Once again on Wednesday the 12th and 19th of February, the Scottish game community and it’s denizens descended on Glasgow and, for the very first time, Dundee to play some of the great games created at this year’s Global Game Jam at our annual Play Parties. The Global Game Jam, for those who don’t know, is an event held across the world with teams of developers racing to create a game in 48 hours. This year Scotland played host to several venues, including Glasgow, Dundee, and Edinburgh.
This year’s jam was huge, with well over 200 jammers registered across all the venues, and all of the games which were produced turned out to be genuinely innovative and incredibly fun to play.
Attendees at the Play Parties were also given the chance to vote for their favourite game, and help it win the IGDA Scotland Community Choice Award. At the Glasgow site the stunning Prism Saga, from a pair of game jam virgins no less, swooped the award. Prism Saga is a shiny 3D platformer with two-dimensional freedom of movement, which is really fun to play. The developers of the game are hoping to expand it further, aiming for a commercial release to bring the title to a wider audience. You can play Prism Saga here: http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games/prism-saga
The winning game at the Dundee Play Party was the beautifully innovative Light in the Night. Light of the Night is an experimental game in which there is a small town enveloped in a fog, and by walking around you clear the fog away. This effect works really well, and the visuals are very impressive for a game created in just 48 hours. You can check out Light of the Night here: http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games/light-night
A massive congratulations is also due to the fantastic Timea Tabori, who received the inaugural IGDA Scotland Most Valuable Person Award for her outstanding commitment and service to the chapter over the past year. Truly well deserved, and a huge thanks to Timea for all she’s done.
Finally, although only two titles could be chosen, all of the games that I played at the Play Parties were great! There was some real talent showcased at this year’s jam, and we hope to see you at next years event! You can play the other games from the various venues at the links below:
Dundee: http://globalgamejam.org/2014/jam-sites/dundee-scottish-game-jam-abertay-university
Edinburgh: http://globalgamejam.org/2014/jam-sites/edinburgh-napier-university/games
Glasgow: http://globalgamejam.org/2014/jam-sites/scottish-game-jam)
A huge thank you to everyone who came and exhibited their game at either Glasgow or Dundee (or both!), and to everyone who came along and played them. We all had a fantastic time, and we hope you enjoyed the Play Parties as well. Thanks also to Dave Sharp for allowing us to use his photo from the Global Game Jam Glasgow venue in this post.
Don’t forget we have plenty of other IGDA events running throughout the year, with the next one being an evening of microtalks in Dundee on March 26th. More details and tickets can be found by clicking here.
Mitu Khandaker runs The Tiniest Shark, about to launch their first title “RedShirt”, a parody game whose concept is social simulator set on a spacestation. Mitu is one of Develop’s 30 Under 30, a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit and sits on the Advisory Board for the Advocacy Track at the Game Developers Conference among many other claims to fame.
Dr Jo Twist took the role of CEO of Ukie in January 2012. Dr Twist was Channel 4’s Commissioning Editor for Education where she commissioned Digital Emmy-winning Battlefront II, a stable of free to play browser and iOS games, including Sweatshop, Nomnation and International Racing Squirrels, as well as social media projects. Previous positions include Multiplatform Commissioner for BBC Entertainment & Switch, BBC Three Multiplatform Channel Editor and in a former life was a technology reporter for BBC News. With a background in digital media, education, creative technology and youth culture, and a PhD in online communities, identity and young people, Twist brings a wealth of experience in all aspects of interactive entertainment including media, technical innovation and creativity, commercial and political issues.