Student game creators seek to level the playing field with accessibility at the centre of design challenge

The next generation of video game creators have battled it out to be crowned victors during University of Northampton’s annual Winter Game Jam.

Earlier this month, students were given just three days to design and develop a game from scratch that could be played using an Xbox Adaptive Controller and Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit.

Designed primarily to meet the needs of gamers with limited mobility, the Xbox Adaptive Controller is a unified hub for devices that helps make gaming more accessible.

The combination of 12 plug-and-play buttons and triggers – courtesy of the Logitech Adaptive Gaming Kit alongside the adapted flat joysticks offered by the Xbox Adaptive Controller – set the students a unique challenge to unleash their creativity and technical skills in new and original ways.

Five teams of Games Design, Games Art and Games Programming students put their skills to the test to compete for award accolades, presented by the University’s academic team.

Following an afternoon of game demonstrations, individual awards were presented to each of the teams for excelling within the following categories:

• Most Competitive – Fish Em All (A simple yet fun fishing game where good timing is essential to win)
• Most Innovative Concept: Dead Beats (A Guitar Hero-style drum game based on following a pattern)
• Best Visuals: Too Many Cooks (A turn-based Cooking Mama-style game)
• Best Cooperative – Faulty Thrusters (Four-player cooperative physics game).

American-Healthcare System Simulator (A.S.S) was further awarded the First Annual Andrew Debus Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence, sponsored by Goblin Games (one of two in-house gaming studios at the University of Northampton).

The Games Jam is a voluntary event that benefits students by allowing them to expand their portfolio and, for the Games Art students, to step into art styles they might not usually encounter.

Senior Lecturer in Games Design, Vikaas Mistry said: “The bi-annual Game Jam is a real calendar highlight for our gaming courses, and I’m as impressed with these teams as ever for the creative flair and design initiative they demonstrated.

“The three-day time frame we offered students served a practical purpose. Within the gaming industry, it’s very common for designers and developers to be given a tight time frame, so it’s vital for students to experience this and get to grips with working professionally under pressure and pushing their creativity to the max.

“It’s equally as important for them to build their design portfolio and apply their creativity across a broad spectrum of games design – including using non-traditional and accessible formats. Experiences such as this are vital to ensuring they’re equipped and confident as our next generation of industry professionals.”

Find out more about studying Games Design, Games Art and Games Programming at the University of Northampton.