER ALT CTRL GAME JAM Y'ALL Flip Out! October 16-19 Order your parts and build your controller now, have your game on a ~fancy~ custom controller at MAGFest! More info @ itch.io/jam/flip-out

we were a festival of gaming first

we were a festival of gaming first

Where my indie TT crew at

Wanna get on the magFAST stage? Only one way to make it happen! Sign up NOW with our submission form to get your speedrun, variety show content, or to be one of our host. tinyurl.com/magFAST2026s...

📣 Calling all #homebrew game developers! The #IndieRetro Homebrew Showcase on #SuperMAGFest is looking for your incredible creations! Join the celebration and submit your game here: bit.ly/MFIRHSA2026

Thanks for submitting your games, y'all! Tons of super cool stuff this year! We hope to start announcing our selections in October :)

One hour left No extensions Submit or don’t Super.magfest.org/apply

6 hours left to submit for 2026! Don't forget~~~ super.magfest.org/apply

FINAL DAY WERE RIGHT AT ABOUT THE 24 HOUR MARK SUBMIT YOUR GAMES FOR MIVS AND THE INDIE ARCADE YALL DONT FORGET YOU GOTTA CREATE A STUDIO AND THEN SUBMIT YOUR GAME AS A SEPARATE STEP super.magfest.org/apply

FINAL DAY WERE RIGHT AT ABOUT THE 24 HOUR MARK SUBMIT YOUR GAMES FOR MIVS AND THE INDIE ARCADE YALL DONT FORGET YOU GOTTA CREATE A STUDIO AND THEN SUBMIT YOUR GAME AS A SEPARATE STEP super.magfest.org/apply

FINAL DAYS you’ve only got until Tuesday to submit your games to Super MAGFest 2026 MIVS and Indie Arcade Stop dilly dallying and get those submissions in! super.magfest.org/apply/

FINAL DAYS you’ve only got until Tuesday to submit your games to Super MAGFest 2026 MIVS and Indie Arcade Stop dilly dallying and get those submissions in! super.magfest.org/apply/

ONE WEEK REMAINS SUBMIT YR DANG GAMES DON'T WASTE YOUR HOLIDAY WEEKEND FRETTING ABOUT YOUR APPLICATION, SUBMIT IT NOW AND EDIT IT LATER NO EXTENSIONS SEPT 2 IS THE END GET IT IN super.magfest.org/apply/

Important, specifically for Indie Arcade: If your game isn't completely ready, even if you haven't started on construction, please submit it!