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K-State Today

February 11, 2020

K-State to host sixth annual Game Jam Feb. 14-16

Submitted by Wynne Reichart

The Game Development Club at Kansas State University, a registered departmental student organization, hosts a game creation event every semester called Game Jam. The sixth annual Game Jam will take place on Feb. 14-16.

"Game Jams are a friendly competition where small teams work together to build a video game in the span of a weekend," said Nathan Bean, computer science instructor and Game Development Club faculty advisor. "The annual Game Jam is open to anyone passionate about making games, and the GDC provides development tools and meals for the competitors. Game Jams are an immensely fun experience and help aspiring game developers add to their portfolio of games." 

In the fall 2019 Kickoff Game Jam, computer science students Braden Purcell, Nick Monaco, and Nathan Faltermeier created a thriller survival experience game called "Escape Glompo." The goal of this game is to find the key and escape the room without being caught by Glompo, who could be anywhere at any moment.

Soon after the game's release, it was played and reviewed by a Japanese YouTube celebrity. The review has nearly 250,000 views and more than 200 comments. This review is in Japanese; however, translated to English the reviewer said, "The sound effect is good; it makes you scared. The frog-like ghost is creepy (in a good way)." After playing through the game, he gives the final summary of, "The game is very good and fun as a horror game." He then goes on to recommend this game to the audience.

"It was very humbling receiving any attention on our game," Purcell said. "It was our first time ever working with Unity or 3D modeling so a lot of it was just experimenting. Regardless, during the creation — aside from any frustration from working on it our first time — it was very fun and gratifying. To any potential fan base that forms for 'Glompo,' all we have to say is that there's more to come."

"While we're excited to do more work on 'Escape Glompo,' we view the game jams as a great opportunity to try new ideas and work on a new concept because of all the creative minds present and the ideas flying around," Faltermeier said. 

View the game video on YouTube or download the free game online. 

To compete in the 2020 event, fill out the Google form.