Online Together Jam (5-16 October 2020)

The Online Together Jam (OTJ) was a two-week event open to all students from Abertay University’s Division of Games and Arts and Division of Computing and Mathematics. 143 students took part in the jam which was hosted remotely. The culmination of the OTJ was a funded opportunity for one team - as selected by a judging panel - to polish the game for release over a four-week period.

The context of the OTJ was supported by YMCA Scotland, who provided information about social care and mentorship services available to young people. The OTJ challenged students to consider ways in which games and digital media could be used to address the limitations and challenges of providing mentorship to young people in an online environment as a response to the global Covid-19 pandemic: firstly, to develop an online multiplayer game that could be played by mentors and mentees of varying skill levels and technological access; secondly, to integrate gaming technology into the YMCA Scotland’s service provision; and thirdly, to consider the scaling of the game project for use in YMCA branches globally.

Cadenza of the Stars (Thomas Crowe and Jack Chateau-Loney)

“Create beautiful constellations in the sky together.”

Dungeon Delvers (Conor Phillips, Jena Reid, Nathan Hall, Daniel Hogan and Eliot Hynd)

“Using teamwork to complete challenges, the players make their way through the dungeon rooms in order to get to the end and defeat the boss.”

Alchemix (Jamie Massella, Ren Hurley, Daniel Martinez, Katie Georgeson and Antoni Carrascosa Vallori)

“Each player has a list of tasks they need to complete. The catch? The list is in the other player’s room! Working together, players need to give each other the instructions in the right order to be able to complete all the tasks.”