Game Jam 2013- Live Blog Part Two: Meet the Teams!

 

We’ve just created an official STL Game Jam Twitter account! @GameJamSTL 

#STLGameJam is the hashtag to use for this weekend’s festivities 

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Robo penguins, colorblind slime, and excellent puns are already running rampant here at the STL Game Jam.

Here’s a quick update from each group. Some might have consolidated, or hid from me, but it looks like the final group count is six.

Gizmaul- The first group is working on a card game dubbed ‘Gizmaul: A Game of Contraptions.’  They’re the only crew without a programmer, as they’re making a physical card game. Their leader’s name is Jon, and this group also contains the youngest jammer, Gregory, who is 18. Here’s what happened when I asked Gizmaul for an update:

“It’s a machanized game of awesome death. With penguins.”

“And dapper robots!”

“And the spoon… is a lie.”

“We could have a spoon.”

“No, no spoons.”

“I call for a vote on spoons. Yay/nay on spoons?”

The vote on spoons passed 4 to 3 in group Gizmaul.

 

TURNED OUT- The second group of jammers has split up across two tables. This group also has no definite leader, but I was told the following as a working game description:

“It’s a game where you’re a janitor locked in a factory…. It’s a scifi factory.”

“Oh really?,” I asked, “A factory that manufactures pure science fiction?”

He laughs… then says “yes. Pure. Science. Fiction.”

He went on to describe their art style as ‘stylized near-future.’

 

ESCAPE-  I have yet to see all of Escape’s members in one place. I caught two of them at a time and was told the game title. I asked for a description… all I got was ‘basically… the instructions are GTFO.’ I took the hint and moved on…

 

THREE BLIND SLIMES- This is definitely the heavyweight champ where monitors are concerned. This group is mostly made up of Simutronics employees and their impressive monitor setups. David Whatley, Simutronics CEO, is leading the group.

“Do you have any particular direction or idea you’re working with?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

“Will you tell me what it is?”

“Oh. Sure. We have three blind slimes, and they’re each colorblind in a different way. They are also named Jack, Jill, and Cornelius.”

 

CH-CH-CHAIN- The Geocaching group is largest by far in terms of manpower. The group is led by avid Geocacher and Simutronics employee Elonka Dunin, but this twenty-man group has split into three separate groups to work on different parts of the project. They’re the most photogenic group by far!

Their game is based on Geocaching and requires real-world travel. The largest group is working on a level that takes place on local Chain of Rocks bridge, and will contain information about the bridge through the level. I was assured that it’s only a little educational, though.

Another group was working on a World’s Fair level that takes place in the past.

 

 

THRONE FOR A LOOP- The award for best working title has been won by a landslide, as this group told me to call their game ‘Chubby Bunny’ until they decided on a real title. Throne for a Loop also managed to stake out the conference room and are the only group working with any privacy.

They’re working on a platformer that changes directions over time. I glimpsed sketches of princesses and levels with a Rapunzel’s tower theme.

This group’s leader took a moment to write the title down for me so I wouldn’t miss the joke, which I greatly appreciate.

Every group is buzzing with activity and with all the PCs, laptops, and tablets plugged in, I don’t even want to think about the electric bill. The pizza’s been mostly demolished and soda cans are being emptied at a record rate. All of the jammers seem to be getting into the swing of things, so stay tuned as games start getting developed!

This live blog is being written by Chelsea Welch, an intern at Simutronics, who can be reached at chelsea@simutronics.com

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