Greenfly Attends The Manchester Game Jam

On Saturday we made our way down to Manchester’s Northern Quarter for the 2nd Manchester Game Jam, hosted at MadLab and organised by Dan Hett. Coinciding with Ludum Dare 24, a ‘make a game in 48 hours‘ challenge, the jam played host to both competitors and mini-jam groups. Whilst the 48hour developers were busy focusing on the “Evolution” theme, we drew “Stealth” for the mini-jam.

Although only available for the day, we did make good headway into our game: a jewel thief type affair were the player must make his way through a crowded ball room using the crowds as cover. With security cameras and guards on constant watch, the crowds were an emergent factor as they steadily grew more nervous the longer you stayed around them. The crowds could then be manipulated to move in certain directions whilst the ambient music increased the tension levels – thoroughly fun yet sweat-inducing moments!

Also in attendance were several regular Game Dev North attendees, specifically Mark Foster (of Clawhammer Games) and Ashley Ross (of OmNomCom.) Whilst Mark was struggling with the theme, he demoed his upcoming game Chroma during the Show & Tell featuring a fantastic game mechanic based on light and shadows. Later on we also played Mark’s incredibly addictive game Telepaint with the MadLab giant buttons – trying to co-ordinate six individuals to jump on the buttons was incredibly funny.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Manchester Game Jam, so much so that we’re attending the next one!