Teamwork makes the dream work for global game jam winners

A Staffordshire University student has won an international game jam after joining forces with teammates more than 1500 miles away.

Ukie’s bi-annual student game jam draws from a pool of 4,000 students from 40 different institutions across the UK and challenges teams to create a computer game in just 48 hours.

This year, Ukie and Sharkmob launched Collab-jam which also invited international schools to take part. Each team included a mix of students from different countries, who had to work together across borders to make the game that best represented the theme of collaboration.

First year BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development student Emily Perry teamed up with a trio of students from the National University of Theatre and Film "I.L. Caragiale" in Romania.

She said: “I really enjoyed working with my team! From the time the jam started until the jam ended on the Wednesday, we were almost constantly on call through Discord. Eventually, we settled on a single keyboard, multiplayer game, using the idea of two characters with completely different sizes, both helping each other to achieve a goal of some sort.”

Inspired by the idea that the big should help the small, and that all kinds of people have different skills they can bring to the table, Ogre Time is a two-player platformer puzzle. One player controls a giant ogre, and the other his tiny hooded rescuer. Both players must use each character's unique skills to escape from the dungeon the ogre has been caged in, avoiding or defeating guards and traps that intend to impede their progress.

All teams were assigned an industry mentor to support them throughout the game jam process and winners were chosen by a panel of industry judges. The winning team’s prize includes travel and accommodation to visit Sharkmob’s studios in Malmö or London for up to 3 nights in 2022.

Emily said: “I had a lot of fun participating, and I'm really proud of us for winning! My team were friendly and easy to work with, despite being hundreds of miles away, and the win has led us to consider continuing to work on the game.”

Shaun Reeves, Course Leader for Computer Games Development, added: “Games graduates are likely to move into flexible roles that give them the opportunity to work remotely from anywhere in the world – so being able to collaborate virtually like this is a really important skill.

“We are so proud of Emily and all of her team members for their hard work during the competition! To produce a winning game like Ogre Time in such a short time is a fantastic achievement, especially for a first year student. Emily’s future looks very bright.”

Discover more about studying BSc (Hons) Computer Games Development or visit Staffordshire University for an Open Day – find dates and book your place.

Amy Platts

Media Communications Officer

t: 01782 292702

m: 07799 341911

e: amy.platts@staffs.ac.uk

Staffordshire University is the Connected University; connected to the needs of students, academic partners, business and society. Our main city campus in Stoke-on-Trent features excellent learning and teaching facilities and good transport links. We have specialist Centres of Excellence in Healthcare Education at Stafford and Shrewsbury.  

We were recognised with a Gold award in the 2019 Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) for delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for students.  

We were shortlisted for University of the Year at the THE Awards 2020 and were named ‘Midlands University of the Year’ at the Midlands Business Awards 2020. 
 
Staffordshire University has signed up to the Civic University Agreement, pledging to play a leading role in improving the regional economy and enhancing quality of life in local communities. We were recognised in the top 15 for social inclusion in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021. We aim to be a leading university for digital technologies building on our proud computing heritage and in 2019 launched Staffordshire University London’s Digital Institute which is committed to preparing students for careers in new and emerging tech industries. 

We are a Top 250 Young University (Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2020) and are connected globally, with more than 11,000 people studying Staffordshire University degrees overseas.