Barbican & TIGA announce Indie Dev Showcase Winners for Game On 2.0

By May 5, 2015 Press Releases

Six winning UK Indies will now showcase their games to more than 100,000 exhibition attendees over five months

The Barbican and TIGA have announced the winners of their free competition that offered six UK indie developers the chance to showcase their games at Game On 2.0 – a major exhibition curated by the Barbican International Enterprises in London, that will take place at the Life Science Centre (part of the Centre for Life) in Newcastle, from the 23rd of May to November 2015.

Entries into Game On 2.0’s Indie Showcase Competition were assessed by an expert judging panel including Keith Stuart – Games Editor at The Guardian, Debbie Bestwick – Managing Director of Team 17, Chis Kingsley – Co-Founder and CTO of Rebellion, Patrick Moran – Barbican International Enterprises’ Exhibition Manager, Harvey Elliott – CEO of Marmalade and Chair of the BAFTA Games Committee and Marie-Claire Isaaman – Leader of the BA (Hons) Games Art and Design course at Norwich University.

The winners are as follows…

Harvey Elliott: “Twelve A Dozen has a neat graphic style, provides a gaming backdrop underpinned with mathematics, and encourages problem solving to explore the environment. It is well narrated, engaging, and genuinely fun to play.” 

Marie-Claire Isaaman: “Glitchspace is an extremely innovative game integrating the pleasure of play with valuable knowledge acquisition in the field of computing. Visitors will find it truly engaging and younger audiences will find the challenges exciting and unique.”

*The Barbican decided to include two educational games due to the strong family and young gamer led demographic of Game On 2.0 attendees

  • Best Mobile Game: 80 Days, by inkle

Keith Stuart: “80 Days is a really beautiful interactive novel, full of inventive ideas, but with a solid resource management mechanic at its heart. The unfolding story options are enthralling, a wonderful achievement.”

Chris Kingsley: “BFF or Die is just great fun, with compelling and rewarding multiplayer gameplay.”

Chris Kingsley: “Radial-G: Racing Revolved for Oculus is a fast, bright, immersive and energetic experience.”

Marie-Claire Isaaman: “An artistic and playful experience, which utilises the power of new creative technological forms to connect us to the past. The collaborative nature of the multi disciplinary team clearly enriches the final product.”

All the winners will now be part of an exhibition that explores the vibrant history of videogames from 1962 onwards, focusing on the key developments up to the present day, offering insight into the limitless potential of gaming.

Visitors to Game On 2.0 will experience more than 100 playable videogames, from original 1960’s pinball machines up to the latest Virtual Reality technologies like the Oculus Rift. The audience will have the chance to become an active participant in the exhibition, by interacting with the works, which is especially curated to be suitable for players of all ages.

The exhibition has toured the globe over the last 12 years, visiting every populated continent and had over a million visitors.

Game On 2.0 was launched in 2010 due to the popular appeal of the original Game On exhibition and has continued its worldwide success and goal of offering the public the chance to experience the ultimate exploration of more than 40 years of videogame history, right up to the cutting edge of the present day.

Neil McConnon, Head of Barbican International Enterprises, the Barbican, said:

“Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone that entered. The Indie showcase at Game On 2.0 will help raise the profile of some of the most exciting UK Indie Developers of the moment. I look forward to members of the public being able to experience such a great show, and see how the videogame medium is being driven to greater and greater heights of both skill and artistry.”

Dr Richard Wilson, CEO, TIGA, comments:

“It is a wonderful opportunity for these UK indie developers to be able to showcase their work to more than 100,000 members of the public. The categories chosen for the competition represent some of the most exciting, high-potential areas in video games today, the incredibly high calibre of the entries and winning games is testament to that.”

“Thank you to the Barbican and Centre for Life for helping us provide independent developers with such a rare and valuable opportunity to shine at such a major, culturally rich and globally successful exhibition like Game On 2.0.”

 

Quotes from the competition winners:

Shaz Yousaf, founder, Honey Tribe Studios, said:

We’re really happy to see that BFF or Die had been selected to be part of Game On 2.0. We’re a small development team of three and it’s so encouraging to have a panel of industry experts give our game the thumbs up. It’s both strange and exciting to think we’re part of an history of video games exhibition and we hope all the visitors have fun playing BFF or Die!” 

Sam Watts, Producer, Tammeka Games, comments:

“We at Tammeka are proud to have been selected as the VR gaming representative for the Game On 2.0 exhibition’s Indie Showcase in Newcastle, having worked tirelessly on the game to ensure it is suitable for use by people of all ages, whether they are ‘gamers’ or not.

“The inclusion in the exhibition confirms our thoughts, specific design considerations and belief that VR can provide a smooth, pleasant experience for all, whilst still delivering exciting and fun gameplay. We strongly believe that VR is the future of video games and will be hugely successful beyond gaming too, given its potential to enhance films, digital social interaction and also serious training programmes.”

Ronan Quigley, Sound Designer, Space Budgie, said:

“Without exhibitions like Game on 2.0, Glitchspace would not be where it is today. Titles like ours that started out as mere experiments in design wouldn’t have been able to reach a wider range of audiences, in turn broadening the public’s understanding of games as not only an entertainment medium, but as an art form.

“Being selected for Game on 2.0 gives us the confidence that we are moving in the right direction in making it the game we want it to be. It tells us that games like Glitchspace have a place in our industry, and in ways that can push our industry in new directions for the better. Games based learning has a serious capacity for educational change and for Glitchspace to be a winner in the educational game category vindicates our efforts getting the game to where it is today with our upcoming alpha 2.0 release. We look forward to seeing what attendees think of Glitchspace at the exhibition’s opening!”

Jon Ingold, Creative Director, inkle, comments:

“We’re incredibly excited to be recognised by the Game On 2.0 show, and the reaction people have had to 80 Days in general. When we started on the project we knew we had a strong idea, but we weren’t prepared for how much players would grow attached to the adventures of our French valet and his stiff English master. It’s been really rewarding for us to find that a game without high-tech can still deliver great characters and real adventure.”

Katherine Bidwell, Co-Founder, State Of Play Games, said:

“The original Game On exhibition at the Barbican actually ignited our interest in creating games back in 2002, and so for Lumino City to be a part of the successor to that is truly wonderful. We hope our game can inspire others in the same way.”

Imre Jele, co-founder, Bossa Studios, comments:

“The creation of Twelve a Dozen was a true labour of love so we’re absolutely delighted it will be shown as a leading educational game in the Game On 2.0 Indie Showcase. We hoped to create a game which can break down the ‘bad press’ of math and show that it’s not a scary and complex beast but instead a friend in our everyday lives, a strange poet and even the hero who will become our best ally to save the world.”

 

– ends –

 

About the Barbican

A world-class arts and learning organisation, the Barbican pushes the boundaries of all major art forms including dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. Its creative learning programme further underpins everything it does. Over 1.5 million people pass through the Barbican’s doors annually, hundreds of artists and performers are featured, and more than 300 staff work onsite.

The architecturally renowned centre opened in 1982 and comprises the Barbican Hall, the Barbican Theatre, the Pit, Cinemas One, Two and Three, Barbican Art Gallery, a second gallery The Curve, foyers and public spaces, a library, Lakeside Terrace, a glasshouse conservatory, conference facilities and three restaurants. The City of London Corporation is the founder and principal funder of the Barbican Centre.

The Barbican is home to Resident Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra; Associate Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra; Associate Ensembles the Academy of Ancient Music and Britten Sinfonia, and Associate Producer Serious. Our Artistic Associates include Boy Blue EntertainmentCheek by Jowl and Michael Clark Company. International Associates are Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of AmsterdamNew York PhilharmonicLos Angeles PhilharmonicGewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig and Jazz at Lincoln Center.

About the International Centre for Life:

The International Centre for Life opened in 2000, born out of an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to creating a self-sustaining science village. 

Almost 600 people from 35 countries work here: researchers, doctors and nurses work alongside people in the fields of education, public engagement and business. What unites everyone is a passion for science. 

At the heart of the science village is the Life Science Centre, which attracts around 250,000 visitors annually and is the largest provider of schools science workshops in Europe.

On site partners include Newcastle University, who chose Life for the location of their Institute of Genetic Medicine; the NHS Newcastle Fertility Centre; the NHS Northern Genetics Service and several young and vibrant biotechnology companies.

Life is an educational charitable trust; we don’t receive public funding.For more information, visit www.life.org.uk

About TIGA

TIGA is 90% funded by independent UK businesses. 80% of our board members are developers and/or from UK owned businesses, and 50% of our board are UK business owners themselves. Since 2010, TIGA has won 20 business awards.

TIGA focuses on three sets of activities:

  • Political representation
  • Media representation
  • Business services

This enhances the competitiveness of our members by providing benefits that make a material difference to their businesses, including a reduction in costs and improved commercial opportunities. It also means our members’ voices are heard in the corridors of power and positively represented in national, broadcast and UK video game trade media.

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