The full line up for the third annual Glasgow Independent Games Festival has been announced including a World Premiere from the Bitloom Games – the studio behind Phogs.
The Glasgow Independent Games Festival is officially set to take place on the 11th and 12th of July, in Glasgow’s Barras Art and Design (BAaD) building.
This year’s festival is set to take place over two main days, with a Saturday evening section with live entertainment (games will also still be on show at this time).
Organised by the Glasgow Independent Games Group CIC (GIGG), the festival aims to show people the diverse and creative world of indie games. Allowing those familiar with the creative outlet to see what others are making, and those unfamiliar to explore what else is possible in game development. The festival will include:
Game Showcases: Discover projects from emerging and established indie developers.
BitLoom World Premiere
The creators of the BAFTA-nominated game Phogs BitLoom Games, are debuting their new game title at the Glasgow Indie Games Festival 2026. The launch will take place at the festival launch night on Friday 10th July at 8pm, after which the game will be available to play throughout the festival and will be available for the public to play on the main days of July 11th-12th
James from Bitloom told the Scottish Games Network:
I’m so excited to debut our next Bit Loom game at Glasgow Indie Games Fest 2026. It feels like the perfect fit with our game being set in Scotland and having attended the festival last year, I know it is going to be an amazing time!”
Henry from Bitloom added:
Scotland has such a vibrant community of indie developers and we’re looking forward to being part of an event that shows off what we all have to offer”
The full programme for Glasgow Indie Games Festival 2026:
- New debut game from Bitloom Games, the creators of Bafta nominated “Phogs!”
- (BAFTA winning) Amicable Animal – Dissimulation
- James Muirhead – Grease Trap ‘99 (full BBC article on the game…)
- BigBeefySharkBaby – JUMPBABY
- Rat King Entertainment – Mops & Mobs
- Night Dial LTD – CROWDED. FOLLOWED
- Yogscast Games / Slug Glove – Rhell: Warped Worlds & Troubled Time
- Idun Studio – Travelling Light
- Bryce Roth – fresh fish
- Cow Children Games – Trans Theft Horso
- Alienmelon – individualism in the dead-internet age: an anti-big tech asset flip shovelware r̶a̶n̶t̶manifesto
- Joshua Roland – GAME
- Draknek and friends – He Who Watches
- Jordan Magnuson – Game Poems, Issue #1: First Moves
- ALJO – MORSE
- Kosmische Build – Salann
- FunkyPear – Gravitee Wars
- Octopus Punch – Coco’s Revenge
- Beyond The Bark – Éalú
- Humble Grove – A Line Held Tight
- Fochram Arts – Sheep Wrangler
- Lucy Middleton – Phone Call from the Edge of the Universe
- Marcelo – Wee Tarot
- C.Diffin – The Invisible Casino
- LOIZO – Dino Game Txt Edition
- Liam Kerr – Sharts.
- Zaatar Cafe – Letter retteL
Talks, Panels and Workshops
Engage in discussions with veteran voices in the UK games industry, and upcomers sharing stories and tips for creating your own fantastic games.
Talks / Workshops full programme
- Carrie France / 4J Studios – Are we the Baddies?
- Charlotte Pang – How to make cute, quick, 2D Animations on Google Slides!
- Pauline McCloy-Turtle / SUUM studio – Play the Rave: Designing a Playable Music World in Fortnite
- Eleonor Menéndez / Astrava Entertainment / ACADEVI – Building a Game Industry Where There Isn’t One: Lessons from the Canary Islands
- Dr. Amber Pasternack – Cracking open closed systems: how to encourage unique and meaningful gameplay
- Stephen Hey / HeyStephenHey – Worst pitch ever!
- Sarah McCue (SariaPlays) / Twitch – The Power of Live: Charity fundraising in the games industry
- Mazen Sukkar /Freelance Design Consultant – Gen AI can fuck itself: Why LLM’s make design teams dumber and less capable.
- Kyle Banks / Blank Keys – Farewell North – Post Mortem
- Llaura mcgee / dreamfeel – Creating wee interactive moments in flickgame!
- Alan Jack / Glasgow Caledonian University – Post-Modernism & Futurism in Game Design – What does the future of games look like?
- IWGB Game Workers – Where do I stand? – Exploring how to organise and knowing your workers’ rights!
James McDonnell, Co-Director of GIGG, said:
The indie space has never been so kaleidoscopically rich, but still most people are only exposed to the wildly lucrative edge cases. We’re trying to showcase the game designers who have resisted the rampant commercialisation of game culture and let themselves see the medium as more than just a product. The indie space should be where we throw paint at the wall and try things the larger companies can’t touch because of ‘market demands’. It’s never been easier to start making games, the hope of the festival is that someone will come away thinking ‘hey-maybe i could make a game!’
Fergus Coyne, Co-Director of GIGG, added:
There is no better place to be than the Glasgow Indie Games Festival. This is the home for the weird, the outrageous and utterly unique. A place to bring together the community and the industry under one roof for an unforgettable weekend to celebrate indie games. With the rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence, it’s essential and important that the festival stands as a strong example of human-made creativity and effort. Never before seen games, talks from the experts and the artistes of development and extraordinary performances from musicians and poets alike – There is no other festival in the world like the GIGF.