Computer Games students’ triumph in virtual game jam competition

A team of Computer Games students have recently taken part in a 48-hour virtual game jam competition, where they placed first for their mobile game entry!

The competition, which was hosted by Surge (a street art and physical theatre company) and UNBOSI (United Nations Board of Significant Inspiration), set entrants the challenge of creating a web based or mobile game in just 48 hours.

4th year Computer Games students Kyle McSwan, Ruari McGhee, Briony Mckelvie, Malwina Jabłońska and Bruno Pashaj decided to enter the competition as a way of preparing themselves for their final year at university.

Computer Games (Design) student Kyle McSwan explained that they were given a unique theme for their competition entry. He said: “The theme for the jam was ‘Help us get marbles into world leaders' heads, because they are always losing them’.

It was a very unique theme, but one with a lot of potential. We were given the choice to develop for mobile or create a web-based game over the span of a weekend, so we had to plan and develop fairly quickly if we wanted the best possible game we could produce!"

The team of students decided to enter the competition to hep them settle into their final year of university. Computer Games (Design) student Briony said: “A couple of us had seen the competition floating around Facebook and Twitter and thought it was the perfect opportunity to start our fourth year of university, bringing us back into that work environment and hopefully another piece for our portfolios."

Computer Games (Art & Animation) student Malwina explained that the team created a mobile game using a mobile phone gyroscope. She said: “Our idea was a mobile game which contains two aspects, a quiz and a balance challenge through a phone's gyroscope.

During further development, we have expanded the questionnaire idea and made it more appealing for the player. Every answer turns into a colourful marble that represents inspiration in a certain field (relationships, economy, arts, education, nature, and humanity)."

Computer Games (Art & Animation) student Bruno indicated that the team’s success is due to their great communication. He said: “For every challenge, there are pros and cons. We all worked with one another in other teams in the previous years; so, we knew we could work together in this one with no problems as well.

We were constantly talking on Discord and working together remotely. Trusting another teammate’s work is crucial and a key point to overcome the obstacle of distance."

Computer Games (Software Development) student Ruari was delighted with the competition’s results. He said: “It's all been very exciting, being able to successfully deliver a rounded game in such a short timeframe has given us a lot of confidence about our ability to use our skills in the industry.

What we've really been excited about however is that we now have the opportunity to work with Surge Glasgow and UNBOSI to develop the game further.

The aim is that we can eventually get it released on the Android and IOS app stores so that the game can be used as part of their upcoming events."

Find out more about Surge here

By Rachael McAlonan

Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media