The department of Game Design at Uppsala University, campus Gotland
This is the highly informal blog of the GAME-department. We use it mostly to document the things we do outside of running one of the worlds strongest game educations. For information about our education, programs and courses, check the official site at Uppsala University.
Our own Kayode “K” Shonibare-Lewis is giving a talk on the 25th, titled “Racial Bias, Reverse Heredity and the Parents of Custom Avatars”
Tickets to participate in the whole conference, September 23-27, 2021, are available here.
Students from the Department of Game Design can apply for partial funding, which is paid retroactively. Contact gamedesign@speldesign.uu.se for the application.
Playfulness is the key transformation. Games are the key to the embodied experience of alternative ways of acting & being. How can we harness the alchemy of play for the transformation of Self and others? Prof. Rusch discusses lessons learnt from her Deep Game Design work & the creation of The Witch’s Way a game that sources imagery ritual and symbolism for personal empowerment and inner integrity
Klick here to come directly to the zoom-meeting
UppTalk Weekly is a popular science seminar series via Zoom where you get to enjoy interesting conversations and interdisciplinary panel discussions with researchers from Uppsala University every Tuesday at lunch. The conversations revolve around socially relevant topics and where you as an audience have the opportunity to ask questions to our researchers. UppTalk Weekly is a part of the Faculty for Science and Technology’s online continuing education initiative for alumni and society.
Read more about UppTalk Weekly here
Reception is fully open from 23 August
Staff from Student services and Helpdesk at hand at certain hours – to be announced week 33.
24-26 August
Online Information sessions on a number of themes. For international students www.campusgotland.uu.se/welcome/info_sessions/
25-26 August
Shuttle service from Visby airport and Visby ferry terminal (registration required).
27 August 14:30
Digital Welcome Ceremony (more information will come later).
3 September
Train tour around Visby´s inner city during lunch hours.
3 and 5 September
Gotland history lecture with Mikael Norrby in room B51.
4-5 September
Guided walking tour around medieval Visby with the university guide Mikael Norrby (small groups; several occasions to choose from; registration required).
All details at www.campusgotland.uu.se/welcome/
This year’s big winner is the first year student game Amelite, taking home Best Game Feel, Best Level Design, Best Presentation and the big one – Best in Show!
Congratulations to all the students of Sealhorse Studios: Sabina Hallmén, Oliver Lincke, Frida Björnfot, Erik Börjesson, Amanda Östman, Cédric Le Therisien, Pontus Canholm, Fabian Larsson, Sander Wellmar!
Making games is not easy at the best of times and a pandemic can never be the best time. The titles on display this year were a testament to the ingenuity, motivation and creativity of the students who had to overcome working remotely, across time zones, and without ever physically meeting their faculty, to deliver a game in just under 10 weeks of production.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the 2021 event was a virtual one. The students are now out for summer but the virtual arcade remains open for anyone with a browser to visit and play all 29 titles here: https://gotlandgameconference.com/2021/
Best in Show: Amelite
Jury Motivation for Amelite: “With a heart of darkness and a bright yellow cap, this game rides the line between frustration and satisfaction, but always lands on the right side.”
Runners up for Best in Show: Daidala and Aescension
Jury Motivation for Daidala: “Stay a while and listen! With great charm, narration and clever gameplay, this is now my prefered version of the mythos!”
Jury Motivation for Aescension: “They use smoke and mirrors to dazzle their players, and this game does it at the caliber of a AAA studio. It conveys fear, mystery and adventure through all your senses”
The Innovation Award: Into the Dungeons
Jury Motivation: “Games usually make me play for the good side, and sometimes the bad side, but for the first time I got to puzzle my way through dungeons as an agent of destiny itself!”
Best Game Feel: Amelite
Runners up: Saving P.I.P.O, Daidala
Best Level Design: Amelite
Runners up: Saving P.I.P.O, Into the Dungeons
Best Storytelling: Daidala
Runners up: Welcome to the Moon, Aescension
Best Art Direction: Aescension
Runners up: Urskog, Amelite
Best Audio: Aescension
Runners up: Amelite, Styg’s Ascent
Best Presentation: Amelite
Runners up: Daidala, A Crow’s Quest to World Domination
The Public Choice (821 total votes)
About the Gotland Game Conference:
Uppsala University campus Gotland has been teaching game design and development for twenty years. Since the very beginning this annual event has been an important part of their education, and a public celebration of their student’s work. In addition to making their games available for the public to play, the students get their games tested and evaluated by a panel of experts from the international games industry and academia.
The GGC is an intimate event where students, professional game developers, game design faculty and the public all gather in the same space; playtesting, discussing and learning together. To mimic that experience in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic we created a virtual show floor. We are going to keep it running as long as possible, so if you missed the show you can still play the games. Open a browser tab to https://gotlandgameconference.com/2021/ to drop in and visit our virtual arcade!