Simply Sweet Games

Let’s talk about the power of culture in game dev! Tomorrow, I'm speaking at GDC alongside the incredible Kate Edwards for our session: Crafting Worlds, Building Teams: The Power of Culture in Game Development 📅 Wednesday, March 19, 2025 ⏰ 14:00 - 15:00 📍 Room 2018, West Hall (Moscone West)  If you’re passionate about how culture influences creativity and business success in the game industry, or if just want to learn how cultural intelligence can level up your team’s effectiveness, this session is for you! #GDC2025 #gamedev #gamesindustry #leadership #culture Simply Sweet Games Geogrify LLC Game Developers Conference

Updates from a Game Studio Founder’s (travelling) Desk🎮✨ It’s that time of year—the pre-GDC grind before the actual GDC opens. As per tradition, Tina Merry and I show up early to get the worm, and hustle our tooshis around town to make strategic moves! 😆 🚀 THE GOOD NEWS: We’re also Showcasing at GDC! 🚀 Simply Sweet Games is delighted to demo Criss Cross Castle to not one, but TWO incredible showcases: 🎉 Sunday, March 16 – Courage XL 2025 🎉 Tuesday, March 18 – Games [4Diversity] Showcase 💡 If you’re in San Francisco, come hang out, play Criss Cross Castle and celebrate games that make a difference! ⚡ NO GDC PASS REQUIRED—just good vibes, great people, and amazing games! See you there! #GDC25 #IndieGames #WomenInGames #GameDev #CourageXL #Games4Diversity

With so much going on, I forgot to share another update: Simply Sweet Games has been accepted to participate in Accelerate Okanagan's Okanagan Angel Summit. In preparation for this, I was also invited as an alumni of the AO Fundable Program to deliver a business pitch in Kelowna in 2 days! 🎺 The Okanagan Angel Summit is designed to bridge the gap between companies looking for growth capital and investors looking for investable companies. The 7th annual Okanagan Angel Summit will return April 1 – May 22. If you’re excited about to learn more about what we are doing, and possibly invest in our vision—please reach out. We’d love to connect and show you how Simply Sweet Games is creating experiences that bring joy and belonging to players everywhere! #investment #funding #angelsummit #angelinvestors #businesspitch #gamesindustry #gamedevelopment #startuplife

Wow, it's less than a week to go and Simply Sweet Games is heading to GDC! 🥳 It is shaping up to be an incredible event, packed with opportunities to showcase our game, connect with old friends and share insights on building inclusive, high-performing teams.    Here’s some of the ways you can find us: 🎮 Showcasing at Courage XL – Kicking off GDC with an amazing lineup of indie games! https://lnkd.in/dHY3JzqM 🌈 Games [4Diversity] Showcase – Championing inclusivity and diverse voices in game development, we are honoured to be included! https://lnkd.in/gxJj3Kwv 🎤 Speaking at the Independent Games Summit: Making Room – A conversation about the barriers and opportunities for indie studios to thrive with remote and hybrid teams. https://lnkd.in/gDiNifw8 🎤 Speaking at the Core Concepts Track: Crafting Worlds, Building Teams: The Power of Culture in Game Development – Joining the amazing Kate Edwards to discuss how culture drives both creative and technical excellence. https://lnkd.in/gRGRnPaX 🤝 Meetings with publishers & investors – Continuing to grow Simply Sweet Games and bring Criss Cross Castle to even more players! 🎉 Attending Women in Games International (WIGI) & AWS for Games - "Celebrating Women in Games" . We are delighted to celebrate the incredible women making waves in our industry! https://lnkd.in/dmsi9-Gv 🎙️ Recording for the Amplifying Voices podcast – We are bringing conversations from female founders and leaders to the forefront. (Check out link in comments!) If you’ll be at GDC, let’s connect! Always happy to chat about making games more inclusive, building great teams, and of course, word games! 😉   #GDC2025 Carina Kom 🔜 GDC #CrissCrossCastle #indiegames #gamedev ##womeningames #getwigi #gamecev #wordsmatter #startuplife

✨This article offers a POWERFUL reminder and message for women who aspire to be entrepreneurs! ✨ "If you are a woman who believes you can build a company that makes a difference, you likely have a better chance at success than you think. Leap into entrepreneurship, and you might find it rewarding professionally and personally. " According to studies referenced in this article, women outperform in entrepreneurship, yet we still face barriers to funding and recognition. Let’s celebrate the resilience, innovation, and impact we bring to the table —and keep pushing for the support we deserve! To all the women building businesses: keep going! Believe! Your vision matters. 💪 https://lnkd.in/gyWM-x5D #femalefounders #womeningames #entrepreneurship #startuplife #collaboration #believe #gamechangers #bethechange #startsomethingnew #iwd

💡 Did you know this!? 💡 Female game studio founders received just 0.11% of all game VC deals in 2024. Trends are going backwards and it is disheartening, to say the least. Thank you, Dean Takahashi and VentureBeat, for shedding light on this alarming reality and for amplifying the voices of myself and other female founders in this context. Carina Kom 🔜 GDC and I have lived this reality firsthand while building Simply Sweet Games. It’s time for investors to back the talent, vision, and market potential that female founders bring to the industry! This is not charity - it is good business. Check out the full article here: https://lnkd.in/gjT2U89U Let’s change the game! 💪 #gamedev #funding #womeningames #startuplife #gamedevelopment #gamesindustry #femalefounders #IWD #IWD25

Have you heard? Simply Sweet Games is proud to be in the line up for Games [4Diversity] at GDC25 in San Francisco! 🥳 "Games [4Diversity] improves the representation of socio-cultural minorities in games by organizing events. By organizing events nationally and internationally, we facilitate a dialogue between game developers and players to stimulate them to create more diverse games and characters. Additionally, we boost the visibility of minority game developers themselves, because we strive for a diverse and colorful game industry!" Foundation Games [4Diversity] #representationmatters #womeningames #culturalinclusion #gamedevelopment #gamesindustry Carina Kom 🔜 GDC

As game developers, we’re often the middle child of the creative tech sector - where cynicism is easy; and building change is harder. That’s why it feels so good to celebrate a real win. It’s policy wins like the renewal of the Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit that help small studios like Simply Sweet Games survive — and we don’t take that for granted. It’s a big challenge to build a community where interactive entertainment is recognized and inclusive leadership is the goal — and I’m feeling proud knowing that leaders like Finance Minister Brenda Bailey, Jobs, Economic Development, and Innovation Minister Diana Gibson 🇨🇦 and everyone at DigiBC - The Creative Technology Association of British Columbia are standing up for us and making this happen. >>> https://lnkd.in/g7ptsa-s #BCGames #CreativeEconomy #DigiBC #WomenInGames #InclusiveLeadership #GameDev #IndieDev #IDMTC #BCTech

🚨 Calling all female studio leaders and founders from the games industry! 🚨 Your voice matters. Your story matters. And we want to amplify it. At this year's Game Developers Conference (GDC) TaShanique Elzie and I are setting out to capture some the real experiences of women in the game industry—the challenges, the breakthroughs, and the advice you wish you had when starting out. What does it truly mean to be a woman in this space? What barriers still exist? What opportunities should we seize? And how can the industry do better to support us? 🎙️ We’ll be recording conversations at GDC, and Tash Elzie will be featuring them in  'Cheat Codes' - a recurring podcast sponsored by Women in Games International (WIGI)! If you're attending GDC and want to share your journey, let’s connect! Let’s make sure our voices are heard. 📩 Comment below or DM either of us to be part of the conversation! 🔗 Connect with TaSh! https://lnkd.in/gv-9E-N3 #GDC #womeningames #leadership #gamedev #podcast #amplifyvoices #inclusion #getwigi #gamedevelopment #gamesindustry #IWD #GDC25