Benjamin Rivers is an

independent game developer An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

, illustrator, and comic artist.

Biography

Rivers was raised in Barry's Bay, Ontario, Canada and is now based out of

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada. He is a member of the

Hand Eye Society The Hand Eye Society is a not-for-profit coalition of projects and people in support of Toronto's video game communities. The Hand Eye Society Organizes socials, unconferences, presentations, showcases and established connections with the inte ...

and a graduate of the Artsy Games Incubator program. Rivers has been an active and early member of the Toronto independent gaming scene and has been creating games for download and display since 2008. His games span multiple genres but often focus on similar visual styles. The various titles have appeared in ''Edge'' magazine, '' Game Developers Magazine'' and on ''

Gamasutra ''Game Developer'', known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021, is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine '' Gam ...

'', GameSetWatch,

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ...

, '' Maisonneuve'', among others.

called one of Rivers' games, ''Snow'', "an ''American Splendor'' comic delivered by way of ''

Monkey Island ''Monkey Island'' is a series of adventure games. The first four games in the series were produced and published by LucasArts, earlier known as Lucasfilm Games. The fifth installment of the franchise was developed by Telltale Games in collabor ...

''." His graphic novel ''Snow'' is being made into a feature film by Ryan Couldrey. The film stars Nina Iordanova as Dana and is set for a release in October 2014. The film will be free to watch, but there will also be a paid version with bonus content. For the first 90 days of Snow's release, 100% of the proceeds from each purchase will go toward the

Princess Margaret Cancer Centre The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre (previously, ''Princess Margaret Hospital'') is a scientific research centre and a teaching hospital in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, affiliated with the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine as part of the Univ ...

, which serves as the premier cancer research institute and hospital in Canada.

Bibliography

;Comic Books & Graphic Novels All self-published * 2004. ''Empty Words #1'' * 2006. ''Empty Words #2'' * 2007. ''Empty Words #3'' * 2007. ''Empty Words #4'' * 2008. ''Empty Words'', the complete series * 2008. ''Snow #1'' * 2009. ''Snow #2'' * 2010. ''Snow #3'' * 2010. ''The Husbanders'' * 2011. ''Snow #4'' * 2011. ''Snow'', the complete series ;Games * 2008. ''Snow the Game'' * 2009. ''The Ascent'' * 2010. ''Drunken Rampage'' * 2010. ''Missing'' * 2012. ''Home'' * 2015. ''Alone with You''''Alone with You''
website * 2019. ''Worse Than Death''

References

External links

*
"Drunken Rampage Interactive Drinking Game"
GameSetWatch, 7 June 2010
"Artsy Games"
Maisonneuve, 13 January 2010

Game Developer Magazine Career Guide, 2009
"The Ascent, TO Jam"
GameSetWatch, 5 May 2009
Site of ''Empty Words'' (graphic novel)

Site of ''Snow'' (graphic novel)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Benjamin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian illustrators Indie game developers