STUDENTS from the University of Worcester have won a national award for a video game they designed from scratch in a race against the clock.
The third year game art students were taking part in the Ukie Student Game Jam, going head-to-head with teams from universities and colleges across the UK.
Jordan Nelmes, Jamie Whittenbury, Faysal Maaroufi and Jen Ward won the technical achievement category – one of only three awards presented.
Jordan said: “It felt amazing to win. Only three university teams won across the whole of the UK so that was huge. It’s the biggest achievement in the early stages of my career.”
The Ukie Student Game Jam is run by Ukie (UK Interactive Entertainment), the leading trade body for the UK games and interactive entertainment industry. It challenged Ukie’s student members to create an original video game based on the theme of symmetry.
The university’s winning team had just 32 hours to make the game a working reality, competing against more than 30 other teams across the UK.
Set in a science testing facility, the game challenges players to complete a series of puzzle-based tasks, progressing through different rooms as they solve each one. The twist is that every challenge uses mirrors as part of the problem-solving.
Jordan and Jamie principally concentrated on the concept and bringing the game to life in 3D, while Faysal and Jen focused on the artwork and creating the visual world of the game.
Most of the work was done remotely and the team communicated via a 32-hour long online call. They were mentored by an industry professional.
All four want to work in the games industry and said that the contest had given them insights into such a career and the pressure of tight deadlines.
