A team from Dundee’s Abertay University has picked up first prize in the Samsung bada Student Developer Challenge. The competition challenged teams of students to create new games for Samsung’s app store – starting with a gruelling 24 hour game jam.
Tom DeMajo, Erin Michno and Ian Reynolds, collectively known as Quartic Llama, built Moeba, an side-scrolling, colour-changing action game with a unique organic style. Players have to destroy cells by tapping the phone screen, to keep their character safe.
Abertay University also took the prize for the best university, because it produced the winning team. Three other teams out of the twelve who competed came from Abertay, highlighting the university’s presence within the games sector.
The contest was judged by Samsung and a panel of mobile industry experts.
Erin Michno from the winning team said: “All of the finalists created interesting and high-polished apps, so it was really an honour and a surprise to win the challenge. It was also fantastic to pick up the university prize as it has been great working with the staff and the other Abertay teams.”
Ian Reynolds said: “I’m delighted that our team and university won the competition, and I’ve really enjoyed working with the all the other teams from Abertay that entered. We’re all hugely grateful for the support we got from the University, particularly Iain Donald’s dedication to organising the events at Abertay.”
The team won £5,000 and their game will now be promoted on the Samsung Apps store.
Dr Iain Donald, Computer Games Lecturer and team supervisor, said: “This is an incredible achievement from three very promising young professionals, who have already attracted a lot of attention for their technical skills and creativity.
“A key part of Abertay University’s education is developing industry skills and professionalism – competing against other prestigious universities like Oxford and Imperial College London to win the Samsung bada Student Developer Challenge shows just how well this is working.”