Author: Chad Ramos

Many content creators, especially streamers would play video games with the expressed purpose of live streaming it to their favorite streaming platforms, because let’s admit it, playing games while people are watching can be fun. Viewers can follow you on your journey as you fight against zombies or completing a visual novel story, or they can laugh with you at your crazy antics in multiplayer games. But we all know video games aren’t the only thing anyone should just focus on, there are a ton of other geeky things that can be live-streamed, so if you are still in the fence on trying out different things outside of video games, then we have a couple of things that you can really live stream if you want to do something creative.

Doing a Talk Show or Podcast

It may sound cheesy to do your own talk show on a live stream, but if you are the type that loves to talk about a lot of topics, then this will work for you. Just sit down in front of your camera, place some good decorations as your background to make it more presentable or just use XSplit VCam to simulate a green screen chroma effect. You can also use XSplit Broadcaster to help you in creating professional overlays as well as the stream annotations that you can even use to write down lists or illustrations to aid in your topic discussion. You then think of a topic that you can to talk about, it can be about a new game that got you hooked for weeks or maybe that last movie that you watched that left you with a bad taste. Your audience can even engage with your discussion in which they can ask questions that you can respond to. You can even tag someone as your guest to share their inputs as well, or even have a healthy debate which can give more insights on the topic that you tackling on. The only thing to keep in mind here is to always keep your discussions civil. No need to go all rage for any disagreements.

Tabletop Gaming session

Tabletop is a game but this time it’s more on the non-electronic side. You can do live streaming with tabletop games such as board games, card games, and even classic pen and paper roleplaying games. So if you are a fan of Dungeons & Dragons or Magic: The Gathering and you want to show off your best campaigns or matches with your other buddies, you can do videos out of these. Though keep in mind that this may require a more complicated setup depending on what game you will be streaming. It may require you multiple cameras and microphones placed on the area or some unique overlays that will show multiple screens on your plays. But if you managed to pull this off, it will be one heck of an experience and you could encourage other tabletop geeks to do it as well.

Toy/Figure Unboxing

Any geek has at least one or two figures on display at their room, but if you are someone who is into figure collecting,  you could do a series of content out of it. Unboxing videos are trending content nowadays, but doing it in the form of a live stream makes it even more fun as you can engage with your audience. You can do a video from the new action figure that you received from your preorder or that hard to find a toy that has eluded you for years. You can even showcase its nifty features and accessories, or compare it with the other figures that you have in your collection. The sky is the limit here.

Model Kit Building

You could say that this has similarities with toy unboxing, but what makes this different is that you have to assemble the whole thing, and it’s a fun reason to stream it. The setup can be the same with a typical unboxing content except for it being longer as you have to assemble your kit. Just ready your tool kits, grab a can of soda, and start with the building. It can be of any model kits as long as those are your field of interests, mechas, sports cars, World War II vehicles and even plastic brick toys. There’s no limitation on what you want to build here. If it’s a large scale starship that has hundreds of pieces to put together, you can use an episodic format that encourages your viewers to watch your progression up until you finally finish it. And if you’re not satisfied with just straight building your kit, you can go the extra mile by doing panel lining or even painting it, you can even use the live stream as a tutorial on building and painting model kits.

Event Coverage

There will be events and conventions that are catered towards geeks, and it is a good opportunity to do some coverage from it. While some content creators make video content that is pre-recorded, doing a live stream video is still possible. All you have to do is have a really good smartphone that shoots great quality videos, and a lavalier microphone that you can use for commentaries. You can roam around the convention area like you are having a tour to give an idea on what’s inside the event, or do interviews of guests or exhibitors if the organizers permit it. And in some cases, you don’t need to limit yourself in just conventions, you can do it in community events and share the fun of the community with your audience. And don’t forget, be sure to abide by the rules of the events that you are attending, and if some certain areas or segments prohibit any form of video recording, please do follow those rules.

And there you have it, these are some of the geeky things that you can do in your live stream outside of video games. But these are just a tip of the iceberg as there are still many ways to do other forms of live streaming that many haven’t tried tapping in too, so time to make use of your creative juices and start doing some more awesome contents. 

Happy streaming!

There are a ton of great talents in the independent scene, in which most of these games are passion projects by these developers, meaning you know they made these games with love. Though they lack the budget and manpower that from triple-A companies, that still doesn’t stop them from making their projects a reality, and in some cases, they produce games that are outside of the usual tropes that we found in mainstream games, giving it more of bizarre and unorthodox gaming experience.

Now with 2019 almost draws to its closure, we listed out six of the indie games that are worthy to play for your live stream sessions, whether being one of the most anticipated titles or it just being a wacky game. Streaming these games will give you a ton of fun.

Wargroove

If you are a fan of turn-based strategy games and pixel art, then you should give Wargroove a try. A homage to the classic Advance Wars series from Nintendo, Wargroove puts you in the role of a commander and can choose from the four different factions, each having unique units that are tied to the faction’s theme. You can get to choose twelve different commanders that showcase their distinct personalities and traits that will give an advantage to your army. This is a great game to stream if you want to show off your neat strategic plays or you just want something that can encourage your viewers to interact with you in making the best approach in a specific map.

Untitled Goose Game

Part puzzle game, part stealth game, pure hilarity. As the title suggests, you play as a goose and your goal is to just, make a lot of mess to the inhabitants of the town. Grab objects, startle people or just scare children as you complete objectives at each level. Completing certain tasks may require being undetected to avoid being detected by your victims, and in some cases, you may require to trigger a series of events just to complete a specific objective. This is a fun game if you are just looking for something that just lets you do crazy things if you just want to stick to one certain level, a great choice to do a live stream and let them laugh with you on the hilarious antics that you would do in the game.

My Friend Pedro

A side-scrolling shooter that lets you kill enemies in style. If you’ve played the old Flash games when you were a kid a few years back, My Friend Pedro’s gameplay will surely remind you of those old games. Shoot down the enemies while dodging their bullets and slowing downtime which could remind you more of the classic Max Payne games, it also includes parkour elements where you can do flips, wall jumps and other acrobatic moves that can help stack up more points. The game lets you be more creative in clearing each level, which adds up the replayability value. If you are the certain fellow who loves to show off with their best kill shot in clearing a level or perhaps doing a hardcore approach by beating the game in the hardest difficulty in one sitting without getting killed, this would be your go-to game especially in streaming, and watch your audience go wow on your playthrough.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

If you are into exploring castles in old-school side-scrolling style, then this game is for you. From the same man who popularized the Metroidvania gameplay in the modern Castlevania games, Koji Igarashi launched Bloodstained as its spiritual successor to the classic Symphony of the Night. As Miriam, you hack and slash your way against the undead and demons as you explore the labyrinth for hidden secrets and unravel the mysteries in the story. With a blend of RPG elements, you can also equip different sets of armors and shards that can unleash different types of attacks. Fans of speedrunning challenges can stream this game as watching these kinds of videos can be quite entertaining, from completing the game within the fastest time or discovering new secrets, making your audience surprised with your tricks in speedrunning.

Forager

If you are into open-world exploration, crafting, and farming, but more of a simplified presentation, you should try out Forager. A 2D open-world game that takes inspiration from other indie games such as Terraria and Stardew Valley and some mechanics from idle management games. You get to explore regions and forage for minerals, food and other resources so that you can expand your land, there are different playing styles that you can focus on, from being an adventurer to a builder or even a merchant. Doing live streams on open-world or even sandbox games can be an engaging experience for your viewers, as they can watch your journey in building up your progression.

Risk of Rain 2

Jumping from 2D games, we’ll be heading to 3D games with Risk of Rain, which coincidentally also jumped from 2D to 3D for its second game. This roguelike multiplayer game lets you play it solo, group up for a four-man team as you fight your way through monsters to find ways in escaping the planet. You will be able to loot for powerful gear to increase your survival. Every new playthrough will be randomized, making it more challenging and increases its replayability. When doing live streams for the game, it’s a great opportunity to tag along with other streamers on your multiplayer session that can help build their respective audiences and have a continuous collaboration.

I hope you will enjoy these games, as these will definitely give you a lot of a great time for your streaming sessions. And to have a better gaming live stream quality, you can try out XSplit’s Gamecaster that has all the essentials you need to start your live stream career. It allows for capturing in-game footage, chroma key support, in-game Twitch integration and express video editor that will give you a professional-looking live stream in one application. You can start downloading Gamecaster by heading to this link

Playing cooperative or even competitive with friends is always fun when playing in one place, whether at your home or someone else’s. May it be for hours of competitive mayhem in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate or finishing that tough level in Overcooked! 2. The fun aspect of playing in a single room with friends is far better than playing online from separate locations, just like in the good old days. But that shouldn’t hold off gamers who would prefer having couch multiplayer sessions even if online multiplayer is now a thing. So with that in mind, we listed out some tips on setting up your couch gaming party for a whole night of non-stop gaming sessions.

Set up a schedule

Before preparing for the couch gaming party, you got to make sure that a date has been set. That means you need to schedule which day is available for everyone, and more importantly, where will the venue be. Make sure that all of the invited friends have agreed on a specific day, time and they will commit to it. Once that is done, you can also set up a reminder on your email calendar and add your friends as recipients, so in that way, they will be reminded for the game day. And if it goes well, maybe you can do a weekly or monthly schedule, just be sure to keep your friends updated and encourage them to bring other friends as well, as long as your place or whoever’s going to host the session can accommodate a lot of people.

Set up your gaming area

Now that a date has been set, it’s time to clean up your living room in preparation for game day. Be sure that there is ample space for your guests to relax, you can add a couple of bean bags and even pillows to keep them comfortable during game hours, also put up a place to keep their bags and other belongings in a secure place that they brought in. Have an area for your food and drinks to avoid getting your equipment get messed up with food stains and liquid spills.

You would also need to set up your network connection in case your gaming session would need multiple laptops to be connected either wired or wireless, and make sure to set up a guest Wi-Fi hotspot in case your friends need to use the internet. Don’t forget to bring out extra game controllers and fight sticks just in case some didn’t bring theirs.

Ready your snacks

Then, of course, having a gaming party would not be complete without the snacks. Be sure to head to the grocery store and stock up on your supplies or have your friends bring in their share. Make sure the snacks are in different varieties like chips, cookies or any other finger foods, as for drinks, ask your friends if they prefer alcoholic, soda or even both. Alternatively, you can have pizza deliveries as your midnight snack or dinner and have your friends share the payment, you can even do a potluck-style of food gathering where your friends can bring specific food and make your gaming session a feast.

Which games to play

Everything is almost complete, so it’s time for the games. You can ask your friends in advance on what certain games they would like to play, you can even ask them to bring their games as well. Having a variety of competitive and cooperative games can give a good balance so everyone won’t get tired of the same type of game. 

You can even set up a themed activity, like for example, a gaming session during the Halloween season. Maybe put up games that are themed on horror or zombies, or maybe more into fantasy-themed games and even encourage your friends to wear outfits or costumes of their favorite job classics. It’s a wacky idea but it’s definitely something worth considering.

Or as an icebreaker, bringing out a board game or card game that everyone can play to take a break from all those video gaming. Who knows, they might even discover a new game that they would actually get hooked into.

Setting up for streaming

This is entirely optional but it wouldn’t be fun if you can’t share your epic moments with your friends in your game nights. So maybe you might want to stream it and share it with your other friends, hook up a webcam and a microphone and make sure the camera is angled in the middle so everyone is visible with the microphone placed on a table with everyone surrounding it so their voices are audible. For best results, you can try XSplit Broadcaster for easier setup and have a professional-looking overlay for your live stream, or go with the XSplit Gamecaster that is more straightforward for live streaming games and can add an overlay for chats that lets you interact with the viewers and other widgets to enhance the presentation. And if it all goes well, you could do this as a regular thing and who knows, maybe you can become a popular content creator someday.

Just have fun

Make sure everyone gets a chance to play, whether they haven’t tried the game or feel that they aren’t good enough to compete with other people. The session doesn’t need to be all about showing off their best moves or combos, it’s more about having fun and strengthening your bonds, just like in those anime series, well with less of the cheesy parts.

You can add some twists to your gaming sessions to make things fun or to encourage everyone to try out new games. Things like adding a new set of rules or conditions to make the games more challenging or even hilariously fun, but of course you have to make sure everyone agrees with the idea of setting new conditions to the games, as you can still enjoy. 

And there you have it, we hope that this little guide can help make your gaming session with your friends more enjoyable, and make more of this multiplayer gaming party your monthly or even weekly gathering. Plus, you can invite more friends to join the party, as we all usually say; the more, the merrier.