The recently created University of the West of Scotland Game Development Society recently held its first ever Game Jam.
Taking place from 31st January – 2nd February 2014, the jam was organised by Martin Grant and Stephen Mcgroarty of the UWS Games Dev Society. The jam pulled in Computer Games Technology and Computer Games Development students from 1st to 4th year.
The jam was sponsored by Scirra, who provided several Construct 2 licenses for winners. At least two of the games created during the jam are now heading for the Windows store, with many of the other students continuing to develop their jam games.
The jam pulled in over 20 people, not too shabby for a brand new event. Games were created using a diverse range tools including Visual Studio, Gamemaker, Construct 2 and Scratch.
The theme for the jam was Elements.
The final projects were:
Flameboy – Kenneth Mason – made with Construct 2
- Jump up through the sky landing on platforms, gaining gold and cashing in at the bank to achieve a high score.
The Circle Game – Kyle Hewitt – made with Unity
- Abstract game where you take control of a small coloured circle trying to merge with other ones to become bigger, lasting as long as you can.
Cloud Fall – Liam McVie – made with Construct 2
- Infinite runner with Sir Cloud, taking control of the weather elements to aid your journey.
Elemental Escape – Viktor Izsóf, Stuart Boon, Michael Shields, Victoria Russell – Gamemaker
- Puzzler game with different rooms containing different challenging puzzles ranging from dodging obstacles to simple math challenges.
Not Quite Chemistry – Sean McKay – Scratch
- Two-player “sumo wrestling” inspired game with a chemistry theme.
Elemental Sentinel – Judah Lucas – Gamemaker
- Arena survival game, fighting against as many bots as you can.
Pyromancer’s Trials – Lewis Mullan – Gamemaker
- Maze exploration game.
Voxel Engine – Stephen Mcgroarty – – not an actual entry, but programmed a voxel engine over the weekend. C++, OpenGL
The winners were…
Best Game
- Not Quite Chemistry (Construct 2 Business License)
Best Art
- Judah Lucas (Construct 2 Personal License)
Most Innovative
- Unity Circles (Construct 2 Personal License)
Games were judged by all participants and visitors, by a simple poll vote.
All game jam entrees received a free game code from the Humble Bundle Store for coming along to the event.
