Two days ago, a Maltese board game about stealing diplomas from a blind rector during a graduation ceremony did not exist. Neither did a fully-fledged 3D game where players navigate blind through an ancient Aztec maze.
Both experimental creations are products of this year’s Global Game Jam, a unique event where game designers, writers and artists are tasked with conceiving and developing a new game entirely from scratch in just 48 hours.
As Malta’s fledgling game industry continues to grow, the worldwide event, now in its third edition locally, has already produced games that have gone on to win awards and attract the attention of international publishers.
“It’s a fantastic design exercise,” said Yannick Massa, whose board game And Then We Held Hands raised €61,000 in crowdfunding and a publication deal after placing first in a previous Game Jam. “The time pressures, as well as being surrounded by people with such different skills, can help you come up with some really exciting ideas.”
Mr Massa’s team, in fact, laboured for a day on a tile-matching game about Maltese fireworks before ditching the idea at the last minute and writing their diploma-stealing game in six hours.
There are going to be a lot of opportunities with big companies looking for local talent
This year’s Game Jam, which took place at the Institute of Digital Games at the University of Malta, attracted more than 60 participants working on 14 different games. Participants were handed a theme – “Ritual” – on Friday night and submitted their completed games yesterday.
“Just as important as the games themselves are the collaborations we’re creating among this very young community of indie [independent] developers,” said Ashley Davis, a research support officer at the games institute.
Games are increasingly a major part of everyone’s life, but the gulf between enjoying games and actually making them is often a daunting one, according to Mr Davis. The strength of the Game Jam, then, is in bridging that gap by bringing experienced designers together with novices and those drawn by simple curiosity.
“As the industry in Malta develops, there are going to be a lot of opportunities with big companies looking for local talent, but a strong indie scene is very important for that,” Mr Davis said.
The Game Jam also featured workshops by Milanese designers We Are Müesli and game journalist Philippa Warr, who spoke to participants about internationalising their games and dealing with the gaming press – an emerging concern as more and more Maltese developers take their works to overseas markets.
“One thing I stressed is that developers shouldn’t be afraid to evangelise other people’s work,” Ms Warr said.
“Especially in such a growing scene, highlighting the work of other developers helps draw attention to the scene and create a healthy sense of community.”