Goldsmiths computing students bring home prize in game jam

Students from Goldsmiths win first prize the games industry trade body competition

Five students from MSc Computer Games and Entertainment at Goldsmiths have scooped first prize in the first-ever Ukie game jam competition.

Two teams from Goldsmiths competed in the jam organised by Ukie, the UK’s games industry trade body, with team ‘Wisp’ picking up the special-made trophy at Ukie’s headquarter earlier this week.‌

The jam, which ran for two days in April, saw teams from Universities across the UK tackle the challenge of creating a game on the theme ‘regeneration’ in just 48 hours.

‘Wisp’, a 2D platform game where the player has to fight off enemies attacking a growing tree, was created by students in Goldsmiths Games Labs under supervision of an industry mentor. James Gamlin (pictured right), who led the winning team said the team was ‘ecstatic’ to be announced winners.

“We were very surprised that we won, but also very happy with the game we created. The extreme time pressure means you will always discover some issues in the end; and we only slept a few hours on bean bags in the lab. But that’s the thrill, the panicking and feeling it’s all falling apart but then to manage to pull something together in the end!"

It’s really a crowning achievement - especially considering so many big companies are sponsoring this event. The MSc Computer Games and Entertainment course really puts you out of your comfort zone, and I can definitely say it’s the best decision I’ve ever taken to study it!” 

CEO of games industry trade body Ukie, Dr Jo Twist said “The standard of games that the teams managed to make in such a short period of time was amazing. The jam was a great way to launch our new Student Membership scheme and it gave our students the chance to get some quality one-on-one time with industry experts as well as showcasing their creative talents to some of the big players in the industry. I want to say a big well done to the winning Goldsmiths team. It was a very tough competition and they have really done themselves”.

The winning game Wisp will be an exclusive pitch on Square Enix’s new project “Collective”, each of the teams will also receive prizes from PlayStation First, and a profile published piece.

Team Wisp from left to right: Arthur Wong, Madina Berkaliyeva, William Latham (Professor, Department of Computing at Goldsmiths) Tolga Zeren Kaçar and Chilun Liu (and James Gamlin pictured right).