Bad Games Showcase

Descend into badness as we examine and celebrate the memorable failures, absurd glitches, and unique joy only bad games can deliver!

🎮 Hands-on Play: Explore a curated arcade of infamous and obscure “bad” video games, from notorious classics to bizarre modern releases.

🔍 Curatorial Insights: Discover why some games are “so-bad-it's-good,” “intentionally bad,” “bad-in-context,” or just plain “so-bad-it’s-bad” based on the research article "Trash or Treasure: a Proposed Typology of Bad Videogames" by Hollie Wistow and David Antognoli.

📌 Critical Play Exercise: Plot your own favorite (or least favorite!) bad games on a giant interactive chart mapping how intention and reception shape the meaning of “bad.”

💬 Community and Conversation: Mingle with fellow gamers, community members, and the curious. Bring your own game critic—everyone’s a reviewer tonight!

Join us as we examine these games' bold transgressions against the common standards of the game industry and potentially rethink what "bad" means in the context of video game culture.

We have an of bad Mega Man Maker levels! Mega Man Maker provides free, user-friendly tools for the creation of NES style Mega Man levels, similar to Nintendo's Super Mario Maker. Submissions close on 09/15/2025!

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• Free event, suggested donaton at door
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Event Venue

Night City, 3650 West Wrightwood Avenue, Chicago, United States