Thirty students from Bath Spa University recently put their coding and creativity skills to the test to take part in a 48-hour ‘Global Game Jam’.
The ‘Jam’, now in its tenth year, is the world’s largest game creation event and encourages collaborators across the globe to connect online to create a playable prototype game, while simultaneously exploring the process of programming, design and storytelling.
Approximately 40,000 people – also known as ‘jammers’ – from 109 countries took part in this year’s event which challenged participants to come up with games that addressed the theme of ‘transmission’.
At Bath Spa, students from the University’s BSc Creative Computing and BA Creative Music Technology courses came together to share knowledge, while developing their gaming and communications skills.
Matt Thompson, Lecturer in Creative Computing at Bath Spa University said: “It was great to be a part of the annual worldwide phenomenon that is the Global Game Jam. Bath Spa University has been taking part in the event for a number of years and students always tell us they enjoy putting what they’ve learnt on their course into practice.
“Imagination, pizza and coffee kept students going through the weekend-long collaboration! They produced a variety of games that centred on ‘transmission’ such as car, radio and disease transmissions, in keeping with the theme. Everyone should be very proud of their unique creations.”
Second year Creative Computing student Sam Grant added: “I really enjoyed taking part in my second Global Game Jam. Working with other students to create a brand new game was a really fun experience, even with the added pressure of the time constraint.
“I’m really pleased with what we were able to produce and I’m already looking forward to next year’s event.”
The Bath Spa University Creative Computing course celebrates digital creativity. Students learn broad computing and design skills, from smartphone app building to VR game development and beyond.
Teaching includes a mix of workshops, tech demos, creative problem solving challenges and collaborative briefs.
To view the student’s games, visit globalgamejam.org and search for ‘Bath Spa University’.